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This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power

bloomberg.com

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Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power

#11

Post by lolc »

wapapaloobop wrote: post #7
Retric wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

U.S. energy demand has actually fairly steady. It was slightly lower in 2014 vs 2008. http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=us&v=81 A wide range of things have been getting more energy efficient TV, lighting, computers, heating cooling, insulation, etc.

It's good things are getting efficient up to a point however those kind of savings are unsustainable and in the longterm our energy use will continue to grow exponentially, including for environmental management. Thus it doesn't make sense to research power sources that aren't potentially 100s of times greater than our current usage.

"For my future life of luxury I will have to find a lot of gold so I'm not gonna plant potatoes today."

Boring, pointless potatoes.

Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power

#12

Post by Someone »

takno wrote: post #3

Are they saying it could provide a third of America's power (I'm guessing current electricity consumption) from America's coastal waters, or from the whole of the world's oceans?

The former, including your guess. They clearly say so in the video.

Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power

#14

Post by gcr »

Retric wrote: post #5
wapapaloobop wrote: post #2

...could provide a third of America's present power requirements.

U.S. energy demand has actually fairly steady. It was slightly lower in 2014 vs 2008. http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=us&v=81 A wide range of things have been getting more energy efficient TV, lighting, computers, heating cooling, insulation, etc.

Does this account for things beyond electricity such as fossil fuels?

For example, the shift from using gasoline cars to electric cars would reduce the amount of electricity we use, but would increase the amount of gas. This could be a net good, if we assume that the electricity was produced in a cleaner way.

Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power

#15

Post by takno »

Someone wrote: post #12
takno wrote: post #3

Are they saying it could provide a third of America's power (I'm guessing current electricity consumption) from America's coastal waters, or from the whole of the world's oceans?

The former, including your guess. They clearly say so in the video.

Wow. I literally didn't notice there was a video. Everything clickable just looks like an ad to me now

Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power

#17

Post by nxzero »

EGreg wrote: post #9
nxzero wrote: post #6

>> "That's 352,670,000,000,000,000,000 gallons just sloshing around out there." ^^ Stopped reading after this sentence.

>> Stopped reading Stopped caring after seeing that

Your right, trying to exploit in an entire ecosystem for the benefit of a single species is a great idea.

Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power

#19

Post by maxerickson »

ajmurmann wrote: post #13

If we were to do this on a large scale, how would it impact the waves we are seeing? Might that impact coastal wildlife? Might it even impact currents and weather patterns?

It would, but you are really asking if the impact would be noticeable. A single hurricane can be releasing ~1/2 global electric generation, which at least suggests that installing a bunch and observing the effects will be a safe enough strategy.

Re: This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power

#20

Post by kuzmin »

gcr wrote: post #14
Retric wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

U.S. energy demand has actually fairly steady. It was slightly lower in 2014 vs 2008. http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=us&v=81 A wide range of things have been getting more energy efficient TV, lighting, computers, heating cooling, insulation, etc.

Does this account for things beyond electricity such as fossil fuels? For example, the shift from using gasoline cars to electric cars would reduce the amount of electricity we use, but would increase the amount of gas. This could be a net good, if we assume that the electricity was produced in a cleaner way.

I think you mean increase electricity and reduce gas?
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