Twitter Updates for 2008-05-19

  • Our energy storage technology is not where it should be in order for us to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. #
  • It is not enough to just generate power without oil, gas, or coal. We must be able to store and retrieve it efficidntly too. #

By elyograg

-- J.K. Galbraith

One reply on “Twitter Updates for 2008-05-19”

Been thinking about this a lot lately, and you’re right – we’re not even close. Just look at how heat is moved around in the average house – is it really efficient to spend energy cooling down a box in one corner, and spend more energy to blow warm air into the next corner? What about all the energy we send unrecovered into the sewers every time we use the water taps labeled “H”? Couldn’t we get at least part of that back somehow? Why is my roof covered in stuff that doesn’t use the sunlight falling on it? Why am I trying to cool the air in my house with a source twenty feet above ground level, when cooling air from twenty feet below ground level is so much easier? Think buried ductwork for that last one.

How can we have a problem with global warming (too much energy) and an energy crisis (oil shortages) at the same time? How many lumens *should* we expect from a watt of electricity?

What’s lacking in every one of these cases is a really efficient way to convert one type of energy into another. We need an energy version of the philosopher’s stone. Dead on accurate statements you twittered here today.

Leave a Reply
