Warming Climate Is Changing Life On A Global Scale

Terra Daily ^ | May 19, 2008 | Staff Writers

[cogitator]

How can you possibly think that any earth-bound controlled fusion is going to come about in our lifetimes? Through what possible mechanism?

Note that I said "long future". I didn't necessarily mean my (or your) lifetime. My horizon probably doesn't make it past 60 years.

I understand about solar for hydrogen production. The idea is (I've read this, it ain't mine) is that you generate hydrogen during the hot sunny day. Places this can be done: Gobi Desert, Australian Outback, northern Africa, SW USA, coastal South America. You can store hydrogen in tanks and transport it elsewhere.

As for the short-term future, we're going to have to burn increasingly expensive fossil fuels, improve extraction technologies for resources like the Bakken, and take a look at exotic alternatives like deep-sea methane.

[Old Professer]

Truck in seawater to the desert, electrolyze it and then truck it back to civilization; sort of like marching camels to the oasis, filling up their water tanks and marching them back to the next water hole?

[cogitator]

With the exception of the Gobi, parts of all of those desert regions are pretty close to the ocean. I'd send the power from the photovoltaics to the coast, rather than send the water inland (which would usually be an uphill gradient requiring pumping, anyway).

The method isn't that far-fetched; the hurdles are efficiency and scale. But there was recent news (posted here, I'm pretty sure) that focusing the sunlight on the photovoltaics significantly increases their energy conversion efficiency.

Schatz Solar Hydrogen Project

[secretagent]

What’s wrong with nuclear fission? Works for France - 80% of its electricity...