Alternative energy Definition and 37 Threads

Wired has a new article that seems interesting. https://www.wired.com/story/can-green-ammonia-be-a-climate-fix/ The part about eliminating the use of methane in ammonia production sounds good to me. This could also be a good case of switchable demand - if the wind or solar power dips, the...

E. coli is one of the best studied and most widely used bacteria in biotechnology. This week, published in the journal Cell, researchers report having engineered the bacterium to be able to generate all of its carbon from CO2, opening the way toward using these bacteria for replacement of...

I am a refrigeration technician with a fascination for heat pumps. I wonder if we can make two systems in parallel. The Carnot heat engine is used to describe the steam locomotive. I want to use a different fluid with a lower boiling point to create a heat engine using a refrigeration cycle...

I'm looking to get into the realm of science fiction writing and am currently working out how the main "SciFi energy source" works in this world I'm trying to make. Fusion reactors are the obvious go-to, but I wanted to get creative, that said: how plausible/effective would it be to directly...

I've been looking into compressed Hydrogen storage, and it seems that the high pressure containers have a lot of layers on the inside to keep the Hydrogen from leaking out/diffusing over the lifetime. However now I'm curious as to whether you could use a tank to store high-pressure Hydrogen (in...

Why do we use water for steam engines? Why not something else? So, I have a question, or maybe it is an idea that i would like to share. So, sure, there are many finer points to the engineering of a steam turbine to make them work efficiently, and no doubt the designs have improved much since...

Hello, I have been thinking about this for awhile and struggling with what I want to do so some guidance would be helpful. Right now I am studying astrophysics and I've been in love with it for the better part of a year being that I find a lot of interest in solving problems in physics and...

Ocean waves are a bit random in frequency and amplitude so I'm just trying lock down a simple scenario to get an idea of the energy potential. Physics math, I know very little. Let's say we have a steady wave pattern that lifts 10,000 lbs one foot every 2 seconds. Convert to that to an energy...

I am trying to solve the steady state heat equation with a heat source. I am starting out in 1 dimension (my book gives the solution in 2, but I'm just trying to get a feel right now) and I have a heat source Q, located at 0. It radiates heat through an infinite medium. So what would the steady...

We've got a scalable sun tracker that requires no electricity. See << Link removed by Moderator >> Though invented for use as a less expensive alternative to the traditional electric motor solar trackers, we have come to realize that it can actually lift a lot of weight. We haven't tested the...

Is there a limit to the amount of energy which can be extracted from the wind? There are a huge number of windfarms springing up around the world.. all taking energy from the wind. The assumption seems to be that this is limitless and "free". Clearly this is not possible. The question is (I...

Hello PF members and guests, I have been working on this concept for 2 years and I wanted to get some input from this forum. I have done a lot of research on oxygen enriched combustion and water injection. Both of these concepts have been tested and proven in experiments and the real world. My...

Many folk like to use the phrase "talking truth to power", but those of us who do have colorful work histories. My life has been in technical fields, both in the Air Force and industry. Now retired, I earned a Master of Science in Energy and the Environment, was a Senior Engineer for a large...

Hello all, in your opinion, what alternative energy has the greatest potential for employment (solar, nuclear, etc)? I'll have a B.S. in environmental science and physics, and alternative energy research seemed like a nice way to combine the two. I'm aware more advanced education will likely be...

Hi, I have been looking around for popular, well-used, and informative forums for alternative energy. I can't seem to find any great ones using google/bing/duckduckgo. If anyone has any suggestions it would be great! thanks!

Hello, I'm curious as to how practical it is to want to work in both of these fields? I'm debating weather or not it would be better suited for me to study double major Physics and MEng with a minor in EEng as my undergrad, or MEng and EEng with minors in Physics and Computer Science. I would...

I'm starting my junior year in the fall, and I'm starting to think about what I really want to do with my physics degree once I earn it. To me, it seems like alternative energy is a good direction to go, because it's a very real problem in the modern world and I feel like there's going to be a...

(Hope this is in the right place) Hello, I have been debating this for awhile and am unsure really of what I should be doing. I like chemistry, I like solving math problems. However I don't care for solving the area of a function revolved about an axis, not very interesting to me. So far...

First off, I'm so glad this forum is here. So much good information and knowledgeable individuals. I want to go into a program that is designed around alternative energy but there aren't really any specific programs for it. I'm not interested in wind power and solar power(unless it's solar...

Here is an invention I'd like to share with anyone who has the money to develop and market it. Furthermore, I don't even have the technical skill to determine if it's viable on paper so I suppose it's reasonable to say that anyone who pursues this is entitled not to share anything with me...

Hi, I am thinking about pursuing a masters degree in alternative energy engineering in the winter but have been running into some trouble. I can only find two colleges who offers such a degree, the first is Wright Stat U (ohio) and the second is Wayne State (michigan) I would like to stay a...

I know that economics must play a large part in determining why alternative energies aren't as effective as burning oil. Oil is cheaper. I'm an electrical engineering student and I'm curious about some of problems plaguing the alternative energy business. Ie. Solar, Wind, Geothermal, ect...One...

Here is a cheesy question. I have a brother who does alternative energy research and hopes to get a job in the field when he graduates this year. (His specific area is something called "enhanced geothermal".) I am trying to figure out if there is some sort of Christmas present I could give him...

I am new to this forum, and I am not a physics major. I simply had a thought earlier today of why radioactive energy, in particular gamma rays, can't be converted into usable energy. If some gamma rays are emitted as photons, couldn't one simply use solar panels as a means of capturing the...

I'm looking for topic ideas for my Advanced Photonics class. We have to do a 5 - 10 page research paper, considering engineering feasibility and economics, of a project that somehow uses photonics or lasers to help the alternative energy cause. However, it needs to be new and innovative, not...

As we know, nearly all energy we utilized is transformed from matter, such as chem reaction, biochem process, nuclear reaction,... and the most efficient way that could transform all matter to energy now we know is the reaction produced by matter with its anti-matter. But the cost is much...

Here's the problem... I am to build a simple windmill (small scale) to lift an x amount of weight twelve inches above the base plane. The required amount is to lift 200 grams, 12 inches in 2 minutes or less. The materials are to be mostly recycled; however, I am alotted $15 to buy any new...

Hi there, I have a group project where we are to create (theoretically) a reliable power supply system for rural under developed areas in certain parts of the world. Now our task is under electrical engineering so it must be related to the power and ways to generate power, minimise the cost...

What's going on here? It doesn't seem like it would work well at all. I remember popular science said something about how little power it produced. Reminds me of a Carnot engine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnot_cycle Is this a good idea, or should I stick with nuclear fusion reactors?

Alternative Energy Source?? Anybody here familiar with the work being done by Dr. Randell Mills? I came across this article wherein it is claimed he has developed a process to create a new kind of hydrogen with a resultant release of massive amounts of energy. His work is controversial as it...

Here is an intesting solution to extraction power from http://www.oceanpd.com/"

I would like you know everybody's general thoughts on alternative fuels, and aleternative energy. Personally, I think ethanol is a great thing and I'm hoping it gets picked up by more manufacturers. Hydro-fuel cells also seem quite promising, being more efficient and not producing hazardous...

The alternative energy forum With my limited knowledge of magnetism and electricity/electronics I envision creating 2 sets of magnetic disks rotating on a axle made of glass of other material with little friction. The bottom magnets arranged with one pole facing the center of the disk on a...

Which uses classic generators with a lot of friction. Also friction is the result of gravitation. An electronic engineer told me a classic generator uses about 30 to 35% of it's power to create the rotation against the electro-magnetic field. He told me that he never saw something similar to my...

As many may know, the bacteria Rhodoferax ferrireducens has the ability to take various types of sugar and "convert" it into electricity. Many of you also know that gas prices have sky rocketed. Where am I getting here? I plan on doing a experiment using R. ferrireducens and ethanol from...

I had started an alternative energy thread in the tech. area. I have some wacked ideas about alternative power sources that are out of the realm of what are sound ideas for the logical person. Because of this I thought that if I posted here I could get some open minded thoughts and ideas on...

As we know, the United States consumes more power than any other country in the world. The success of the U.S. can be directly related to its power consumption. Most of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels (Coal) that puts Co2 in the atmosphere, this is causing major pollution. The...