Powering The World With Water
from the isn't-that-just-a-water-wheel? dept
An article from the UK is talking up an invention, by a retired chemist, to try to power the entire UK using the movement of water in the open seas. The article goes and on and on about how this is a “green” solution, and how the UK could stop using fossil fuels if this took off. Now, I’m all for environmentally friendly energy, but this article seems to get a little carried away. There are lots of other “environmentally friendly” types of power that have had lots of hype, such as wind power and solar power. However, from a cost perspective, they simply don’t make that much sense after a certain point. Furthermore, isn’t this really just a more modern version of the water wheel? The guy claims he has a patent on the system, but I don’t see how hundreds of years of water wheel history doesn’t count as prior art.
Comments on “Powering The World With Water”
No Subject Given
Wind power actuall is cost-competitive with fossil fuels, although solar isn’t yet.
Also, factors such as environmental sustainability and becoming less dependent upon politically volatile regions for our energy needs might be important enough that using higher-priced technology might be worth it. I personally favor a multibillion dollar government grant to promote R&D in renewable energy so that it will become cost-competitive with fossil fuels.