Solar and Wind Could Power the West Right Now, All of America in 2026

most solutions are relevant to decentralizing and building up sustainable local infrastructure.

very true, in well within the next 10 years, multi-renewable solutions could make energy a non-issue. Children born today would look back and wonder what fools the previous generation was for not starting earlier. For those children, free energy would be a right and be an example of freedom as clean air and clean water is assumed in the present.

You're very welcome!
It undepresses me to see a story like this be so appreciated.
I see a movement here.....

Bill Gates knows what the F is going on.

sorry, but Gates is saying more of the same

On one hand Gates personalizes the energy issue like the "miracle of computers" but then argues that only national and internation corporations can resolve the climate issue.

Gates argues a limitation of renewable energy is the density of materials and amount of land needed to supply a comparable energy demand filled by carbon producers. But he does not seem to consider that if each residential home has built-in solar and wind energy sources, then the square footage solar and wind farms needed would be reduced. Furthermore, each zero-emission house would have multi-renewable technologies that would allow farming in more than one type of climate condition. Is this possible? Yes. After all, if backyards once had telephones poles, why not solar panel poles and or wind turbines on houses where old turbines were placed?

To be honest Gates speech is more about supporting the current so called "smart energy policies" under the guise of technological innovation and not about reducing co2. Sure, Gates' plan may have in theory reduced emissions, but in practice innovation is frowned upon when carbon inc. is forced to upgrade every year. .

What is available for all humans now is energy freedom, or energy self-reliance. But that freedom cannot be achieved, if the national policy promotes mass solutions and thus dependency.

Until there is a way to eliminate the waste issue , nuclear is simply not a viable option . Wind and solar beat it every time , tidal beats it . geothermal beats it . Nuclear has a price that stretches to eternity -- way too high .

The problem is we are running out of time to avert a climate meltdown.
It is projected that by 2035 renewable energy from solar, wind and geothermal will supply only 15% of America's electricity. That's too little too late.
The new nuclear technology Gates is talking about runs on nuclear waste which solves the huge problem of what to do with radioactive waste.
I truly wish we could reduce atmospheric carbon by rapidly shifting to solar, wind and geothermal energy but it looks like that's not going to happen anytime soon.
C02 poses a far greater threat to all life on Earth than nukes.
Gaia theorist James Lovelock and NASA's head climatologist Jim Hansen make a great case for this in their recent books, Revenge of Gaia, and Storms of My Grandchildren, which I highly recomment.

though I agree with the sentiment, I agree with the "will" of the people to make the change more, because even if the reactor is possible, according to the article DH posted, it is still being developed and may be commercially ready in 15 years. Which means it will be 2035 before they think it might work.

however, if you just mean conventional nuke plants, I assume you are not just referring to the US. In that case, I barely trust the NRC and state agencies to keep tabs on possible leaks, how can one be sure the other countries will maintain the plants well .

lol. if you read this, coincendetly , as I was thinking the thought, I thought of some of your comments...my platfom would be free energy and free pot...could I win in canada

"...they did it, it works, it costed peanuts compare to a single nuke crappy plant and they just going for more! "

Oh yes, Britain as a whole is really on top of this wind power stuff. All those wind turbines and look at the official figures:

Data last updated:2011-10-12 16:50:00 (GMT)
WIND: 314MW which amounts to 0.7% of total power generation

In the past 24 hours wind power generated 12954MW which amounted to barely 1.5% of Britain's total power generation.

Combined cycle gas turbine (45.0%), nuclear (16.1%) and coal (33.8%) seem to rule the roost over here, mainly because they work and are reliable. You can litter Scotland's landscape with wind turbines but you won't shut down the alternatives. They are needed for when the wind doesn't blow at the optimum speed.

again thanks for a pointless and obvious fact, but the article is about ROOF top energy sourcers and what could be possibe, but I guess brits like paying energy bills.

alexandrek stated, "Scotland, soon up to 80%, tide and wind plant"

I assumed "wind plant" to mean wind power. Obviously I was mistaken! Sorry for the misunderstanding!!!

Also, the article title is, "Solar and Wind Could Power the West Right Now" Again, my mistake. When I read wind I assumed it meant wind.
We don't see many rooftop wind turbines here in the UK (Scotland included, last time I looked Scotland was a part of the UK) and there isn't actually any mention of rooftop wind turbines in the article you tell me is about ROOF top energy "sourcers" (sourcers?) "but the article is about ROOF top energy sourcers and what could be possibe" Maybe that's what I meant in another thread where I mentioned illiteracy.

Brits have nothing against paying energy bills, but if you can show me a source of free power I'd be happy to use it, but by free I mean free, or cheap, and not heavily subsidised by the government (i.e. paid for at great expense by the tax payer).

"spain, 50% mainly wind (=8 nuke power plant) "

Solar power in Spain accounted for around 4% of its total generating capacity.
As of March this year wind power in Spain accounted for 21 percent of demand, nuclear supplied 19 percent and coal-powered electricity 12.9 percent. So whereas you are correct that Spain is doing well with renewables, this is only because of government subsidies.
Ask yourself why Spain hasn't been able to close down any of its eight nuclear power plants?
Solar only works during the day, wind only works when it's windy. Conventional power generation will always be needed to be on stand-by for when the 'green' energy cannot supply power.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/20/us-energy-spain-wind-idUSTRE70J4F02011...
"Spain's capacity to produce wind power grew at the slowest rate last year since 2003 due to uncertainty over future subsidies..."
"Subsidies have made Spain a leading producer of renewable energy but have added billions of euros to the debt pile of a government fighting to persuade financial markets its public finances are in order.
In July last year, the government reached a preliminary agreement with wind and solar producers, in which premiums paid to wind power producers above market prices would be cut by 35 percent in 2013.
Since then, however, the government has failed to reach cross-party agreement on an "energy pact" to determine the future of subsidies and Spain's generation mix."

Wind power is great when someone else pays for it, or when paid for by taxes, but it isn't free and at the current rate of subsidies it isn't a viable replacement for conventional energy generation.
Look at that sentence above, "premiums paid to wind power producers ***above*** market prices would be cut by 35 percent in 2013". How much longer can governments pay these inflated prices? Spain is already in deep financial trouble, and the 'green' fallacy is only making things worse. Their 'green' revolution is costing 2.2 jobs for every 'green' job created. Is that sustainable?

"On particular windy days, wind power generation has surpassed all other electricity sources in Spain"

True (on particular windy days). No-one is saying wind power doesn't work - it does - just not all the time, not always when needed, not up to advertised capacity, and presently is a very expensive source of power. Wind turbines are also dangerous to birds and bats!
If you only need power generation on windy days then wind power is perfect, but wind turbines will not replace a single conventional power station.
And before anyone starts hurling accusations at me that I'm being paid by an oil company to write this; I wish wind power was as good, cheap and efficient as most people seem to believe it is, but at the moment it isn't a viable alternative.
I live only a few miles south from you. I know there are days where, during periods of high pressure, cloud lingers for days on end and no wind blows. December 2008 was one such time. Temperatures hovered just below freezing for days. Neither solar nor wind power would have been any use at that time, a time when energy was badly needed.

Alternative energy has its uses, but is not about to replace conventional power yet - it isn't anywhere near good/reliable enough - yet.

I had a sudden inspiration for a fantastic "Wind Engine" in November 2000, quite unexpected actually. I am NOT a big fan of wind power generation but my engine had leverages built into it that enhanced low windspeeds.

There are way too many better sources of energy than THIN wind. Solar is great if it's magnified, but the idjits are refusing to magnify it => they insist on "doing it their way".

YOU CAN'T TELL EM NUTHIN'.

Again the problem is money. The average person can,t afford to buy the panels and battery banks, because, wait for it, they have to spend what they do have to the utility companies.The price of oil controls everything.

When Workers are paid too much money they just stop working, everybody knows that. Wages have to be set to a level where they don't {UGH} get ahead, so they stay incentivized to keep tugging against the plows.

Stop singing your brains out George!

And the same Principle applies to vacation time. Give workers too many days off in a row they have time to look for another job, so the trick to that one is not more days off and oh yeah, offer them more Overtime! Keep them too tired to look for another job. Again, the trick is to set the Base Wage plenty LOW so the Overtime doesn't go too HIGH.

I have a word of advice for you Chump-O Jones. Get out of Nashville while you still have time to find some real man's work.

the way things are youll be taxed on it or some other means to make it seem like a no fix...nonetheless definitely the right frame of mind and the direction to head

"The average person can,t afford to buy the panels and battery banks......The price of oil controls everything."

Very true, to go off the grid it is very expensive and battery banks can be dangerous and not to mention impossible to find (the golf cart rechargeable kind). However, staying connected but not having to pay the polluting corporations is the next best thing. 10k is about the price it would take to create a multi-renewable sources including solar and wind to achieve that goal. Certainly that is not cheap, but in line with the cost of re-siding a home; unlike even a few years ago when costs were easily $20,000 with fewer and less efficient options.

"should not be taken as an endorsement for the pesky Republicans"

but it can be taken as not an endorsement for democrats.
As much I agree with most of the issues that current members support, Being anti-NAFTA is not one of them. Certainly NAFTA is flawed but necessary. In short, U.S can either support cheap labor from Mexico or from China. Furthermore, though I have "no facts to prove this", NAFTA is needed to reduce U.S. Immigration problems.

and of course many people do not understand the whole story, not to mention, the solar/wind farms are somewhat a carbon inc. solution.

It all comes down to "will."

Bill Gates plays to both sides and supports geoengineering schemes for profit as well as Monsanto, so no, he doesn't appeal to me at all.

Please post a photo or drawing or patent for your engines!
Who knows who is reading.....

I like these other designs a lot Cool. I was kind of kidding you guys. As if I was in Spanky's gang and bawling.

cool is right Gman post them like tesla for the benefit of all...you've got some ingenious ideas

Well. The SECRET to my earlier engines was actually a FLAWED FLOWCHART sub-routine called a "repeating loop". That was how I got an engine to drop into RUN-AWAY MODE using Air & Steam.

IT WAS A MISTAKE. That's why all their combustion engines are wrong. They didn't put in the mistake that makes engines RUN RIGHT.

HAHAHA

That's enough for now. Don't want to mess up everybody's night's sleep realizing how badly they've been short-sheeted ALL THEIR LIFE..

How about the Wankle (rotary) engine?
My parents bought a Mazda Rx4 the year they came out and I was never so impressed with a car.

i agree, very cool, even if not entirely possible now

World-shattering ideas are needed but unfortunately "ideas" are brain-residing intangibles, tough to draw on paper. And even if they were what we have right now is a world filled with educated people who easily override the words of a former truck driver & donut baker, men "in the business" whose every PhD word crushes mine.

Eventually truth will win over them => when it's time it is they who will be shattered and their Naysayer books all burned.

But, for the sake of this thread whew ~and the people here who deserve to hear it~ I'll type out this Key Wisdom ONE MORE TIME => THERMO DYNAMIC LAWS APPLY ONLY TO HEAT-PRODUCING ENGINES. That's why they're called THERMO for.

My engines don't make much heat, and the heat they do produce has great usefulness to the overall system, WHICH MEANS LOOK OUT ANOTHER GREAT LAW => negatives can be turned into being positives to engine systems like mine.

However, that being said, I am not the only inventor out here who discovered that. Another man named Pantone designed an engine that used catalytic converter heat to vaporize the fuel enroute to the engine and it also is a great advance, outputs very little pollution. But he was thrown in prison for three years, out west. He had all the documentation you could want and also had working models.

So having drawings & videos didn't help Pantone do anything but get incarcerated away plus his health greatly damaged. Speaking of poor health though, you know how Mitt Romney when he's speaking has a kind of halting manner? It looks like "being thoughtful" but no, it's serious stuff => he has synaptic connection damage probably bordering on age-related pre-Alzheimer's common to men his age. Nothing beats good white whipped cream presidents having brain damage eh? Having insufficient bloodflo through their carotid to the brain. Low to Missing thyroid hormones. He is no Jack Kennedy.

More words quickly going over the dam in a barrel eh? Old white voters still fear black darkies being near their lily-white daughters. dumdumdumdum

Stepping through the portal into the future is hard to do dragging all your old furniture.

A growing number of environmentalists and climatologists, such as James Lovelock and Jim Hansen, believe that nuclear power is essential in the transition to renewable energy in order to avert a climate meltdown, claiming that we are at the tipping point of no return right now.
Unless Obama can turn solar and wind into an Apollo mission (as JustZ proposes below) we have no carbon-free alternatives to fossil fuel for decades when it will be too late.

Z is correct, we need to put everyone on it and make it happen. The worst thing that we can do is build Nuclear Plants, they are easy targets, and the destruction that they could cause to drinking water and farming is not worth the gamble.

I couldn't agree with you more.
Which is why we must demand solar and wind now!

The East Coast could use wave and tide tech. The tide at the Bay of Fundy off Maine is 50 feet.

Let's just hope we can implement this technology very soon or "game over" (as Hansen says).

sry but to two nuclear disasters either caused by human negligence or evil mother earth should be enough of a lesson to us all. Not to mention the steady pollution they make that is not measured or counted. Plus what happens when these plants have to be decommissioned.

Thanks JZ
I'm always looking for stories like this to cheer myself up.
Everything has become so cynical and depressing!
We need to remember the good news to keep the fighting spirit.

We are starting to come around. I can feel it in the air. I have never lost hope in our humanity and like you my worries come's from the sad news we see all the time. Then you see what is happening now or just a simple act of kindness and I get refreshed.

It's the hundreds of millions of dollars that the fossil fuel industry give to politicians left and right that is the problem.
And, of course, the denier liars they pay to confuse the public.