Tesla just a Tease?

[Rich H]

Originally Posted by SweetDaddyD

How about lets harness that, solar, geothermal, and tidal energy- THEN nuke and natural gas. (even though utilizing any one of the of the first choices on a massive scale, let alone all of them wouldn't leave any need to continue to use non renewable resources) Of course with wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, hydro, etc a huge corporation doesn't have something to sell you to keep it going, and with their lobbying and political influence it's easy to see why these technologies have not been developed in the US.

A modest suggestion, why don't the wind, solar, etc. enthusiasts form a group of electricity users committed to receiving power only from these sources, without any reliability support from fossil-fired power plants, at the actual cost of the alternative supplies? If any significant numbers are willing to do that, you might be surprised at how fast alternative supplies grow.

[njboy]

Originally Posted by SweetDaddyD

How about lets harness that, solar, geothermal, and tidal energy- THEN nuke and natural gas. (even though utilizing any one of the of the first choices on a massive scale, let alone all of them wouldn't leave any need to continue to use non renewable resources) Of course with wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, hydro, etc a huge corporation doesn't have something to sell you to keep it going, and with their lobbying and political influence it's easy to see why these technologies have not been developed in the US.

Wind is of course a form of solar energy and is abundant off shore and in the mid-West. But there are only a few areas of the country to get solar energy from solar panels. I have heard of using geothermal since the 70's but don't really know of many places that can safely harness this energy. As for tidal energy the devices are complex and more susceptable to corrosion and failure. I really think that wind, nuclear and natural gas are our only reliable, clean options at this point. If coal plants could trap the carbon that they produce and just put it back into the ground that is a good alternative but that development seems to be too expensive.

[Aedo]

Originally Posted by njboy

If coal plants could trap the carbon that they produce and just put it back into the ground that is a good alternative but that development seems to be too expensive.

and since coal is pretty much just carbon it seems that is a tough ask!

[AgentTripleX]

abc7news.com: Energy Innovation

[SweetDaddyD]

The French government announced today that it has earmarked a massive €400 million ($549 million) in state support for the development of electric and hybrid cars. The news comes hot on the heels of key pledges on the development of electric cars from Renault and Peugeot-Citroen that signal a major shift in green transport policy across the country.

Speaking at the Paris Motor Show, President Nicolas Sarkozy said the investment is destined “exclusively for the research and development of non-polluting vehicles.” His comments follow earlier announcements from French carmakers Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen of separate agreements with energy company Electricite de France (EdF) to develop and market green vehicles.

In a joint statement with EdF, Peugeot Citroen said that their scheme will support the development of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids. Meanwhile, the Renault agreement will advance the development of an EV charging infrastructure, enabling a country-wide vehicle launch in 2011.

EdF, which is 85% owned by the French government, runs the worlds biggest fleet of EVs and is developing a ’smart’ charging terminal currently being trialled on Toyota Prius’s in the UK. Using innovative vehicle recognition technology, the system allows drivers to be invoiced directly, irrespective of where they charge their vehicles.