Scientists Create Liquid Fuel That Can Store The Sun's Energy For Up to 18 Years

Also known as a "tree."

Cool pour some in my phone

originally posted by: Lysergic
Cool pour some in my phone

If you poured in half the weight worth of an average smartphone, it would produce enough power to power your phone for... A few hours...

The full weight of your phone? Maybe a day or two.

So... Like the same...

originally posted by: namehere
if it's hot enough to heat a home then all that has to be done is pass it through a thermoelectric generator, right? i don't get why they're focusing on using it just for heating homes instead.

Thermoelectric generators depend on heat differentials and the temperature of this is too low. Additionally, thermoelectric generators are inefficient and only used for simplicity [no moving parts]. Look up power generation on satellites. The gradient from a radioactive source at about 700-800*K radiating above the plane of the solar system into deep space at about 3.2*K provides the power. On earth, a 5% boost in electrical output can be had by wrapping the exhaust of a diesel generator exhaust manifold with a thermoelectric generator.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

While this is primarily being focused on for heating purposes, it could still take a good chunk out of fossil fuel reliance.

A very big chunk.

Using the power of the sun has always sounded so much cooler then anything else.

a reply to: ManFromEurope

They are obviously referring to heat generated by photons.

Heat generated by photons = suns energy.

originally posted by: ntech
Why not use your solar and wind energy to create hydrogen? Off peak times could be used to fill hydrogen tanks while at peak times the hydrogen could be burned for electricity. Excess Hydrogen could be sold for various uses including energy generation.

Or maybe move water to the top of storage towers and then drain them at peak times through a generator setup.

A majority of off peak is during night. A problem for solar.

originally posted by: Bluntone22

Well if you spend million to develop a technology you are going to want to reap the benefits.
What are you willing to sacrifice to improve the quality of man?

I don't deny people gotta eat. Sure profit within reason.

You might be surprised at what I am willing to sacrifice for a better world for all.
Trouble is getting people to join in.

This type of system could do wonders for space colonization. Especially for something like a moon base where it sees sunlight in cycles. Solar works great when it is exposed but they need energy storage half the time.

a reply to: neutronflux

I'm both high tech and minimal living.

I only need what I need to survive and live a comfortable life. But I am a huge advocate of technological advancement of mankind.

I can play my video games and watch my netflix while being a productive member of society while leaving a minimal negative footprint on the world.

I don't work for free. I work for what I need.

I don't live to work, I work to live.

Yet here I am a quite skilled IT professional, paying my taxes and contributing to society.

We can have the best of both worlds, but it requires everyone to be on board mindset wise.

a reply to: JHumm

I think that is in part how we imagine it as kids, and kind of see it to some degree when we tried to look at it directly, as kids most of us drew it as yellow and after a while it maybe kind of becomes a bit of a false memory.

But it is indeed white and always has been. If it were ever yellow everything would be yellow hued.

But indeed, daylight is white light.

There are plenty of absolutely massive stores of energy that have already been made, in fact there are two in my own state!
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
They have been in continuous cyclical use since the 70s at that!
There are also talks of a third.
www.transmissionhub.com...

Though technically they are overall energy consumers due to lowering efficiency, just like any transformation of energy is.

a reply to: neutronflux

Hopefully you have some wind then. And some form of alternate energy when the hydrogen runs out. I would think hydrogen and natural gas could be ran through the same burner setup. May have to dilute the hydrogen a bit since it's so explosive. But then natural gas is too.

valuable. Check it

a reply to: scraedtosleep

true. Check it

They believe further refinements of the process will yield temps up to 250 F and if that happens a whole bunch of possibilities open up.

originally posted by: neutronflux

originally posted by: ntech
Why not use your solar and wind energy to create hydrogen? Off peak times could be used to fill hydrogen tanks while at peak times the hydrogen could be burned for electricity. Excess Hydrogen could be sold for various uses including energy generation.

Or maybe move water to the top of storage towers and then drain them at peak times through a generator setup.

A majority of off peak is during night. A problem for solar.

First this thread has nothing to do with 9/11 and secondly the poster you replied to was talking about using wind as well as solar, the main problem with their idea is that it currently takes more energy to create hydrogen than you get back from the process. Something you might have addressed if you knew anything about the subject.

Why are you so down on people looking into alternative energy generation anyway?

Just thought I would add this video that explains this better.

Sounds like gasoline. But not as good.