Idea on generating energy

I was trying to think of some sort of fuel that could be used to boil water and create hot enough steam to turn a turbine.

Now with the supposed global warming thats going which i dont real believe. Carbon dioxide is a green house gas and it traps heat and its only about .032% of the atmosphere.

So what if you used co2 as a fuel before you think im crazy I thought this idea would work

I looked at the planet venus with an atmosphere composed of about 96% co2

what if you stuffed a tempered glass green house with as close as you could get to 100% co2 and exposed it to sunlight

Shouldn't it reach a high enough temperature to boil water?
If you put a boiler inside of it and sealed it off with only to pipes coming out one to add water and one to connect to a turbine were steam can move it.

just a thought it could be flawed science for all I know. I would like to know why it wouldn't work too

It might work, but I don't see the advantage to it. you could accomplish the same thing with simple clear insulating materials. Layers of clear plastic, for instance, separated by insulating gases (like CO2).

I believe this has actually been used for steam generation before (without the CO2), but it is really only thermal solar energy being used. The CO2 wouldn't be a 'fuel', as it would not be used up.

TheRedneck

Originally posted by TheRedneck
I believe this has actually been used for steam generation before (without the CO2), but it is really only thermal solar energy being used. The CO2 wouldn't be a 'fuel', as it would not be used up.

TheRedneck

yea but when the sunlight hits the c02 it should absorb the light and release it at a high temperature .since co2 is a greenhouse gas its important that this is used as a "fuel" instead of regular air.

[edit on 15-4-2008 by evolutionz]

water vapor is a better absorber of energy than co2... i believe, it is also the biggest contributer to the green house effect.

I would think that you would lose a lot more of energy to radiant cooling than you would think. You might could get some effect if you painted the floor black and used a liquid with a lower boiling point than water. Here are some boiling points of different substances.

Boiling Points

If you use a flammable substance, you better use a closed system with NO oxygen in it.

If you have an actual greenhouse, you don't need a gas that sort of acts like one when in several mile thick layers.

Just build a solar oven. it's an easy and common DIY project, with instructions no doubt littering the internet for solar ovens of all types. I built one when I was like nine. The problem, of course, is that you probably like to cook things when it's convenient, and not just at noon on sunny days.

My bet is that it wouldn't make a single degree difference whether you filled the greenhouse with 100% CO2 versus regular nitrogen/oxygen air.

[edit on 17-4-2008 by mdiinican]