where was i..?? Oh Yes!

It is the difficulty of getting funding for an enterprise that does not hold the potential of vast wealth for a few individuals (or even countries, like Aus, with huge coal and uranium reserves) that holds the develpoment of a cheap plentiful energy supply back. Scientific funding has always mostly been paid for by those who want to maximise their financial output from it - or those who demand a more powerful weapon or advantage over their 'enemy'.

I hope that through forums such as these we can help the majority of mankind become aware of this and develop ways to allow the 'masses' to decide for themselves where to spend taxpayers dollars on such vital issues instead of letting indoctrinated and corruptible politicians do that for us.

Oh Dear; I am getting the feeling that you are expecting too much of
science and engineering. No one has yet come up with an alternative
energy source that is anywhere near capable of supplying a very much
more reduced base load. The hydro pump it up hill and then run it
downhill is all very well for those odd occassions but to do it on
schedule every day at sunset to supply the a grid is just pie in the sky.

I'll bet without really knowing that there is nowhere such an enormous
amount of water could be stored.
Have you ever been in a power station ? You really should arrange to
visit one to get some idea of the magnitude.

Cheers

Ah.... so Wayne says in his post on 20 October:

"Many new reactors use thorium anyway".

Then on 21/10 he says:

"It's a new technology".

Which functioning reactors use thorium, Wayne? Please explain?

"The hydro pump it up hill and then run it downhill is all very well for those odd occassions but to do it on schedule every day at sunset to supply the a grid is just pie in the sky.

I'll bet without really knowing that there is nowhere such an enormous amount of water could be stored..."

I really should not have to point out the bleedin' obvious to anyone over the age of 6 but here goes...

Australia (and because i live here and my glorious leader is trying to get us to swallow his nuclear friends' bullsh#,t and the topic began discussing Australia's future i am directing most of my ideas towards Australia) is an ISLAND! It is surrounded by unimaginably vast supplies of water which is capable of being drawn off and, using the Sun's rays alone (heated water in a pipe RISES!! - use a one way valve and bingo!),lifted to a greater potential energy state during daylight hours (not only at sunset for God's sake - where did you drag that notion from?) Over 90 % of Australia's land is uninhabited/cultivated so we are not exactly short of places to store vast amounts of the stuff either!

Ahhh you smile knowingly - but salt water is corrosive - it'll stuff the pipes and pumps!

Fortunately we were clever enough to invent plastics and ceramics, I reply - no metal needs ever come into contact with the water! ...cont'd.

(from above)

As for ideas of magnitude - i can comfortably state, Bazz, that you have not the slightest idea of my ability to comprehend orders of magnitude and I humbly suggest it is you with a problem in that area. Might i suggest you get an idea of the magnitude of the solution you are downplaying by checking out (as often as is necessary until it sinks in) the table i posted about 10 posts back? The Earth receives in just one/365th of a revolution about the sun OVER THREE TIMES THE ENERGY EQUIVALENT OF THE TOTAL FOSSIL FUEL RESERVES KNOWN ON THIS PLANET!!
The suns rays hit the Earth 24 hours each and every day. Australia receives far more solar energy than it can possibly use at any time in the next 100 years. And except for a few thousand hot water and pool heaters we almost completely disregard it.

As i am certain Wayne would confirm, as it might suit his ideas of a sci-fi future possibility, in space the Sun actually does shine 24/7 and collectors could feed energy from there to the Earth's surface all day and all night too - like i said a dam was just one simple solution besides batteries - there are many ideas needing just decent funding to be developed in as much time as it would take us to approve, design and build a nuclear water boiler (which if we have to approve the same way Howard conned us over with the Republican issue, we will never get common agreement on a design!)

Use the kind of vision men like C Y O'Connor had over a century past (he built a water pipeline from Perth to Kalgoorlie when everyone told him it was impossible) and the builders of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme (My Dad was one of those) had fifty years back and see the potential in renewables and help achieve them instead of knocking them and settling for what little Johnny wants you to think.

Well BrainDrain; I must smaile at your name.
How spot on. If you put as much effort into the discussion as you put
into making insults then we might rename you.