5 ms·

Why would anyone move there? You need work to attract workers. Why would any company move/start there? Middle of the desert smh. Why not build it underwater an

by bserge 5y ago

Why would anyone move there? You need work to attract workers. Why would any company move/start there? Middle of the desert smh. Why not build it underwater and get rid of all the pesky ethical/moral laws, allow any biotech research and free experimentation on humans?

gremloni 5y ago
Speak for yourself. Middle of the desert is amazing given there is a source of water (aquifer, desalination plant etc.). Deserts are clean, nice and hot year round, not humid and extremely conducive to solar energy.
Karrot_Kream 5y ago
Building human-comfortable areas in a desert is quite environmentally friendly, given a source of water (and I don't want to brush this one under the rug; it's actually fairly difficult). Things about a desert that make energy use lower: - Evaporative cooling can decrease cooling needs. Using a fan or an evaporative cooler is much more feasible in dry environments. - Hot days and cool nights mean it's fairly simple to store thermal energy and use that for cooking, water heating, area heating, and/or clothes drying (if you want to actively heat your clothes) at night - Lots of sun, so solar energy is highly viable. That means lighting can be done through solar energy. - If the area is windy, fairly easy to ventilate homes just through outdoor wind and maybe an E/HRV if necessary High humidity areas are really difficult to cool because after a certain Relative Humidity level in the air, fans just stop being effective due to evaporative cooling being insufficient. ACs were originally invented as a method of dehumidification. That said, growing crops in these environments can be a challenge (you can certainly grow aeroponically in greenhouses, but that's energy use, so the numbers need to be crunched) and using transport to fetch water and crops could make the whole project non-viable. There is potential for using solar to desalinate but the water itself needs to come from somewhere.
- Ekaros 5y ago
  What is viability of storing thermal energy for cooking? Out-side very few specific scenarios like sous-vide proteins, the temperatures generally used are too high for efficient energy transfer.
  - Karrot_Kream 5y ago
    Sous-vide (and heating the water through solar energy) is indeed one way to do it. Another way in a sunny area: Try to grab a solar parabolic dish (an example is the Haines Cooker [1]) and place something with a large thermal mass inside. An example of this is firebrick, but regular brick will do (regular brick has a lower heat capacity). Firebrick has a heat capacity [2] of 0.5 MWh / m^3. As the sun sets, put something with high thermal conductivity atop the heated firebricks, and use that to cook. A practical item that works is a cast iron pot or grill. Another way to cook like this is to use thermal cookers ([3], [4]). Thermal cookers work by wrapping a pot with a large layer of insulation, keeping the food cooking over time. They're popular in East Asia to make porridges (congee) and slow-boiled vegetable/meat dishes (nabe). If you can make your pot come to a boil in something like a Haines cooker and plop the pot inside the insulated chamber, then you can have a hot meal ready by evening. Of course the most "comfortable" way to cook on clean energy would probably be to store the excess generated solar energy in large batteries and discharge through an induction stove or into a modern PID-based slow/pressure cooker (like the Instant Pot). You're dealing with the losses in battery storage and energy transmission, but that allows people to cook with the "flow" that they expect (e.g. turn a knob and wait for your burner to come to temperature.) There's also a world of biomass stoves out there but if there's enough surplus solar, it's best to stick to an induction stove powered through solar. [1]: https://hainessolarcookers.com https://hainessolarcookers.com [2]: https://inldigitallibrary.inl.gov/sites/sti/sti/Sort_8882.pdf https://inldigitallibrary.inl.gov/sites/sti/sti/Sort_8882.pd... [3]: https://www.wonderbagworld.com/ https://www.wonderbagworld.com/ [4]: https://www.thermos.com.sg/thermos/products/shuttle-chef/tcra-6000-shuttle-chef/ https://www.thermos.com.sg/thermos/products/shuttle-chef/tcr...
saalweachter 5y ago
+1 on jobs. It's fun to play sim-city, but if you don't have a plan for what new industries your new city is going to be supporting you're not attracting new residents.

by bserge 5y ago

gremloni 5y ago

Speak for yourself. Middle of the desert is amazing given there is a source of water (aquifer, desalination plant etc.). Deserts are clean, nice and hot year round, not humid and extremely conducive to solar energy.

Karrot_Kream 5y ago

Building human-comfortable areas in a desert is quite environmentally friendly, given a source of water (and I don't want to brush this one under the rug; it's actually fairly difficult). Things about a desert that make energy use lower: - Evaporative cooling can decrease cooling needs. Using a fan or an evaporative cooler is much more feasible in dry environments. - Hot days and cool nights mean it's fairly simple to store thermal energy and use that for cooking, water heating, area heating, and/or clothes drying (if you want to actively heat your clothes) at night - Lots of sun, so solar energy is highly viable. That means lighting can be done through solar energy. - If the area is windy, fairly easy to ventilate homes just through outdoor wind and maybe an E/HRV if necessary High humidity areas are really difficult to cool because after a certain Relative Humidity level in the air, fans just stop being effective due to evaporative cooling being insufficient. ACs were originally invented as a method of dehumidification. That said, growing crops in these environments can be a challenge (you can certainly grow aeroponically in greenhouses, but that's energy use, so the numbers need to be crunched) and using transport to fetch water and crops could make the whole project non-viable. There is potential for using solar to desalinate but the water itself needs to come from somewhere.

Ekaros 5y ago
What is viability of storing thermal energy for cooking? Out-side very few specific scenarios like sous-vide proteins, the temperatures generally used are too high for efficient energy transfer.
- Karrot_Kream 5y ago
  Sous-vide (and heating the water through solar energy) is indeed one way to do it. Another way in a sunny area: Try to grab a solar parabolic dish (an example is the Haines Cooker [1]) and place something with a large thermal mass inside. An example of this is firebrick, but regular brick will do (regular brick has a lower heat capacity). Firebrick has a heat capacity [2] of 0.5 MWh / m^3. As the sun sets, put something with high thermal conductivity atop the heated firebricks, and use that to cook. A practical item that works is a cast iron pot or grill. Another way to cook like this is to use thermal cookers ([3], [4]). Thermal cookers work by wrapping a pot with a large layer of insulation, keeping the food cooking over time. They're popular in East Asia to make porridges (congee) and slow-boiled vegetable/meat dishes (nabe). If you can make your pot come to a boil in something like a Haines cooker and plop the pot inside the insulated chamber, then you can have a hot meal ready by evening. Of course the most "comfortable" way to cook on clean energy would probably be to store the excess generated solar energy in large batteries and discharge through an induction stove or into a modern PID-based slow/pressure cooker (like the Instant Pot). You're dealing with the losses in battery storage and energy transmission, but that allows people to cook with the "flow" that they expect (e.g. turn a knob and wait for your burner to come to temperature.) There's also a world of biomass stoves out there but if there's enough surplus solar, it's best to stick to an induction stove powered through solar. [1]: https://hainessolarcookers.com https://hainessolarcookers.com [2]: https://inldigitallibrary.inl.gov/sites/sti/sti/Sort_8882.pdf https://inldigitallibrary.inl.gov/sites/sti/sti/Sort_8882.pd... [3]: https://www.wonderbagworld.com/ https://www.wonderbagworld.com/ [4]: https://www.thermos.com.sg/thermos/products/shuttle-chef/tcra-6000-shuttle-chef/ https://www.thermos.com.sg/thermos/products/shuttle-chef/tcr...

saalweachter 5y ago

+1 on jobs. It's fun to play sim-city, but if you don't have a plan for what new industries your new city is going to be supporting you're not attracting new residents.