9 ms·

I have a mind-bending question (at least it makes me wonder) I think it does not matter which energy storage unit we consume right now. Eventually all of them

by obilgic 14y ago

I have a mind-bending question (at least it makes me wonder) I think it does not matter which energy storage unit we consume right now. Eventually all of them will be consumed. Renewable energy? nope it is not really renewable, it is just another energy storage unit, just renews faster than oil, because it stores less energy. Ultimately the only energy source we have is the sun. What will happen when our daily consumption rate becomes larger than the amount sun can suppl?

ed209 14y ago
You might find this interesting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(energy) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(energy) Total worldwide energy consumption (2008) 10^19 Total energy from the sun that strikes earth each year 10^24 Total energy output from the sun each year 10^34
- obilgic 14y ago
  Thanks, definitely interesting. Seems like we will have a lot of time to answer my question.
- m_mueller 14y ago
  How much of that 10^24 is required to power earth's ecosystem though? Not that this is relevant now, but I could see it becoming relevant when/if we move towards leeching 10^21 of that energy for human needs in a hundred years - which isn't really much in global terms. Mankind might need to move towards a level 2 civilization earlier than some people imagine. That or we figure out large scale fusion energy.
  - legitsource 14y ago
    I doubt we get to the point where we start taking too much light for plants to survive any time soon, and the heat will end up here anyway.
InclinedPlane 14y ago
The Sun 4e26 Watts of energy. If the human population swelled to ten quadrillion people (ten million billion humans) and human civilization used all of the power of the Sun each human would have the equivalent power of the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima every half an hour, continuously. To say that such levels of energy usage are "academic" and "purely hypothetical" is an understatement.
snowwrestler 14y ago
Matter can be converted directly to energy; the farther down that path we go, the greater our potential energy reserves. I think we should be using each energy source to bootstrap toward this. By using wind, water, and burning trees, we were able to bootstrap technology to access and use fossil fuels. Using fossil fuels, we were able to bootstrap technology for nuclear fission, which converts a tiny amount of matter to energy. Using nuclear fission, we are working toward nuclear fusion, which would convert more matter to more energy. Using fusion we would work toward even more matter-energy conversion--through some yet-to-be-theorized process. Yes, in the very long run, entropy will get all the energy sources, but that is a very long run to be worried about.

by obilgic 14y ago

ed209 14y ago

You might find this interesting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(energy) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(energy) Total worldwide energy consumption (2008) 10^19 Total energy from the sun that strikes earth each year 10^24 Total energy output from the sun each year 10^34

obilgic 14y ago
Thanks, definitely interesting. Seems like we will have a lot of time to answer my question.
m_mueller 14y ago
How much of that 10^24 is required to power earth's ecosystem though? Not that this is relevant now, but I could see it becoming relevant when/if we move towards leeching 10^21 of that energy for human needs in a hundred years - which isn't really much in global terms. Mankind might need to move towards a level 2 civilization earlier than some people imagine. That or we figure out large scale fusion energy.
- legitsource 14y ago
  I doubt we get to the point where we start taking too much light for plants to survive any time soon, and the heat will end up here anyway.

InclinedPlane 14y ago

The Sun 4e26 Watts of energy. If the human population swelled to ten quadrillion people (ten million billion humans) and human civilization used all of the power of the Sun each human would have the equivalent power of the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima every half an hour, continuously. To say that such levels of energy usage are "academic" and "purely hypothetical" is an understatement.

snowwrestler 14y ago

Matter can be converted directly to energy; the farther down that path we go, the greater our potential energy reserves. I think we should be using each energy source to bootstrap toward this. By using wind, water, and burning trees, we were able to bootstrap technology to access and use fossil fuels. Using fossil fuels, we were able to bootstrap technology for nuclear fission, which converts a tiny amount of matter to energy. Using nuclear fission, we are working toward nuclear fusion, which would convert more matter to more energy. Using fusion we would work toward even more matter-energy conversion--through some yet-to-be-theorized process. Yes, in the very long run, entropy will get all the energy sources, but that is a very long run to be worried about.