Sadly, I doubt that thorium will take off. For one thing, the article itself hints at why thorium isn't already in widespread use.
The potential of thorium reactors was well know way back in the 50's and 60's. But the government specifically chose uranium reactors because they generated radioactive waste—that could be used in nuclear warheads.
And of course, these days people pay no attention to thorium at all. I wonder if there would be so much concern over Iran and North Korea building their reactors if they used thorium instead...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Yeah, but you knoe there would be an accident that would turn us all into Norse Gods- cant have that now, can we?
Posted by Zipacna (Member # 1881) on :
The one thing that puts me off is that this was advoctaed by the Torygraph. Maybe it's me, but agreeing with them just feels wrong on so many levels! Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Blah. Dudes. People have been saying "X will get us off oil in Y years" for like...ever. Nothing like this will take off in our lifetimes...cuz oil is *profitable*. Why is that so hard to understand :-/
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Because you can get greedy, hoarding people to do anything you want as long as you present them with a way of doing it that yields equal or higher payoff for less effort spent. Duh-ouh-ouh!? Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
quote:Originally posted by Daniel Butler: Blah. Dudes. People have been saying "X will get us off oil in Y years" for like...ever. Nothing like this will take off in our lifetimes...cuz oil is *profitable*. Why is that so hard to understand :-/
Well oil won't be profitable forever and from what I gather, at the rate we're going I wouldn't be surprised if most of us live to see it run out entierly. We're going to have to find something that works pretty soon if we intend civilisation to see the 22nd century.
Until we crack fusion reactors, developing smaller, more efficient and safer fission reactors is the best place to focus our efforts. As it stands, solar, wind and wave power can only supplement demand, not meet it. Even that is occasionally hampered by a particular breed of moron that thinks wind turbines are a bad idea because they're an eyesore...No joke. I really despair for the species sometimes.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Oil won't be profitable forever, but it'll be profitable for quite awhile. It's been awhile since I read an estimate of how 'much' we have left, but I thought the estimate at the time was over a century.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Really? When I was in school we were taught it was more like 30-50 years left on all fossil fuels, not just oil and that was well over a decade ago. Of course back then there wasn't the access to the Arctic deposits that there is now, so that may have extended things by a few decades, but it'd still depends on accurately predicting rates of consumption and I'm pretty sure we've been using more than anticipated.
Posted by Zipacna (Member # 1881) on :
Indeed, when I was in school we were taught/told that there was at most 50-years of oil and gas left...and I left school nearly a decade ago (which is more depressing than anything else). Granted coal deposits will supposedly last a few centuries, but that doesn't help with cars and things of that nature.
The whole windfarm arguement does drive me insane. There were proposals in this part of the country a couple of years ago to shove a windfarm up on the mountains around here, which got shot down in a flame of public vitriol. Sure they're hardly a work of art, but I don't quite get the argument about them destroying the countryside. I live in the south Wales vallies for goodness sake...the area is quite literally build on coal. I didn't see anyone rallying in favour of shutting the coal mines down because they destroy the environment...indeed, the exact opposite is true. The hypocrisy in this is ironic more than anything else.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Yeah, windfarms are a real eyesore...while the coal industry blows up mountains to get at deep coal veins- then dumps the slurry into whatever river or stream is closest.
For them, it's less expensive to fight the EPA fines in court for years than it is to act responsibly.
My dream is to find an inexpensive home device that generates safe power- then make it publicly available on a non-profit basis to everyone, everywhere. ...completely destroying the various oil, coal and nuclear industries overnight.
When asked why I'd forgo billions in profits from marketing such a device I'd reply "Just to fuck over those polluting assholes."
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
quote:My dream is to find an inexpensive home device that generates safe power- then make it publicly available on a non-profit basis to everyone, everywhere.
You could find it. If you spoke Hovito.
I hear some good stuff about tide pumps outside coastlines, but humanity probably won't really put their back into it until things start looking really grim. Speaking of grim, the only time I've encountered thorium before was in 2004, when I killed a Sullustan for some of the stuff. Made a nice boom.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
when we all die and become the next layer of resources for something to mine/exploit... i hope we cause cancer...
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Back in the day they were saying we have 50 years of oil and gas resources left, which was true according to the economy at the time. Now that supply is starting to go down and prices go up, locations that were deemed to expensive to extract from are now becoming profitable. Like the Alberta oil sands. Previous deposits offshore that were extracted to the break-even point before are being re-visited to extract that last little bit that is profitable again. And so on.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Personally, I love how global warming and the melting icecaps are allowing countries like Russia, Norway, Canada and the US to drill further and further north as the glaciers break up. Perhaps one day they'll glance up from the trough long enough to figure out WHY the ice is melting in the first place.
As for how much is left, I really don't see everyone waiting around until literally the last well runs dry before switching over to something else. Whatever happens, it's going to be chaos in the middle east in general and Saudi Arabia in particular (even by their standards.) I imagine the only way most of those economies are going to have a chance of surviving is if solar power becomes very efficient and very exportable.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
since we're fucked, no matter what (since nobody in goverment wants to take responsiblity) we do...
im just gonna play on the 'net as long as i can... but i need to make sure i print all my pics before i run outta juice or paper...
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
YAWWWN
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Pfft, sorry about that...very, very drunk at the time.
Posted by Williamlk (Member # 2236) on :
I actually made an investment in the Scuderi engine. It's sort of like a hybrid. They have been saying it's going public for like 5 years now. I was so excited about it at first, but now, I'm not so sure.
I have a feeling we are all screwed when the oil finally dries up.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
quote:Originally posted by Pensive's Wetness: im just gonna play on the 'net as long as i can... but i need to make sure i print all my pics before i run outta juice or paper...
Good idea, it's gonna be a sad, sad day when all that porn disappears.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Never happen. P0rn will never die!
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Rocco Never Dies?
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
What was the name of that engine that supposedly used like a little drop of gasoline to get as much mileage as most cars get from a gallon? Anybody know what I'm talking about? I remember that it didn't use pistons...
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
What it ever stolen from its inventor?
Posted by Axeman 3D (Member # 1050) on :
Anything other than fusion is a stopgap, unless you know how to make zero point energy or cheap antimatter?
My friend is a power systems planner and he hates windfarms and their ilk, because they cause way more problems than they're worth. They are very on/off, and it's no simple matter to deal with the irregular peaks and troughs of their supply feeding into the grid.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
What about harnessing the power of waves? As much as I hate Richard Kelly, I recall one of his movies featured a device which could harness the power of the oceans' currents and convert into usable energy.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I think they're about to test a new design up in the North Sea somewhere, though it has more to do with tides than waves. Either way, like wind it's variable and not a steady flow like you'd get from fuel based power generation. As I said, at best this kind of thing, like solar power is for now only really suitable as a supplement to the grid, but can't reliably support the grid on their own. For that, as Kenny said we need fusion power. Since that doesn't seam likely in the near future, "better" fission reactors are going to be the most reliable source of electricity. That or radically reduce the need to consume so much.
Posted by Axeman 3D (Member # 1050) on :
We will only ever need more energy, not less. Again, conservation and building more efficient equipment is nothing but a stall, trying to slow down that increasing need. Everyone better cross their fingers and hope we get a viable form of fusion up and running in the next 15-20 years or so, otherwise the world is going to become a very harsh place.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I don't know, we managed OK...well, we *survived* for the 10,000 or so years as a technological civilisation (in one form or another) up until the end of the 19th century without electricity being so prevalent, so that alone is not going to be the biggest problem.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
A more obvious solution to the world's ever-expanding power problems is to just stop fucking breeding like roaches!
The world's population explosion is the cause of pretty much all the future's problems- at the current rate of population growth, potable water will become a much more valueable commitity than oil or even gold.
Less people= more available recources= cheaper power.
This brings me to my Giant Killer Robot Program...
Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
quote:Originally posted by Pensive's Wetness: when we all die and become the next layer of resources for something to mine/exploit... i hope we cause cancer...
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