The Pub Discussion Board

Um... Storymaster?  They DO.  There is a noticeable change in the weather around large cities.  Both from changes in wind as well as the "heat island" effect.  If there weren't, they wouldn't need special wind turbines for cities as opposed to those they use in the country.

But the point is you're talking thousands of wind turbines.  If you start adding them up, they might just equal that hyper-turbine you're talking about.

Eric

Well, first off, the vast majority of the water in the rivers do end up in the oceans... they just make a couple detours first.  So the best you could say is that maybe it is slower when it gets there.

Second, they say that the reduction in salinity of the North Atlantic would be a problem... therefore a MORE saline ocean should be beneficial.

Third, measurements show that 2008 is the coolest year of the last five... so I'm thinking that Global Warming has some problems when faced with Real Life (TM).

Fourth, the ANTarctic ice pack is actually GROWING, not shrinking.  The Arctic ice is shrinking... or WAS.  It is actually bigger this year than last.  Again, Global Warming is butting up against hard facts.

Dams don't really prevent water from getting to the oceans.  They prevented a certain amount of water from getting to the ocean when they were built, but after that, the water still makes it past the dam, it just gets detoured first.

Eric

Yes, localized areas... but what happens when the "localized area" of a windfarm takes up a couple hundred square miles?

And the heat island effect has more to do with the roofing materials used than it does the pollution level.  Think "black body radiation", not "greenhouse effect".

Eric

Eric,

Your comment about roofing material struck an idea in my beady little brain.

Thermo-electric conversion.

I remember when I was a kid and used to climb up into the top of the family garage in the summer.  It was probably 20-30°F hotter up there due to thermal uptake.  In the lab we use thermocouples to measure temperature via voltage generated by a junction of dissimilar metals.  I wonder if anyone has taken a look at using the thousands of square miles of asphalt roofs as thermal drivers to generate power via thermopiles??

(I looked here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermocouple) to refresh my memory about some of the specifics.

I believe that you're right though about the law of unintended consequences about these many and varied plans.  Tidal power (can you say sushi?), what would be the effect of putting a couple of hundred power generating turbines in the gulf stream?  I just watched a propeller-type wind generator blow apart in too high a wind (which I believe was the impetus for 'your' compact wind turbine that dumps when too much wind hits it).

I read that article about the Volt.  At $35k/pop I'll not be getting one any time soon.  My car buying is usually of 3 or so year old cars that I hope will last me seven or more years with minimal repairs.  Popping for a $10k battery pack at year 5 would be a serious deal killer for my minor income.

I believe that the grid does help us keep the flow of power steady but as you said earlier, That way everyone loses power at once!

Hey.  The longer these bull sessions go on the better the chance that one of us may either come up with the NEXT BIG THING or maybe spark a new direction in someone else's mind.

BtC

well thats wierd . id swear i posted in this but now i cant rememebr what i was even suposed to post so i cant post what i wanted to post.......ohh well it will come to me