Powering The World With Water
from the isn't-that-just-a-water-wheel? dept
An article from the UK is talking up an invention, by a retired chemist, to try to power the entire UK using the movement of water in the open seas. The article goes and on and on about how this is a "green" solution, and how the UK could stop using fossil fuels if this took off. Now, I'm all for environmentally friendly energy, but this article seems to get a little carried away. There are lots of other "environmentally friendly" types of power that have had lots of hype, such as wind power and solar power. However, from a cost perspective, they simply don't make that much sense after a certain point. Furthermore, isn't this really just a more modern version of the water wheel? The guy claims he has a patent on the system, but I don't see how hundreds of years of water wheel history doesn't count as prior art.
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Also, factors such as environmental sustainability and becoming less dependent upon politically volatile regions for our energy needs might be important enough that using higher-priced technology might be worth it. I personally favor a multibillion dollar government grant to promote R&D in renewable energy so that it will become cost-competitive with fossil fuels.
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