Members soulsonic Posted November 27, 2009 Members Share Posted November 27, 2009 People may be down on nuclear power, but I'd rather have a nuke plant than a coal plant any day. SO much cleaner!Nuclear waste may be some nasty stuff, but at least it's a material that has potential to be re-used in some way; though bombs are certainly not what I have in mind. I think wind farms are a great idea too. They could probably get a ton of power from the plains. I guess the best energy source might be something that collected the cosmic background radiation and all the random RF that floats around the universe all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HeartfeltDawn Posted November 27, 2009 Members Share Posted November 27, 2009 I'm far happier having my view obscured by a wind turbine than I am having my view obscured by the burning of fossil fuels or a nuclear power plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members c+t in b Posted November 27, 2009 Members Share Posted November 27, 2009 [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TJSmitty Posted November 27, 2009 Members Share Posted November 27, 2009 I'll be driving past those later this afternoon. They're a nice change of scenery from the corn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zappa74 Posted November 27, 2009 Members Share Posted November 27, 2009 People may be down on nuclear power, but I'd rather have a nuke plant than a coal plant any day. SO much cleaner!Nuclear waste may be some nasty stuff, but at least it's a material that has potential to be re-used in some way; though bombs are certainly not what I have in mind.I think wind farms are a great idea too. They could probably get a ton of power from the plains.I guess the best energy source might be something that collected the cosmic background radiation and all the random RF that floats around the universe all the time. Yeah, give me nuclear power over any of this {censored}. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members companyman Posted November 27, 2009 Members Share Posted November 27, 2009 thread will turn political in 3...2...1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Destructobot Posted November 27, 2009 Members Share Posted November 27, 2009 I guess the best energy source might be something that collected the cosmic background radiation and all the random RF that floats around the universe all the time. That's not possible, it violates the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. There's a difference between energy and exergy. A gallon of gas has contains a lot of energy, but also a lot of exergy, which is the potential to harness that energy to do work. After you burn up the gas in your car, the energy still exists. It has been turned into heat that radiated out into the pavement (friction) and the ambient air, and possibly a change in the gravitational potential of your car. You can't recapture that energy and make a gallon of gas again though. Same deal with background radiation. Entropy is a one-direction thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Destructobot Posted November 27, 2009 Members Share Posted November 27, 2009 Nuclear has three major problems: 1) The waste, which we still haven't figured out what to do with. 2) The cost. Nuclear plants are incredibly expensive. They also tend to always take longer and cost more than projected. Investors are pretty damn wary about putting money into nuclear at this point, for good reason. Check out this article and be glad it's Finland and not the US on the paying end of THAT bill - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/business/energy-environment/29nuke.html 3) Nuclear may not emit CO2 from the plants, but it's still dependent on an extremely rare mineral that must be mined and processed. Uranium mines are horribly dirty. They pollute waterways and leave permanent scars on the landscape. Furthermore, because Uranium is a commodity, nuclear power will always be subject to price fluctuations as the cost of uranium rises and falls. Ultimately it is a finite resource just like coal and petroleum. Wind, sun, waves, and geo thermal are all free once the infrastructure is in place. Also, the cheapest form of energy in terms of $ per KwH is EFFICIENCY!!! We don't do nearly enough to save energy in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fender&EHX4ever Posted November 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 28, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/business/energy-environment/29nuke.html Yikes! I had no idea that 80% of France's electricity is generated from nuclear power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brianeharmonjr Posted November 28, 2009 Members Share Posted November 28, 2009 Very cool to see those in Indiana. I'm in Indiana and haven't seen any of those huge ones around me, but I have seen several people who have smaller windmills on their property to supply their own electricity. Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members arclite Posted November 28, 2009 Members Share Posted November 28, 2009 The Chicago to Indy drive might have been the most boring ride known to man. The wind fields are definitely the highlight and make that trip tolerable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drasp Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 I was back home AGAIN in Indiana this week, ^ fix'd. Whew. I feel better now. Awesome pix are awesome. Would love to see them in person. Nice little discussion of pros & cons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drasp Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 The Chicago to Indy drive might have been the most boring ride known to man. The wind fields are definitely the highlight and make that trip tolerable. Oh no. I much prefer the Chi-town -> Indy drive to the South Bend/Elkhart -> Indy drive down 31. Gah. Nearly killed myself a number of times due to zoning out. . . Can't imagine what its like where the landscape is truly barren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnderMocs Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 A few weeks ago I was driving through the PA mountains in the fog and drove right by a few of them. Eerie as {censored} to see just the lowest blade cutting through the fog, it looked like it was floating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Parah Salin Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 They finally found something useful to do with Indiana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soulsonic Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 The Chicago to Indy drive might have been the most boring ride known to man. The wind fields are definitely the highlight and make that trip tolerable. Oh yeah, it's terrible. And my friends in Chicago wonder why I don't come up and visit more often...Hopefully, now that I'm living in the Circus Capital, it will be a quicker drive because I'm slightly further north than where I was.Actually, taking the train from Lafayette is probably the best way to go, but it's not good if transporting gear is involved with the trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fender&EHX4ever Posted November 29, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 I used to drive I-65 between Chicago and L'lville so much, I could be half asleep driving it. I have to admit, it's a really dull drive, though I think the I-75 drive from Ocala to Atlanta is much worse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Destructobot Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 Oh yeah, it's terrible. And my friends in Chicago wonder why I don't come up and visit more often...Hopefully, now that I'm living in the Circus Capital, it will be a quicker drive because I'm slightly further north than where I was.Actually, taking the train from Lafayette is probably the best way to go, but it's not good if transporting gear is involved with the trip. You moved to Baraboo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flump Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 The Chicago to Indy drive might have been the most boring ride known to man. The wind fields are definitely the highlight and make that trip tolerable. Since I'm from Dayton, OH...went to school at Purdue in West Lafayette, and currently live in chicago I've driven that stretch of 65 countless times, and I have yet to see them. I'm actually very curious to see them on the trip back to Dayton for christmas. Can you see them easily from 65? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soulsonic Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 You moved to Baraboo? No way! Where is that anyway? No, I'm in THIS Circus Capital! I know, there's a bunch... kinda hard to say you're the capital when there's a half-dozen other places making the same claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Destructobot Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 Baraboo is in Wisconsin. Home of Circus World. http://circusworld.wisconsinhistory.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TJSmitty Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 The Chicago to Indy drive might have been the most boring ride known to man. The wind fields are definitely the highlight and make that trip tolerable. I make this drive about once a week. Its hell. But nothing's worse than I-80 through Nebraska. Nothing. Nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TJSmitty Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 Check this out if you'd like to relive the drive: f-LrkX2zIzk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TomCTC Posted November 29, 2009 Members Share Posted November 29, 2009 They have those all over ontario, there massive, a lot of people that live near them complain about the noise they make, most people dont believe them. Yeah, I see them all the time. They just put a bunch up outside of my hometown. I think they're great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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