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Old 11-28-2014, 09:48 AM
  #22861  
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i had a bad thanksgiving:

[ll]276_1417128972[/ll]

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Old 11-29-2014, 06:03 PM
  #22862  
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Originally Posted by sixshooter
Originally Posted by Smart People at Google
Whenever somebody with a decent grasp of maths and physics looks into the idea of a fully renewables-powered civilised future for the human race with a reasonably open mind, they normally come to the conclusion that it simply isn't feasible. Merely generating the relatively small proportion of our energy that we consume today in the form of electricity is already an insuperably difficult task for renewables: generating huge amounts more on top to carry out the tasks we do today using fossil-fuelled heat isn't even vaguely plausible.
Originally Posted by DNMakinson
You're just trying to get on Joe's good side.
It's interesting to see credible sources reaching the same conclusion I came to several years ago. I was immediately reminded of the following thread, which admittedly applied only to solar generation, but was typical of other minor thesis which had additionally de-bunked the concepts of wind power, pumped-storage, and other nice-sounding but unfeasable concepts.

https://www.miataturbo.net/insert-bs...e7/#post898841

No.

The total amount of solar radiation striking the earth's atmosphere, in full sunlight and at the point nearest the sun, is around 1,368 watts per square meter. Averaging this out for both the rotation of the earth in the day / night cycle as well as the tilt and eccentricity of orbit during a full year, the average incidence over time is about 342 watts / m2. Some of this is reflected by the atmosphere, so by the time we get down to ground level, we can count on about 240 watts / m2. That's total energy, ignoring conversion efficiency.

Now, in 2008, the US consumed 4.369 petawatt-hours of electricity. That's 4,369,000,000,000,000 watt-hours per year. (We're #1!)

At a theoretical 100% conversion efficiency, an "average" solar collector would have to have an area of 18,204,166,666,666.7 square meters to capture that much energy. That's 7,028,668 square miles.

For reference, the entire continental US is only 2,959,064 square miles.

The most efficient EXPERIMENTAL solar collector presently in operation is the Tessera Solar SunCatcher array in Maricopa, AZ. This system, which reflects solar energy onto a Stirling engine, holds the world's record for solar conversion at 31.25%. It sits on 1,525 acres and generates a paltry 1.5 MW AT ITS PEAK. (By comparison, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station occupies 84 acres of land and generates 2,340 MW all day, every day, rain or shine.)

So, assuming we used this same 31.25% efficient technology, and assuming we figure out a way to make the dishes square so that not a single bit of area is wasted between them, we'd need to construct an array which occupies 22,491,737 square miles to satisfy the US's electrical needs. That's 40% of the entire dry-land area of the earth.

Obviously we can decrease this if we bunch all the dishes together in a band around the equator rather than distributing them equally, but you're not going to get an increase of SIX ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE out of that. If the amount of solar energy striking Phoenix were one million times greater than the amount of energy striking an "average" city such as Toronto, the entire state of Arizona would have long since sublimated into its constituent subatomic elements. And, of course, we'r only talking about the US here. Other countries need electricity, too. China, for example, is only about 2-3% behind us right now, and will overtake within a couple of years.

So I'm afraid I'm going to need to see a citation quoted to support the 32 square mile claim.
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Old 11-29-2014, 07:39 PM
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I'm assuming all you gents have seen the movie "Pandora's Promise", yes?
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Old 11-29-2014, 11:41 PM
  #22864  
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Originally Posted by good2go
I'm assuming all you gents have seen the movie "Pandora's Promise", yes?
No. Esplain it with a picture, pls.
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Old 11-30-2014, 12:11 AM
  #22865  
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Dat light grey
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Old 11-30-2014, 12:43 AM
  #22866  
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Originally Posted by oilstain
No. Esplain it with a picture, pls.






Attached Thumbnails The AI-generated cat pictures thread-pandoras_promise.jpg   The AI-generated cat pictures thread-still_8.jpg   The AI-generated cat pictures thread-pandora_dvd.jpg  
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Old 11-30-2014, 08:00 AM
  #22867  
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Originally Posted by good2go
I'm assuming all you gents have seen the movie "Pandora's Promise", yes?
No, but I will download it now.


I am currently watching Apocalypse WWI. They took footage and added color and sound. Very good!



Edit - I believe this trailer (I didn't watch the entire thing) says it is 4 parts. What I have is 5 parts and each are around an hour long.

Last edited by rmcelwee; 11-30-2014 at 08:15 AM.
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Old 11-30-2014, 09:30 AM
  #22868  
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" 1920s vintage Dodge Brothers sedan drives down muddy roads and across muddy fields to get to the gushing oil well. For some strange reason the car has "Oil Field Dodge" painted on the side. This may be a company promotional video but it does not make driving look like any fun. The music is a stock YouTube number by Dave Hartley called New Walk. Tags: "Dodge Brothers" sedan muddy roads oil field gusher well "Oil Field Dodge" company promotional "black and white" film 1920s silent. "

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Old 11-30-2014, 09:59 AM
  #22869  
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Originally Posted by good2go
I'm assuming all you gents have seen the movie "Pandora's Promise", yes?
Hadn't even heard of it until you mentioned it. Downloading now.


Attached Thumbnails The AI-generated cat pictures thread-378_spockfascinating.jpg  
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Old 11-30-2014, 05:35 PM
  #22870  
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Lots of neat stuff was built for this movie

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Old 11-30-2014, 05:44 PM
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Reposted here for posterity. Yet another reason why launch control and flatshifting are tools for tools.

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Old 11-30-2014, 05:52 PM
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Originally Posted by sixshooter
Reposted here for posterity. Yet another reason why launch control and flatshifting are tools for tools.
You mean spark cut?
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Old 11-30-2014, 11:16 PM
  #22873  
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Attached Thumbnails The AI-generated cat pictures thread-insomnia.jpg  
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Old 12-01-2014, 08:27 AM
  #22874  
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I went to the largest hot rod event in the southeast this Saturday. It was the 41st annual Turkey Rod Run at Daytona. There was a huge swap meet and car show inside the track.
At night, highway A1A on the beach was jammed with cars and people. Burnouts were common and the cops were obviously instructed to leave the rodders alone unless they were dangerous. The event brings a lot of money to town.

My buddy Jamie, who several of you guys know, came down from Georgia and brought the car he's been building.

We cruised the strip that night but all we had to ride in was a compact car.



The AI-generated cat pictures thread-forumrunner_20141201_082637.png
Attached Thumbnails The AI-generated cat pictures thread-128481d1417440422-random-pictures-thread-only-rule-post-here-more-entertain-me-forumrunner_20141.png  
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Old 12-01-2014, 08:32 AM
  #22875  
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Originally Posted by sixshooter
Reposted here for posterity. Yet another reason why launch control and flatshifting are tools for tools.
you mean buying a $5 crimped muffler?
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Old 12-01-2014, 08:49 AM
  #22876  
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I will be attending this next year, it's a mandatory requirement for my life.
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Old 12-01-2014, 09:50 AM
  #22877  
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Originally Posted by sixshooter
I went to the largest hot rod event in the southeast this Saturday. It was the 41st annual Turkey Rod Run at Daytona. There was a huge swap meet and car show inside the track.
At night, highway A1A on the beach was jammed with cars and people. Burnouts were common and the cops were obviously instructed to leave the rodders alone unless they were dangerous. The event brings a lot of money to town.

My buddy Jamie, who several of you guys know, came down from Georgia and brought the car he's been building.

We cruised the strip that night but all we had to ride in was a compact car.



Attachment 128481
Are those the new, thin, rear tires that everyone is touting?

(I am looking for the picture we took of "The Beast" with Miata spares all around.)
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Old 12-01-2014, 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by olderguy

Are those the new, thin, rear tires that everyone is touting?

(I am looking for the picture we took of "The Beast" with Miata spares all around.)
They are pretty skinny.



The AI-generated cat pictures thread-forumrunner_20141201_134920.png



The AI-generated cat pictures thread-forumrunner_20141201_134953.png



The AI-generated cat pictures thread-forumrunner_20141201_135312.png



The AI-generated cat pictures thread-forumrunner_20141201_135422.png
Attached Thumbnails The AI-generated cat pictures thread-128495d1417459780-random-pictures-thread-only-rule-post-here-more-entertain-me-forumrunner_20141.png   The AI-generated cat pictures thread-128496d1417459837-random-pictures-thread-only-rule-post-here-more-entertain-me-forumrunner_20141.png   The AI-generated cat pictures thread-128498d1417460045-random-pictures-thread-only-rule-post-here-more-entertain-me-forumrunner_20141.png   The AI-generated cat pictures thread-128499d1417460140-random-pictures-thread-only-rule-post-here-more-entertain-me-forumrunner_20141.png  
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Old 12-02-2014, 12:05 PM
  #22879  
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Old 12-02-2014, 02:16 PM
  #22880  
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I'm just gonna park this right here so that I can find it the next time JasonC starts prattling on about why all intellectual property rights should be abolished:

Attached Thumbnails The AI-generated cat pictures thread-20070314.gif  
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