On Wed, Apr 26, 2006 at 09:27:57PM -0500, Mike Hord wrote:
> I've always wondered if we wouldn't be doing bad things by
> tapping into ANY source of energy.
> 
> For example, if we capture too much wind energy, then not
> enough is available to carry water in from the ocean and our
> inland fresh water supplies dry up.
> 
> If we capture too much solar, same thing.  Or maybe
> something else.
> 
> What about fusion using lunar helium-3?  Now we're importing
> and releasing energy into our "energy sphere" that was not
> intended to be there.  Result- more warming.
> 
> Most of these would require HUGE scales of energy
> production to make a dent, but we ARE headed that way.

Here's some hard numbers on all of that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_energy_budget

The total influx of solar energy to the earth is 174 petawatts.

Geothermal energy is 23 terrawatts.

Tidal energy gives you another 3 terrawatts.

And finally... Burning fossil fules is only 13 terrawatts.

Geothermal BTW is actually almost entierly radioactive decay, stored
heat from the beginnings of the planet can't account for how much is
there.

In any case, solar energy accounts for over 10,000 times more energy
than does fossil fuels. In fact, the uncertanty of that solar energy
figure due to natural fluctuations is far more than geothermal and
fossil fuels combined.

So basically, it'll be a long time before we scale up our energy
consumption to the point where it's even remotely comparable with the
effects of global warming. My hunch is landscape modification, through
changing albedo, could very well have more effect. The creation of the
Dutch Polder's for instance probably had a massive effect on the albedo
by replacing dark water with relatively lighter land. That's changing
some % of around 300W of power per square meter, add's up real quick.


About wind mind you... I'm very curious to know what the sum affect of
wind power would be... See, for instance with solar power in most cases
the total effect will be unchanged. You take energy that is converted to
heat normally on the panel, move it a couple hundred feet, and
re-release it as heat. No big deal. Now with wind... What happens when
you effectively warm up the ground? Does that produce more wind by
heating up the air above it?

How far are winds "pushed" anyway?

Of course, as explained above, the effect is completely negligable, but
still, as something to think about...

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