I’m too close to the information to tell, but is this a good explanation of why E=MC^2 is so interesting in terms of public energy generation? Sounds good to me. A lot of folks really don’t get the magnitudes of what they’re talking about when they talk power plants and energy sources.
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October 30th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
I thought it was well-written, certainly a good way to bring home those orders of magnitude. As a longtime chemist (on hiatus just now) I did take issue with this objection to solar as offering only a helpful peripheral contribution:
“There is no technology for storing commercial quantities of electricity. Until something is developed – which seems unlikely.”
Keep an eye on inorganic chemistry. Converting radiant energy to stored chemical energy is something nature does on mind-boggling scale. Experimental chemists are taking baby steps toward this goal right now; the possibilities are very exciting.