• More on Fusion as an Energy Source

    From Dan Marotta@21:1/5 to All on Thu Dec 22 09:49:47 2022
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube. She's very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which
    released more energy than the lasers input to the target. If you're interested, watch the first three minutes or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43
    --
    Dan
    5J

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to Dan Marotta on Thu Dec 22 11:00:10 2022
    On 12/22/2022 8:49 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube.  She's very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which released more energy
    than the lasers input to the target.  If you're interested, watch the first three minutes
    or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43

    It's a good recap of the situation, but the same information was reported a couple weeks
    ago by others in the New York Times, Washington Post, our local paper, and elsewhere. It
    seems possible that utility scale fusion generators might really be only 20 years away,
    but I don't think I'll ever see even prototype utility scale systems in operation, though
    people 10 years younger might. I hope I'm wrong, of course.

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dan Marotta@21:1/5 to Eric Greenwell on Thu Dec 22 14:09:52 2022
    I doubt I'll see it in my life time, Eric, and I'm younger than you!

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/22/22 12:00, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/22/2022 8:49 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube.  She's
    very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which
    released more energy than the lasers input to the target.  If you're
    interested, watch the first three minutes or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43

    It's a good recap of the situation, but the same information was
    reported a couple weeks ago by others in the New York Times, Washington
    Post, our local paper, and elsewhere. It seems possible that utility
    scale fusion generators might really be only 20 years away, but I don't
    think I'll ever see even prototype utility scale systems in operation,
    though people 10 years younger might. I hope I'm wrong, of course.


    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dave Nadler@21:1/5 to Dave Nadler on Thu Dec 22 21:55:11 2022
    On 12/22/2022 9:50 PM, Dave Nadler wrote:
    On 12/22/2022 11:49 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube.  She's
    very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which
    released more energy than the lasers input to the target.  If you're
    interested, watch the first three minutes or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43

    For bonus points, what was I circling over during this check-flight?
    Hint: near Devens...

    https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=9191078#comment=undefined&map=42.5172%2C-71.9378%2C42.7374%2C-71.3548

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Dave Nadler@21:1/5 to Dan Marotta on Thu Dec 22 21:50:21 2022
    On 12/22/2022 11:49 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube.  She's very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which released more energy than the lasers input to the target.  If you're interested, watch the first three minutes or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43

    For bonus points, what was I circling over during this check-flight?
    Hint: near Devens...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to Eric Greenwell on Fri Dec 23 01:18:16 2022
    On Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 2:00:17 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/22/2022 8:49 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube. She's very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which released more energy
    than the lasers input to the target. If you're interested, watch the first three minutes
    or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43
    It's a good recap of the situation, but the same information was reported a couple weeks
    ago by others in the New York Times, Washington Post, our local paper, and elsewhere. It
    seems possible that utility scale fusion generators might really be only 20 years away,
    but I don't think I'll ever see even prototype utility scale systems in operation, though
    people 10 years younger might. I hope I'm wrong, of course.

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications
    Eric, don't be so convinced that Fusion will be a cure all for the power industry. Where is all the Tritium going to come from, it is not that abundant and making Tritium blankets from lithium has a long way to go. Taking a gallon of seawater and
    producing more energy that 300 gallons of fossil fuel sounds good, yet the laboratory is much different than the real world. Nuclear power is still the way to go, NP needs to be revived in this country and expanded. Wind turbines are a non-profit waste,
    solar yards like we see here in Florida only generate limited amounts of megawatts for the investment and the maintenance on the panels is far exceeding expectations. OBTP

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Fri Dec 23 05:53:01 2022
    On 12/23/2022 1:18 AM, [email protected] wrote:
    On Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 2:00:17 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/22/2022 8:49 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube. She's very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which released more energy
    than the lasers input to the target. If you're interested, watch the first three minutes
    or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43
    It's a good recap of the situation, but the same information was reported a couple weeks
    ago by others in the New York Times, Washington Post, our local paper, and elsewhere. It
    seems possible that utility scale fusion generators might really be only 20 years away,
    but I don't think I'll ever see even prototype utility scale systems in operation, though
    people 10 years younger might. I hope I'm wrong, of course.

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications
    Eric, don't be so convinced that Fusion will be a cure all for the power industry. Where is all the Tritium going to come from, it is not that abundant and making Tritium blankets from lithium has a long way to go. Taking a gallon of seawater and
    producing more energy that 300 gallons of fossil fuel sounds good, yet the laboratory is much different than the real world. Nuclear power is still the way to go, NP needs to be revived in this country and expanded. Wind turbines are a non-profit waste,
    solar yards like we see here in Florida only generate limited amounts of megawatts for the investment and the maintenance on the panels is far exceeding expectations. OBTP

    I agree that nuclear power is likely a good choice, but not with large power plants as
    we've done in the past: too expensive and too long to build and bring online. A company in
    Richland (where I live) will soon be testing a small modular reactor that overcomes many
    of the disadvantages of former reactors, like the one just 12 miles north of Richland.

    https://www.tricitiesbusinessnews.com/2021/12/x-energy/?cn-reloaded=1

    Nonetheless, the cheapest, quickest way right now to add new power to the grid is wind and
    solar energy. The wind and solar farms are profitable because they are cheap and quick to
    build, so the financial risk is very small; they are scalable, so more units can be added
    as needed. Texas would not have 15,000 wind turbines if they weren't valuable assets for
    their grid. Note that there is essentially NO maintenance on a solar panel, and a huge
    installation can be serviced with just a few employees.

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Mark Mocho@21:1/5 to All on Fri Dec 23 07:36:27 2022
    Nonetheless, the cheapest, quickest way right now to add new power to the grid is wind and
    solar energy. The wind and solar farms are profitable because they are cheap and quick to
    build, so the financial risk is very small; they are scalable, so more units can be added
    as needed. Texas would not have 15,000 wind turbines if they weren't valuable assets for
    their grid.

    Eric-
    Wind Turbines do NOT sprout from magic beans. The energy required to build one is roughly equivalent to the amount of energy they will provide (intermittently!) over their lifetime. Texas wouldn't have 15,000 wind turbines if there was no Federal subsidy
    for building them. There is a wind farm south of Moriarty that took the blades down and cut them up for burial in a landfill only halfway through their expected 25-year life. They replaced the blades in order to requalify for the subsidy.

    And would you please point out the solar-powered solar cell factories? Right, there AREN'T any. It takes more energy (once again) to manufacture solar cells than they can produce. The Laws of Physics and Thermodynamics cannot be repealed, no matter how
    hard politicians and unicorn herders try. Oil & Gas aren't going away anytime soon, as we need the energy to make inefficient replacement technologies that will satisfy the dreamers.

    Our only real hope is for nuclear energy to be adopted on a larger scale. I agree that smaller reactors are a much better choice than the monolithic plants that use 1950's designs for the fission core. More modern designs, such as the Thorium reactors
    currently being tested are superior to the Uranium-based designs presently in use.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to Mark Mocho on Fri Dec 23 09:49:39 2022
    On 12/23/2022 7:36 AM, Mark Mocho wrote:
    Nonetheless, the cheapest, quickest way right now to add new power to the grid is wind and
    solar energy. The wind and solar farms are profitable because they are cheap and quick to
    build, so the financial risk is very small; they are scalable, so more units can be added
    as needed. Texas would not have 15,000 wind turbines if they weren't valuable assets for
    their grid.

    Eric-
    Wind Turbines do NOT sprout from magic beans. The energy required to build one is roughly equivalent to the amount of energy they will provide (intermittently!) over their lifetime. Texas wouldn't have 15,000 wind turbines if there was no Federal
    subsidy for building them. There is a wind farm south of Moriarty that took the blades down and cut them up for burial in a landfill only halfway through their expected 25-year life. They replaced the blades in order to requalify for the subsidy.

    And would you please point out the solar-powered solar cell factories? Right, there AREN'T any. It takes more energy (once again) to manufacture solar cells than they can produce. The Laws of Physics and Thermodynamics cannot be repealed, no matter how
    hard politicians and unicorn herders try. Oil & Gas aren't going away anytime soon, as we need the energy to make inefficient replacement technologies that will satisfy the dreamers.

    Our only real hope is for nuclear energy to be adopted on a larger scale. I agree that smaller reactors are a much better choice than the monolithic plants that use 1950's designs for the fission core. More modern designs, such as the Thorium reactors
    currently being tested are superior to the Uranium-based designs presently in use.

    I don't know where you get your wind and solar numbers from, but the typical energy
    payback time is in the 3 to 5 years range. Wind and solar in the USA have become cheaper
    than the alternatives, even without subsidies. Wind and solar are booming around the
    world, not just in the USA.

    You can calculate how long the energy payback takes by using actual energy for production
    (or estimate it, based on the price for a panel), determining how much energy the panel
    would produce in the location of your choice, and dividing them to get the years. When I
    do that, I get around 2 years for my panels.

    I'm not familiar with your particular blade replacement example, but sometimes blades are
    replaced on older wind turbines because the new ones are better structurally and
    aerodynamically, so they produce more power, and it's financially worthwhile to change blades.

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot)@21:1/5 to Mark Mocho on Fri Dec 23 11:01:35 2022
    On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 10:36:29 AM UTC-5, Mark Mocho wrote:
    Nonetheless, the cheapest, quickest way right now to add new power to the grid is wind and
    solar energy. The wind and solar farms are profitable because they are cheap and quick to
    build, so the financial risk is very small; they are scalable, so more units can be added
    as needed. Texas would not have 15,000 wind turbines if they weren't valuable assets for
    their grid.
    Eric-
    Wind Turbines do NOT sprout from magic beans. The energy required to build one is roughly equivalent to the amount of energy they will provide (intermittently!) over their lifetime. Texas wouldn't have 15,000 wind turbines if there was no Federal
    subsidy for building them. There is a wind farm south of Moriarty that took the blades down and cut them up for burial in a landfill only halfway through their expected 25-year life. They replaced the blades in order to requalify for the subsidy.

    And would you please point out the solar-powered solar cell factories? Right, there AREN'T any. It takes more energy (once again) to manufacture solar cells than they can produce. The Laws of Physics and Thermodynamics cannot be repealed, no matter how
    hard politicians and unicorn herders try. Oil & Gas aren't going away anytime soon, as we need the energy to make inefficient replacement technologies that will satisfy the dreamers.

    Our only real hope is for nuclear energy to be adopted on a larger scale. I agree that smaller reactors are a much better choice than the monolithic plants that use 1950's designs for the fission core. More modern designs, such as the Thorium reactors
    currently being tested are superior to the Uranium-based designs presently in use.
    Nukes, as I understand other countries, have a few basic designs. They pick a few output power levels, then do a design with "as needed" tweaks along the way, mostly safety.
    Then a location states, "we need power". The requirements for output are decided, then they build a NP plant there and off they go.
    In the US it appeares we disregard existing designs, thus "clean sheet of paper" which adds time and cost to the final product.
    I like a small group of outputs being established, then build the size you need for that location.
    Yes, I understand "what to do with the waste" issue...current energy has issues.
    For some (say solar panel recycling), what to do with some of the materials in manufacture and recycle.

    Sigh, not easy but, but we should be looking forward reasonably....
    To slow down global warming, get rid of lawyers, politicians and microwave speed guns.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From AS@21:1/5 to Mark Mocho on Fri Dec 23 12:20:57 2022
    On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 10:36:29 AM UTC-5, Mark Mocho wrote:
    Nonetheless, the cheapest, quickest way right now to add new power to the grid is wind and
    solar energy. The wind and solar farms are profitable because they are cheap and quick to
    build, so the financial risk is very small; they are scalable, so more units can be added
    as needed. Texas would not have 15,000 wind turbines if they weren't valuable assets for
    their grid.
    Eric-
    Wind Turbines do NOT sprout from magic beans. The energy required to build one is roughly equivalent to the amount of energy they will provide (intermittently!) over their lifetime. Texas wouldn't have 15,000 wind turbines if there was no Federal
    subsidy for building them. There is a wind farm south of Moriarty that took the blades down and cut them up for burial in a landfill only halfway through their expected 25-year life. They replaced the blades in order to requalify for the subsidy.

    And would you please point out the solar-powered solar cell factories? Right, there AREN'T any. It takes more energy (once again) to manufacture solar cells than they can produce. The Laws of Physics and Thermodynamics cannot be repealed, no matter how
    hard politicians and unicorn herders try. Oil & Gas aren't going away anytime soon, as we need the energy to make inefficient replacement technologies that will satisfy the dreamers.

    Our only real hope is for nuclear energy to be adopted on a larger scale. I agree that smaller reactors are a much better choice than the monolithic plants that use 1950's designs for the fission core. More modern designs, such as the Thorium reactors
    currently being tested are superior to the Uranium-based designs presently in use.

    I really don't know where these numbers about wind turbines come from but let's crunch some here:
    the turbines east of Moriarty are most likely 3MW class units. Take a (low) utilization factor of .35, i.e. the turbine delivers at full nameplate level 35% of the time, that would give you 24h x 365d x 3MW x .35 = 9,198MWh per year. Over the lifetime of
    20 years, that would be 183,960MWh and that is neglecting the production leading up to the nameplate output, which does not get thrown away.
    Please convince me that it takes more than 183,960MWh of energy to build one turbine, considering that it takes roughly 6MWh to produce one ton of 'new' steel from ore to finished product.
    As for the park south of Moriarty, that would be 'High Lonesome Mesa'. This was a group of turbines built by a US manufacturer, who went belly-up due to too many technical issues and warranty claims, leaving their customers high and dry. The owner had to
    make a choice: walk away or repower. He decided to repower and we put this park back in operation by installing new, modern machine-heads and rotors onto the old towers. As for the blades, it is entirely possible that the old ones got landfilled but that
    material is totally inert and does not pose a risk, unlike nuclear waste or even the fly-ash from coal fired plants.
    As for the old myth that it takes more energy to make a solar panel than it will ever produce, take a look at this site: https://solarcraft.com/solar-energy-myths-facts/
    The small array I have on my roof (5kW) covers >100% of my consumption plus it charges my EV nicely at any time of the day, since I have a Net-Metering contract with my utility company. I haven't paid for electricity since I installed them and I am
    nearing the point of positive return.

    Anyone wanting to discuss Wind/Solar energy, please send me a PM.
    Let's get back to soaring stuff now. ;-)

    Uli
    'AS'

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Mark Mocho@21:1/5 to All on Fri Dec 23 13:15:54 2022
    So, I will ask the question again. Where are the solar powered solar cell factories?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to Mark Mocho on Fri Dec 23 14:41:36 2022
    On 12/23/2022 1:15 PM, Mark Mocho wrote:
    So, I will ask the question again. Where are the solar powered solar cell factories?

    The factory is producing panels that will return 10 times the electricity used to make the
    panel. 10 to 1! Why are you so intent on asking about where the plant gets it's electricity? Every watt it uses will be used to make panels that will return 10 watts, for
    a net of 9 watts. Are you asking why it doesn't have onsite panels to power it, so it
    returns a net of 10 watts instead of "only" 9 watts?

    -
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Mark Mocho@21:1/5 to All on Fri Dec 23 15:26:52 2022
    Are you asking why it doesn't have onsite panels to power it, so it
    returns a net of 10 watts instead of "only" 9 watts?

    That's exactly what I am asking. If the energy is "free", why aren't they using it instead of taking energy from some other source that may be one of the "devil" sources like oil & gas or (horrors!) nuke or coal?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to Mark Mocho on Fri Dec 23 16:36:22 2022
    On 12/23/2022 3:26 PM, Mark Mocho wrote:
    Are you asking why it doesn't have onsite panels to power it, so it
    returns a net of 10 watts instead of "only" 9 watts?

    That's exactly what I am asking. If the energy is "free", why aren't they using it instead of taking energy from some other source that may be one of the "devil" sources like oil & gas or (horrors!) nuke or coal?

    I don't know what they are doing, but the factory may not be located in an area that has
    enough room, or enough sun. Or maybe they arrange with their utility to purchase the
    electricity produced by renewables or nuclear power that the utility has available to it.

    But really, I think it's the net amount that's important. Even if the factory is using
    electricity from fossil sources, what it produces allows society to avoid 10 times that
    much electricity from fossil fuels. That's huge: if we could reduce our fossil fuel
    consumption that much, we'd be meeting our emission goals for a century! It's really a
    good trade off, not a bad thing or an embarrassment.

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From 2G@21:1/5 to Eric Greenwell on Fri Dec 23 22:07:33 2022
    On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 5:53:06 AM UTC-8, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/23/2022 1:18 AM, [email protected] wrote:
    On Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 2:00:17 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/22/2022 8:49 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube. She's very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which released more energy
    than the lasers input to the target. If you're interested, watch the first three minutes
    or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43
    It's a good recap of the situation, but the same information was reported a couple weeks
    ago by others in the New York Times, Washington Post, our local paper, and elsewhere. It
    seems possible that utility scale fusion generators might really be only 20 years away,
    but I don't think I'll ever see even prototype utility scale systems in operation, though
    people 10 years younger might. I hope I'm wrong, of course.

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications
    Eric, don't be so convinced that Fusion will be a cure all for the power industry. Where is all the Tritium going to come from, it is not that abundant and making Tritium blankets from lithium has a long way to go. Taking a gallon of seawater and
    producing more energy that 300 gallons of fossil fuel sounds good, yet the laboratory is much different than the real world. Nuclear power is still the way to go, NP needs to be revived in this country and expanded. Wind turbines are a non-profit waste,
    solar yards like we see here in Florida only generate limited amounts of megawatts for the investment and the maintenance on the panels is far exceeding expectations. OBTP
    I agree that nuclear power is likely a good choice, but not with large power plants as
    we've done in the past: too expensive and too long to build and bring online. A company in
    Richland (where I live) will soon be testing a small modular reactor that overcomes many
    of the disadvantages of former reactors, like the one just 12 miles north of Richland.

    https://www.tricitiesbusinessnews.com/2021/12/x-energy/?cn-reloaded=1

    Nonetheless, the cheapest, quickest way right now to add new power to the grid is wind and
    solar energy. The wind and solar farms are profitable because they are cheap and quick to
    build, so the financial risk is very small; they are scalable, so more units can be added
    as needed. Texas would not have 15,000 wind turbines if they weren't valuable assets for
    their grid. Note that there is essentially NO maintenance on a solar panel, and a huge
    installation can be serviced with just a few employees.
    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    The REAL cost of wind and solar must also include the cost of the standby fossil plants that supply the electricity when the wind isn't blowing or the 18-24 hours a day the sun doesn't shine.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dan Marotta@21:1/5 to Eric Greenwell on Sat Dec 24 09:19:02 2022
    To quote the Beach Boys: "Wouldn't it be nice" if we could actually
    believe the claims of the purveyors of all things great, green,
    glorious, and planet saving? When I hear claims of 10 times more <enter
    your favorite claim here> my BS detector goes wild.

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/23/22 17:36, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/23/2022 3:26 PM, Mark Mocho wrote:
      Are you asking why it doesn't have onsite panels to power it, so it
    returns a net of 10 watts instead of "only" 9 watts?

    That's exactly what I am asking. If the energy is "free", why aren't
    they using it instead of taking energy from some other source that may
    be one of the "devil" sources like oil & gas or (horrors!) nuke or coal?

    I don't know what they are doing, but the factory may not be located in
    an area that has enough room, or enough sun. Or maybe they arrange with
    their utility to purchase the electricity produced by renewables or
    nuclear power that the utility has available to it.

    But really, I think it's the net amount that's important. Even if the
    factory is using electricity from fossil sources, what it produces
    allows society to avoid 10 times that much electricity from fossil
    fuels. That's huge: if we could reduce our fossil fuel consumption that
    much, we'd be meeting our emission goals for a century! It's really a
    good trade off, not a bad thing or an embarrassment.


    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From john firth@21:1/5 to All on Sat Dec 24 08:29:38 2022
    On Saturday, December 24, 2022 at 1:07:37 AM UTC-5, 2G wrote:
    On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 5:53:06 AM UTC-8, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/23/2022 1:18 AM, [email protected] wrote:
    On Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 2:00:17 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/22/2022 8:49 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube. She's very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which released more energy
    than the lasers input to the target. If you're interested, watch the first three minutes
    or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43
    It's a good recap of the situation, but the same information was reported a couple weeks
    ago by others in the New York Times, Washington Post, our local paper, and elsewhere. It
    seems possible that utility scale fusion generators might really be only 20 years away,
    but I don't think I'll ever see even prototype utility scale systems in operation, though
    people 10 years younger might. I hope I'm wrong, of course.

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications
    Eric, don't be so convinced that Fusion will be a cure all for the power industry. Where is all the Tritium going to come from, it is not that abundant and making Tritium blankets from lithium has a long way to go. Taking a gallon of seawater and
    producing more energy that 300 gallons of fossil fuel sounds good, yet the laboratory is much different than the real world. Nuclear power is still the way to go, NP needs to be revived in this country and expanded. Wind turbines are a non-profit waste,
    solar yards like we see here in Florida only generate limited amounts of megawatts for the investment and the maintenance on the panels is far exceeding expectations. OBTP
    I agree that nuclear power is likely a good choice, but not with large power plants as
    we've done in the past: too expensive and too long to build and bring online. A company in
    Richland (where I live) will soon be testing a small modular reactor that overcomes many
    of the disadvantages of former reactors, like the one just 12 miles north of Richland.

    https://www.tricitiesbusinessnews.com/2021/12/x-energy/?cn-reloaded=1

    Nonetheless, the cheapest, quickest way right now to add new power to the grid is wind and
    solar energy. The wind and solar farms are profitable because they are cheap and quick to
    build, so the financial risk is very small; they are scalable, so more units can be added
    as needed. Texas would not have 15,000 wind turbines if they weren't valuable assets for
    their grid. Note that there is essentially NO maintenance on a solar panel, and a huge
    installation can be serviced with just a few employees.
    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications
    The REAL cost of wind and solar must also include the cost of the standby fossil plants that supply the electricity when the wind isn't blowing or the 18-24 hours a day the sun doesn't shine.


    to get back to soaring, the question has been asked whether a solar farm is a good thermal source.
    Given that the panels are designed to use as much of the solar spectrum as possible, I had naively
    assumed they would be hotter that most of the agricultural land or forest. However, the best panels are converting 35% of the radiation, leaving only 65 % as waste heat.
    Of that , some is re-radiated, so we may be left with an array that is actually cooler , or at least no hotter
    than the terrain.
    Anyone care to do a proper analysis?

    John Firth
    in Ottawa where the snow reflects most of the incoming energy.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to Dan Marotta on Sat Dec 24 09:44:11 2022
    Do the math. It's quick and easy - 10 minutes or less.


    On 12/24/2022 8:19 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    To quote the Beach Boys:  "Wouldn't it be nice" if we could actually believe the claims of
    the purveyors of all things great, green, glorious, and planet saving?  When I hear claims
    of 10 times more <enter your favorite claim here> my BS detector goes wild.

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/23/22 17:36, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/23/2022 3:26 PM, Mark Mocho wrote:
      Are you asking why it doesn't have onsite panels to power it, so it
    returns a net of 10 watts instead of "only" 9 watts?

    That's exactly what I am asking. If the energy is "free", why aren't they using it
    instead of taking energy from some other source that may be one of the "devil" sources
    like oil & gas or (horrors!) nuke or coal?

    I don't know what they are doing, but the factory may not be located in an area that has
    enough room, or enough sun. Or maybe they arrange with their utility to purchase the
    electricity produced by renewables or nuclear power that the utility has available to it.

    But really, I think it's the net amount that's important. Even if the factory is using
    electricity from fossil sources, what it produces allows society to avoid 10 times that
    much electricity from fossil fuels. That's huge: if we could reduce our fossil fuel
    consumption that much, we'd be meeting our emission goals for a century! It's really a
    good trade off, not a bad thing or an embarrassment.


    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to john firth on Sat Dec 24 10:21:05 2022
    On 12/24/2022 8:29 AM, john firth wrote:
    On Saturday, December 24, 2022 at 1:07:37 AM UTC-5, 2G wrote:
    On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 5:53:06 AM UTC-8, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    ...

    to get back to soaring, the question has been asked whether a solar farm is a good thermal source.
    Given that the panels are designed to use as much of the solar spectrum as possible, I had naively
    assumed they would be hotter that most of the agricultural land or forest. However, the best panels are converting 35% of the radiation, leaving only 65 % as waste heat.
    Of that , some is re-radiated, so we may be left with an array that is actually cooler , or at least no hotter
    than the terrain.
    Anyone care to do a proper analysis?

    John Firth
    in Ottawa where the snow reflects most of the incoming energy.

    The "high efficiency" panels you put on your house or glider trailer are less than 25%
    efficient, but that's not the important fact. Put your hand on a solar panel sitting in
    the full sun, and it is too hot to keep your hand on it for more than a few seconds. Solar
    panels are very good absorbers (that's why they look so black), so most of the energy
    hitting them is turned in to heat. Most ground surfaces, trees, etc, don't absorb as much
    energy, so don't get as hot.

    So, why aren't they terrific thermal sources (only some reporting success over solar panel
    farms)? I don't know, but maybe it's how they are mounted: they slope at 30 degrees or so,
    have large venting for the backside, unlike a flat parking lot. That might release the
    heat continuously, instead of building up and then releasing, like same-size flat parking
    lot would do.

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Mark Mocho@21:1/5 to All on Sat Dec 24 11:05:19 2022
    So, why aren't they terrific thermal sources (only some reporting success over solar panel
    farms)? I don't know, but maybe it's how they are mounted: they slope at 30 degrees or so,
    have large venting for the backside, unlike a flat parking lot. That might release the
    heat continuously, instead of building up and then releasing, like same-size flat parking
    lot would do.

    Thermals are formed from convection, as the heat source transfers its energy to the air mass above it. Even though the panels get hot, they simply do not have the thermal mass that the ground does. And, as you suspect, the mounting above the surface both
    shades the ground, preventing the absorption heat into the earth, as well as allowing airflow around and under the panels to dissipate the heat energy from transferring to the air.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dan Marotta@21:1/5 to john firth on Sat Dec 24 12:21:53 2022
    Not an analysis but observation.

    I have flown my glider over the large solar array at Moriarty and felt
    no change in vertical air mass movement. I've also flown over that
    giant circular mirror thing near Primm, NV staying well above the focal
    point and also felt no difference. Same with the solar array on the
    Nevada side of the line.

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/24/22 09:29, john firth wrote:
    to get back to soaring, the question has been asked whether a solar farm is a good thermal source.
    Given that the panels are designed to use as much of the solar spectrum as possible, I had naively
    assumed they would be hotter that most of the agricultural land or forest. However, the best panels are converting 35% of the radiation, leaving only 65 % as waste heat.
    Of that , some is re-radiated, so we may be left with an array that is actually cooler , or at least no hotter
    than the terrain.
    Anyone care to do a proper analysis?

    John Firth
    in Ottawa where the snow reflects most of the incoming energy.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dan Marotta@21:1/5 to Eric Greenwell on Sat Dec 24 12:26:43 2022
    But I don't believe the claims that go into the math. If 10 times the
    energy comes from solar, then there'd be no fossil fueled devices around.

    BTW, whatever happened to Solyndra, other than their principals and
    government supports got rich?

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/24/22 10:44, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    Do the math. It's quick and easy - 10 minutes or less.


    On 12/24/2022 8:19 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    To quote the Beach Boys:  "Wouldn't it be nice" if we could actually
    believe the claims of the purveyors of all things great, green,
    glorious, and planet saving?  When I hear claims of 10 times more
    <enter your favorite claim here> my BS detector goes wild.

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/23/22 17:36, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/23/2022 3:26 PM, Mark Mocho wrote:
      Are you asking why it doesn't have onsite panels to power it, so it >>>>> returns a net of 10 watts instead of "only" 9 watts?

    That's exactly what I am asking. If the energy is "free", why aren't
    they using it instead of taking energy from some other source that
    may be one of the "devil" sources like oil & gas or (horrors!) nuke
    or coal?

    I don't know what they are doing, but the factory may not be located
    in an area that has enough room, or enough sun. Or maybe they arrange
    with their utility to purchase the electricity produced by renewables
    or nuclear power that the utility has available to it.

    But really, I think it's the net amount that's important. Even if the
    factory is using electricity from fossil sources, what it produces
    allows society to avoid 10 times that much electricity from fossil
    fuels. That's huge: if we could reduce our fossil fuel consumption
    that much, we'd be meeting our emission goals for a century! It's
    really a good trade off, not a bad thing or an embarrassment.



    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From kinsell@21:1/5 to Dan Marotta on Sat Dec 24 12:54:27 2022
    Solyndra got caught spiking their solar cells with copper, which
    increased their output enough to meet their performance goals, but gave
    them terrible lifetime. The principals got hundreds of millions in
    federal loan guarantees, the taxpayers got the shaft (and warehouses
    full of toxic waste). O'Dumbo got reelected.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/solyndra-politics-infused-obama-energy-programs/2011/12/14/gIQA4HllHP_story.html

    The solar cells got infused with copper, the whole "green energy"
    program got infused with a heavy dose of politics.


    On 12/24/22 12:26 PM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    But I don't believe the claims that go into the math.  If 10 times the energy comes from solar, then there'd be no fossil fueled devices around.

    BTW, whatever happened to Solyndra, other than their principals and government supports got rich?

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/24/22 10:44, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    Do the math. It's quick and easy - 10 minutes or less.


    On 12/24/2022 8:19 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    To quote the Beach Boys:  "Wouldn't it be nice" if we could actually
    believe the claims of the purveyors of all things great, green,
    glorious, and planet saving?  When I hear claims of 10 times more
    <enter your favorite claim here> my BS detector goes wild.

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/23/22 17:36, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/23/2022 3:26 PM, Mark Mocho wrote:
      Are you asking why it doesn't have onsite panels to power it, so it >>>>>> returns a net of 10 watts instead of "only" 9 watts?

    That's exactly what I am asking. If the energy is "free", why
    aren't they using it instead of taking energy from some other
    source that may be one of the "devil" sources like oil & gas or
    (horrors!) nuke or coal?

    I don't know what they are doing, but the factory may not be located
    in an area that has enough room, or enough sun. Or maybe they
    arrange with their utility to purchase the electricity produced by
    renewables or nuclear power that the utility has available to it.

    But really, I think it's the net amount that's important. Even if
    the factory is using electricity from fossil sources, what it
    produces allows society to avoid 10 times that much electricity from
    fossil fuels. That's huge: if we could reduce our fossil fuel
    consumption that much, we'd be meeting our emission goals for a
    century! It's really a good trade off, not a bad thing or an
    embarrassment.



    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to kinsell on Sat Dec 24 12:20:57 2022
    On Saturday, December 24, 2022 at 2:54:34 PM UTC-5, kinsell wrote:
    Solyndra got caught spiking their solar cells with copper, which
    increased their output enough to meet their performance goals, but gave
    them terrible lifetime. The principals got hundreds of millions in
    federal loan guarantees, the taxpayers got the shaft (and warehouses
    full of toxic waste). O'Dumbo got reelected.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/solyndra-politics-infused-obama-energy-programs/2011/12/14/gIQA4HllHP_story.html

    The solar cells got infused with copper, the whole "green energy"
    program got infused with a heavy dose of politics.
    On 12/24/22 12:26 PM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    But I don't believe the claims that go into the math. If 10 times the energy comes from solar, then there'd be no fossil fueled devices around.

    BTW, whatever happened to Solyndra, other than their principals and government supports got rich?

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/24/22 10:44, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    Do the math. It's quick and easy - 10 minutes or less.


    On 12/24/2022 8:19 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    To quote the Beach Boys: "Wouldn't it be nice" if we could actually
    believe the claims of the purveyors of all things great, green,
    glorious, and planet saving? When I hear claims of 10 times more
    <enter your favorite claim here> my BS detector goes wild.

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/23/22 17:36, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/23/2022 3:26 PM, Mark Mocho wrote:
    Are you asking why it doesn't have onsite panels to power it, so it >>>>>> returns a net of 10 watts instead of "only" 9 watts?

    That's exactly what I am asking. If the energy is "free", why
    aren't they using it instead of taking energy from some other
    source that may be one of the "devil" sources like oil & gas or
    (horrors!) nuke or coal?

    I don't know what they are doing, but the factory may not be located >>>> in an area that has enough room, or enough sun. Or maybe they
    arrange with their utility to purchase the electricity produced by
    renewables or nuclear power that the utility has available to it.

    But really, I think it's the net amount that's important. Even if
    the factory is using electricity from fossil sources, what it
    produces allows society to avoid 10 times that much electricity from >>>> fossil fuels. That's huge: if we could reduce our fossil fuel
    consumption that much, we'd be meeting our emission goals for a
    century! It's really a good trade off, not a bad thing or an
    embarrassment.


    We fly over some of the largest solar farms in the country, a few of them are within three miles from X52, FPL has recently become one of the largest land owners in Florida, converting marsh land to solar panel farms. Not all the heat that is derived
    from solar panels is consumed within the panels, some of the heat is exchanged back into the air. A recent study of the solar panels in the Sahara concluded that they raised the temp within that area by almost 2 degrees Celsius. As we fly here in Florida
    the solar farms are very often a good source of thermals. I would suspect that the solar farms raised more heat into the air that the prior swamp land. The swamp land used for solar farms is drained and water is distributed back into the SJID for
    disbursement. What was once land for citrus groves is now solar farms. The cost of draining this vast area of land ranges from year to year depending on rainfall and storms, this year alone it was 150 bucks per acre on top of property taxes.
    The reliability of these panels is nothing to brag about, IR drone photos spot bad panels all the time, it is a larger number that one would think. I would rather have one good nuke plant! OBTP

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to kinsell on Sat Dec 24 13:13:20 2022
    Hi Dave,

    According to Wikipedia and many other articles:

    "Solyndra was a manufacturer of cylindrical panels of copper indium gallium selenide
    (CIGS) thin film solar cells based in Fremont, California."

    So, no spiking, copper was an integral part of their panels from the start.

    Eric

    On 12/24/2022 11:54 AM, kinsell wrote:
    Solyndra got caught spiking their solar cells with copper, which increased their output
    enough to meet their performance goals, but gave them terrible lifetime.  The principals
    got hundreds of millions in federal loan guarantees, the taxpayers got the shaft (and
    warehouses full of toxic waste).  O'Dumbo got reelected.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to kinsell on Sat Dec 24 15:54:33 2022
    On Saturday, December 24, 2022 at 2:54:34 PM UTC-5, kinsell wrote:
    Solyndra got caught spiking their solar cells with copper, which
    increased their output enough to meet their performance goals, but gave
    them terrible lifetime. The principals got hundreds of millions in
    federal loan guarantees, the taxpayers got the shaft (and warehouses
    full of toxic waste). O'Dumbo got reelected.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/solyndra-politics-infused-obama-energy-programs/2011/12/14/gIQA4HllHP_story.html

    The solar cells got infused with copper, the whole "green energy"
    program got infused with a heavy dose of politics.
    On 12/24/22 12:26 PM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    But I don't believe the claims that go into the math. If 10 times the energy comes from solar, then there'd be no fossil fueled devices around.

    BTW, whatever happened to Solyndra, other than their principals and government supports got rich?

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/24/22 10:44, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    Do the math. It's quick and easy - 10 minutes or less.


    On 12/24/2022 8:19 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    To quote the Beach Boys: "Wouldn't it be nice" if we could actually
    believe the claims of the purveyors of all things great, green,
    glorious, and planet saving? When I hear claims of 10 times more
    <enter your favorite claim here> my BS detector goes wild.

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/23/22 17:36, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 12/23/2022 3:26 PM, Mark Mocho wrote:
    Are you asking why it doesn't have onsite panels to power it, so it >>>>>> returns a net of 10 watts instead of "only" 9 watts?

    That's exactly what I am asking. If the energy is "free", why
    aren't they using it instead of taking energy from some other
    source that may be one of the "devil" sources like oil & gas or
    (horrors!) nuke or coal?

    I don't know what they are doing, but the factory may not be located >>>> in an area that has enough room, or enough sun. Or maybe they
    arrange with their utility to purchase the electricity produced by
    renewables or nuclear power that the utility has available to it.

    But really, I think it's the net amount that's important. Even if
    the factory is using electricity from fossil sources, what it
    produces allows society to avoid 10 times that much electricity from >>>> fossil fuels. That's huge: if we could reduce our fossil fuel
    consumption that much, we'd be meeting our emission goals for a
    century! It's really a good trade off, not a bad thing or an
    embarrassment.


    We had a similar example of energy BS, Ineos and NPE duped us taxpayers out of about 500 million and the plant never went into production. Same administration funded that ponzi scheme. OBTP

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Moshe Braner@21:1/5 to Mark Mocho on Sat Dec 24 19:51:12 2022
    On 12/24/2022 2:05 PM, Mark Mocho wrote:
    So, why aren't they terrific thermal sources (only some reporting success over solar panel
    farms)? I don't know, but maybe it's how they are mounted: they slope at 30 degrees or so,
    have large venting for the backside, unlike a flat parking lot. That might release the
    heat continuously, instead of building up and then releasing, like same-size flat parking
    lot would do.

    Thermals are formed from convection, as the heat source transfers its energy to the air mass above it. Even though the panels get hot, they simply do not have the thermal mass that the ground does. And, as you suspect, the mounting above the surface
    both shades the ground, preventing the absorption heat into the earth, as well as allowing airflow around and under the panels to dissipate the heat energy from transferring to the air.


    Um, "allowing airflow around and under the panels to dissipate the heat
    energy" *means* transferring it to the air.

    The big picture is that a certain amount of solar energy reaches the
    ground (or objects above it, such as solar panels or trees), transforms
    into heat, and that heat passes to the air. The maximum possible rate
    of heating is simply the amount of solar input (about 1 kilowatt per
    square meter in full sun from the zenith).

    Three things can reduce that rate:

    * The sun is not at the zenith. The lower it is, the less energy per
    unit surface area of horizontal ground. (Sun-facing slopes absorb more
    of course.)

    * Not all the solar energy is absorbed: some is reflected. Most of it,
    in case of snow and other very bright materials. But the difference
    between solar panels and dark-leaved trees is minimal. The trees don't
    get as hot because the solar energy is absorbed by a deeper layer of
    leaves (on multiple layers of branches).

    * A delay, due to absorption of heat into the ground (that was cooled at night). More so into water, therefore practically no thermals over
    water - before it heats up enough the sun already sets. In contrast the
    woods and the valleys may release the absorbed heat into the evening,
    offering us those late-day "save" thermals. It's all the same solar
    energy, shifted over time.

    The only thing special about solar panels is that some of the energy is converted into electricity that is sent elsewhere (or into heat that is
    pumped away, in case of thermal panels). That leaves *less* energy for
    heating the panels. But only about 20% less, depending on the
    "efficiency" of the panels. Solar panels *may* absorb and convert to
    heat more sunlight than light-colored arid ground that reflect a fair
    bit of the sunlight.

    The issue of when a thermal (starting as a layer of heated air near the
    ground) "releases" into a rising bubble/column is a separate one. The
    fact that the solar panels are above-ground is no different from the
    trees which cover most of the ground here in the East.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to Dan Marotta on Mon Dec 26 05:40:54 2022
    On Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 11:49:51 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube. She's very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which released more energy than the lasers input to the target. If you're interested, watch the first three minutes or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43
    --
    Dan
    5J
    I started my post military occupational life in the nuclear industry working in health physics at a number of nuclear power plants, I saw well run to poorly run facilities. I was contracted by Westinghouse, Generous Electric, Combustion Engineering, all
    of them and developed serious concerns. I had intentions of getting a degree in nuclear engineering but did a paper on waste disposal and along with NIMBY realized the industry had many obstacles to overcome, both political and scientific/technological.
    I would escort the OSHA personnel into containment as they did their inspections and heard from them the questionable future of the industry. Still I believe nuclear power is a viable alternative to many of the production methods we have today. BUT,
    the decisions must be made by engineers and physicists not politicians and MBAs. JMHO.

    Walt Connelly
    Former Tow Pilot

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dan Marotta@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Dec 26 11:00:58 2022
    Amen.

    BTW, you dropped "Helicopter" from your signature block. Has there been
    a change? I'm still happily flying my home built gyro among other
    things....,

    Dan
    5J

    On 12/26/22 06:40, [email protected] wrote:
    On Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 11:49:51 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube. She's very
    informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which
    released more energy than the lasers input to the target. If you're
    interested, watch the first three minutes or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43
    --
    Dan
    5J
    I started my post military occupational life in the nuclear industry working in health physics at a number of nuclear power plants, I saw well run to poorly run facilities. I was contracted by Westinghouse, Generous Electric, Combustion Engineering,
    all of them and developed serious concerns. I had intentions of getting a degree in nuclear engineering but did a paper on waste disposal and along with NIMBY realized the industry had many obstacles to overcome, both political and scientific/
    technological. I would escort the OSHA personnel into containment as they did their inspections and heard from them the questionable future of the industry. Still I believe nuclear power is a viable alternative to many of the production methods we have
    today. BUT, the decisions must be made by engineers and physicists not politicians and MBAs. JMHO.

    Walt Connelly
    Former Tow Pilot

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to All on Mon Dec 26 10:21:58 2022
    No, just figure everyone has a good idea who I am. I'm recovering from a low back injury and kinda away from helicopters for the moment, was only flying them for fun. Got hurt wrestling a 21 year old in a Krav Maga class, I was 71 at the time. Won the
    battle, lost the war. I can do 50 reps on a Roman Chair but my back still tightens up when I walk any significant distance. Getting better but not fast enough for me.

    Walt

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Dec 26 13:07:36 2022
    On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 8:40:56 AM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
    On Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 11:49:51 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
    For a long time I've watched Sabine Hossenfelder on Youtube. She's very informative.

    Last night she said something about a successful lab experiment which released more energy than the lasers input to the target. If you're interested, watch the first three minutes or so of this video:

    https://youtu.be/Zr0Q_LGrQcg?t=43
    --
    Dan
    5J
    I started my post military occupational life in the nuclear industry working in health physics at a number of nuclear power plants, I saw well run to poorly run facilities. I was contracted by Westinghouse, Generous Electric, Combustion Engineering,
    all of them and developed serious concerns. I had intentions of getting a degree in nuclear engineering but did a paper on waste disposal and along with NIMBY realized the industry had many obstacles to overcome, both political and scientific/
    technological. I would escort the OSHA personnel into containment as they did their inspections and heard from them the questionable future of the industry. Still I believe nuclear power is a viable alternative to many of the production methods we have
    today. BUT, the decisions must be made by engineers and physicists not politicians and MBAs. JMHO.

    Walt Connelly
    Former Tow Pilot
    Walt, MBA's make it happen, engineers are jealous, they sit in a cubicle scratch their heads and work in groups, while the MBA takes it to the bank! OBTP

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to All on Mon Dec 26 15:33:25 2022
    \
    Walt, MBA's make it happen, engineers are jealous, they sit in a cubicle scratch their heads and work in groups, while the MBA takes it to the bank! OBTP


    No Bob, the engineers make it happen, the health physics people (MY CREW) keep everyone from being over exposed to radiation and the MBAs f--k everything up by thinking in dollars. Never met an MBA who would put on Anti C's, a Scott Air Pack and enter a
    reactor containment area. They sit in the office drinking coffee and bitching about the time it takes to do a shut down, clean up and repair and restart and how much it is going to cost.

    Walt

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Mark Mocho@21:1/5 to All on Mon Dec 26 16:18:44 2022
    How many MBAs does it take to build a bridge?

    Rhetorical question, as none have ever done so.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Dec 26 17:25:36 2022
    On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 6:33:28 PM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
    \
    Walt, MBA's make it happen, engineers are jealous, they sit in a cubicle scratch their heads and work in groups, while the MBA takes it to the bank! OBTP
    No Bob, the engineers make it happen, the health physics people (MY CREW) keep everyone from being over exposed to radiation and the MBAs f--k everything up by thinking in dollars. Never met an MBA who would put on Anti C's, a Scott Air Pack and enter
    a reactor containment area. They sit in the office drinking coffee and bitching about the time it takes to do a shut down, clean up and repair and restart and how much it is going to cost.

    Walt
    No Walt us guys were smart enough to stay away from the reactor, we spent more time making money! OBTP

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Tue Dec 27 06:00:12 2022
    On Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at 8:16:16 AM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
    On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 8:25:38 PM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
    On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 6:33:28 PM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
    \
    Walt, MBA's make it happen, engineers are jealous, they sit in a cubicle scratch their heads and work in groups, while the MBA takes it to the bank! OBTP
    No Bob, the engineers make it happen, the health physics people (MY CREW) keep everyone from being over exposed to radiation and the MBAs f--k everything up by thinking in dollars. Never met an MBA who would put on Anti C's, a Scott Air Pack and
    enter a reactor containment area. They sit in the office drinking coffee and bitching about the time it takes to do a shut down, clean up and repair and restart and how much it is going to cost.

    Walt
    No Walt us guys were smart enough to stay away from the reactor, we spent more time making money! OBTP
    Well Bob, it depends on what you are talking about when you say "make it happen." At a nuclear facility the admin boys might make the paychecks appear on Friday but their ability to facilitate the operation of the plant leaves much to be desired. Worse
    than the MBAs are the lawyers and the Human Resources "professionals." While it takes everyone to make the system function, it's the engineers, physicists and operators who are the linchpins. I would like to see nuclear power expanded in this country and
    it can be done but it must be done with extreme safety in mind

    Walt
    Walt, I am glad that I am not the bottom of the food chain! Old Bob, The Purist

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Tue Dec 27 05:16:15 2022
    On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 8:25:38 PM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
    On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 6:33:28 PM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
    \
    Walt, MBA's make it happen, engineers are jealous, they sit in a cubicle scratch their heads and work in groups, while the MBA takes it to the bank! OBTP
    No Bob, the engineers make it happen, the health physics people (MY CREW) keep everyone from being over exposed to radiation and the MBAs f--k everything up by thinking in dollars. Never met an MBA who would put on Anti C's, a Scott Air Pack and
    enter a reactor containment area. They sit in the office drinking coffee and bitching about the time it takes to do a shut down, clean up and repair and restart and how much it is going to cost.

    Walt
    No Walt us guys were smart enough to stay away from the reactor, we spent more time making money! OBTP
    Well Bob, it depends on what you are talking about when you say "make it happen." At a nuclear facility the admin boys might make the paychecks appear on Friday but their ability to facilitate the operation of the plant leaves much to be desired. Worse
    than the MBAs are the lawyers and the Human Resources "professionals." While it takes everyone to make the system function, it's the engineers, physicists and operators who are the linchpins. I would like to see nuclear power expanded in this country
    and it can be done but it must be done with extreme safety in mind

    Walt

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From George Haeh@21:1/5 to All on Tue Dec 27 18:57:37 2022
    A well flown glider is fusion powered after launch.

    The pilots play Maxwell's Demon.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Bret Hess@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Tue Dec 27 21:29:18 2022
    On Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at 7:57:39 PM UTC-7, [email protected] wrote:
    A well flown glider is fusion powered after launch.

    The pilots play Maxwell's Demon.

    Nice George!

    Unlike what I think Maxwell's demon's role usually is, we do increase the entropy in the universe as we fly. We also increase it while we sit quietly. Is it possible the entropy in the universe increases *less* if we're thermaling up than if we simply
    sit quietly?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From 2G@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Wed Dec 28 23:19:36 2022
    On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 5:25:38 PM UTC-8, [email protected] wrote:
    On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 6:33:28 PM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
    \
    Walt, MBA's make it happen, engineers are jealous, they sit in a cubicle scratch their heads and work in groups, while the MBA takes it to the bank! OBTP
    No Bob, the engineers make it happen, the health physics people (MY CREW) keep everyone from being over exposed to radiation and the MBAs f--k everything up by thinking in dollars. Never met an MBA who would put on Anti C's, a Scott Air Pack and
    enter a reactor containment area. They sit in the office drinking coffee and bitching about the time it takes to do a shut down, clean up and repair and restart and how much it is going to cost.

    Walt
    No Walt us guys were smart enough to stay away from the reactor, we spent more time making money! OBTP

    MBA: My Butt Aches (from sitting on my ass)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to All on Sat Dec 31 19:06:30 2022
    For all of you "what will never work" posters, a few interesting quotes. https://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/really-wrong-predictions-made-pretty-smart-people-16-pics/

    Steve

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Martin Gregorie@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sun Jan 1 13:59:42 2023
    On Sat, 31 Dec 2022 19:06:30 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

    For all of you "what will never work" posters, a few interesting quotes. https://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/really-wrong-predictions-made-
    pretty-smart-people-16-pics/

    Steve

    That's best summarised by Arthur C Clarke's first Law:

    When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is
    possible, he is almost certainly right.

    When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.



    --

    Martin | martin at
    Gregorie | gregorie dot org

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From kinsell@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Jan 2 07:57:03 2023
    On 12/31/22 8:06 PM, [email protected] wrote:
    For all of you "what will never work" posters, a few interesting quotes. https://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/really-wrong-predictions-made-pretty-smart-people-16-pics/

    Steve

    One quote they missed was the head of the National Ignition Facility
    predicting commercial production of fusion power was ten years away.

    Unfortunately, that was in 2012, so now we can officially say that
    didn't come true.

    I don't think many people have claimed it will never work, only that the
    ten year projection is extraordinarily optimistic. It seems to be a
    figment of the imaginations of ignorant politicians, rather than based
    on reality. They keep trying to tie it to the climate change narrative.
    A more sober assessment of the situation is here:

    https://www.grid.news/story/climate/2022/12/26/calling-nuclear-fusion-a-potential-climate-solution-may-undermine-actual-solutions/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dan Marotta@21:1/5 to kinsell on Mon Jan 2 11:07:34 2023
    When I started this thread, I linked to a video by physicist Sabine Hossenfelder. In that video the description of the amount of energy
    produced by the fusion reaction was "enough to boil a few of kettles of
    water". Since these terms are seldom used in the US in the context,
    we'd say, "a couple of pots of water", I suspect the author copied from Hossenfelder.

    That said, just like all climate liars, the author neglected to include
    the energy required to fire the lasers which caused the fusion reaction.
    So, to be fair, how many dinosaurs had to be burned to generate the
    400-odd megajoules required to fire the lasers to impact the target with
    2 megajoules to cause the fusion to generate 3 megajoules (or thereabouts)?

    And the politicians aren't necessarily ignorant, they're simply cynical, knowing that the ignorant rubes will vote for them if they hear the
    party line often enough.

    In 1869, before Lenin was even born, in "The Crown of a Life" it was
    written by Isa Blagden:

    If a lie is only printed often enough, it becomes a quasi-truth, and if
    such a truth is repeated often enough, it becomes an article of belief,
    a dogma, and men will die for it.

    Not much has changed since...

    Dan
    5J

    On 1/2/23 07:57, kinsell wrote:
    On 12/31/22 8:06 PM, [email protected] wrote:
    For all of you "what will never work" posters, a few interesting quotes.
    https://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/really-wrong-predictions-made-pretty-smart-people-16-pics/

    Steve

    One quote they missed was the head of the National Ignition Facility predicting commercial production of fusion power was ten years away.

    Unfortunately, that was in 2012, so now we can officially say that
    didn't come true.

    I don't think many people have claimed it will never work, only that the
    ten year projection is extraordinarily optimistic.  It seems to be a
    figment of the imaginations of ignorant politicians, rather than based
    on reality.  They keep trying to tie it to the climate change narrative.
     A more sober assessment of the situation is here:

    https://www.grid.news/story/climate/2022/12/26/calling-nuclear-fusion-a-potential-climate-solution-may-undermine-actual-solutions/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From kinsell@21:1/5 to Dan Marotta on Mon Jan 2 12:01:26 2023
    The author in the article I cited didn't ignore the power required for
    the lasers:

    "The net-energy gain that NIF achieved is truly impressive, until you
    realize that another 300 or so megajoules were used to actually power
    the lasers; a fusion power plant would need to scale up its output by a
    factor of 100 or more — and it would need to offer a bit more than a few trillionths of a second of energy."

    It's actually much worse than just comparing megajoules, the energy
    input to the lasers was in a very useful form known as electricity, the
    output was a burst of light, heat, and x-rays, which would produce
    considerably less then 3 megajoules if converted into electricity.

    He did spout the party line on climate change, but that's not relevant
    to the infinitesimal prospects of fusion being a viable energy source in
    the next decade.

    -Dave



    On 1/2/23 11:07 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    When I started this thread, I linked to a video by physicist Sabine Hossenfelder.  In that video the description of the amount of energy produced by the fusion reaction was "enough to boil a few of kettles of water".  Since these terms are seldom used in the US in the context,
    we'd say, "a couple of pots of water", I suspect the author copied from Hossenfelder.

    That said, just like all climate liars, the author neglected to include
    the energy required to fire the lasers which caused the fusion reaction.
     So, to be fair, how many dinosaurs had to be burned to generate the 400-odd megajoules required to fire the lasers to impact the target with
    2 megajoules to cause the fusion to generate 3 megajoules (or thereabouts)?

    And the politicians aren't necessarily ignorant, they're simply cynical, knowing that the ignorant rubes will vote for them if they hear the
    party line often enough.

    In 1869, before Lenin was even born, in "The Crown of a Life" it was
    written by Isa Blagden:

    If a lie is only printed often enough, it becomes a quasi-truth, and if
    such a truth is repeated often enough, it becomes an article of belief,
    a dogma, and men will die for it.

    Not much has changed since...

    Dan
    5J

    On 1/2/23 07:57, kinsell wrote:
    On 12/31/22 8:06 PM, [email protected] wrote:
    For all of you "what will never work" posters, a few interesting quotes. >>> https://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/really-wrong-predictions-made-pretty-smart-people-16-pics/

    Steve

    One quote they missed was the head of the National Ignition Facility
    predicting commercial production of fusion power was ten years away.

    Unfortunately, that was in 2012, so now we can officially say that
    didn't come true.

    I don't think many people have claimed it will never work, only that
    the ten year projection is extraordinarily optimistic.  It seems to be
    a figment of the imaginations of ignorant politicians, rather than
    based on reality.  They keep trying to tie it to the climate change
    narrative.   A more sober assessment of the situation is here:

    https://www.grid.news/story/climate/2022/12/26/calling-nuclear-fusion-a-potential-climate-solution-may-undermine-actual-solutions/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to Dan Marotta on Mon Jan 2 11:35:04 2023
    Whatever the author may have "neglected" to mention, and fusion power itself, is
    irrelevant to our understanding of global warming and climate change. That depends on
    climate science, which rests on a large body of theory and evidence accumulated over the
    last 60-70 years. In fact, the basis for what warms our planet enough to be livable was
    hypothesized over a 100 years ago, long before fusion power for our activities was
    contemplated.

    On 1/2/2023 10:07 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    When I started this thread, I linked to a video by physicist Sabine Hossenfelder.  In that
    video the description of the amount of energy produced by the fusion reaction was "enough
    to boil a few of kettles of water".  Since these terms are seldom used in the US in the
    context, we'd say, "a couple of pots of water", I suspect the author copied from
    Hossenfelder.

    That said, just like all climate liars, the author neglected to include the energy
    required to fire the lasers which caused the fusion reaction.  So, to be fair, how many
    dinosaurs had to be burned to generate the 400-odd megajoules required to fire the lasers
    to impact the target with 2 megajoules to cause the fusion to generate 3 megajoules (or
    thereabouts)?

    And the politicians aren't necessarily ignorant, they're simply cynical, knowing that the
    ignorant rubes will vote for them if they hear the party line often enough.

    In 1869, before Lenin was even born, in "The Crown of a Life" it was written by Isa Blagden:

    If a lie is only printed often enough, it becomes a quasi-truth, and if such a truth is
    repeated often enough, it becomes an article of belief, a dogma, and men will die for it.

    Not much has changed since...

    Dan
    5J

    On 1/2/23 07:57, kinsell wrote:
    On 12/31/22 8:06 PM, [email protected] wrote:
    For all of you "what will never work" posters, a few interesting quotes. >>> https://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/really-wrong-predictions-made-pretty-smart-people-16-pics/

    Steve

    One quote they missed was the head of the National Ignition Facility predicting
    commercial production of fusion power was ten years away.

    Unfortunately, that was in 2012, so now we can officially say that didn't come true.

    I don't think many people have claimed it will never work, only that the ten year
    projection is extraordinarily optimistic.  It seems to be a figment of the imaginations
    of ignorant politicians, rather than based on reality.  They keep trying to tie it to
    the climate change narrative.   A more sober assessment of the situation is here:

    https://www.grid.news/story/climate/2022/12/26/calling-nuclear-fusion-a-potential-climate-solution-may-undermine-actual-solutions/

    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Bret Hess@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jan 2 15:19:00 2023
    I've been following reports on fusion progress for decades. Commercial power is always 15 yrs away. Close enough to attract funding, far away enough to not have to provide real evidence for feasibility.

    The latest result was never a "breakthrough" as the media wanted to call it. It was a milestone after long slow progress in an experiment that I don't think is suited to go commercial. How often can those lasers fire without overheating?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dan Marotta@21:1/5 to kinsell on Mon Jan 2 16:45:03 2023
    Thanks. I stopped reading at the point where it appeared to claim an
    actual gain.

    Dan
    5J

    On 1/2/23 12:01, kinsell wrote:
    The author in the article I cited didn't ignore the power required for
    the lasers:

    "The net-energy gain that NIF achieved is truly impressive, until you
    realize that another 300 or so megajoules were used to actually power
    the lasers; a fusion power plant would need to scale up its output by a factor of 100 or more — and it would need to offer a bit more than a few trillionths of a second of energy."

    It's actually much worse than just comparing megajoules, the energy
    input to the lasers was in a very useful form known as electricity, the output was a burst of light, heat, and x-rays, which would produce considerably less then 3 megajoules if converted into electricity.

    He did spout the party line on climate change, but that's not relevant
    to the infinitesimal prospects of fusion being a viable energy source in
    the next decade.

    -Dave



    On 1/2/23 11:07 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
    When I started this thread, I linked to a video by physicist Sabine
    Hossenfelder.  In that video the description of the amount of energy
    produced by the fusion reaction was "enough to boil a few of kettles
    of water".  Since these terms are seldom used in the US in the
    context, we'd say, "a couple of pots of water", I suspect the author
    copied from Hossenfelder.

    That said, just like all climate liars, the author neglected to
    include the energy required to fire the lasers which caused the fusion
    reaction.   So, to be fair, how many dinosaurs had to be burned to
    generate the 400-odd megajoules required to fire the lasers to impact
    the target with 2 megajoules to cause the fusion to generate 3
    megajoules (or thereabouts)?

    And the politicians aren't necessarily ignorant, they're simply
    cynical, knowing that the ignorant rubes will vote for them if they
    hear the party line often enough.

    In 1869, before Lenin was even born, in "The Crown of a Life" it was
    written by Isa Blagden:

    If a lie is only printed often enough, it becomes a quasi-truth, and
    if such a truth is repeated often enough, it becomes an article of
    belief, a dogma, and men will die for it.

    Not much has changed since...

    Dan
    5J

    On 1/2/23 07:57, kinsell wrote:
    On 12/31/22 8:06 PM, [email protected] wrote:
    For all of you "what will never work" posters, a few interesting
    quotes.
    https://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/really-wrong-predictions-made-pretty-smart-people-16-pics/

    Steve

    One quote they missed was the head of the National Ignition Facility
    predicting commercial production of fusion power was ten years away.

    Unfortunately, that was in 2012, so now we can officially say that
    didn't come true.

    I don't think many people have claimed it will never work, only that
    the ten year projection is extraordinarily optimistic.  It seems to
    be a figment of the imaginations of ignorant politicians, rather than
    based on reality.  They keep trying to tie it to the climate change
    narrative.   A more sober assessment of the situation is here:

    https://www.grid.news/story/climate/2022/12/26/calling-nuclear-fusion-a-potential-climate-solution-may-undermine-actual-solutions/


    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Eric Greenwell@21:1/5 to Bret Hess on Mon Jan 2 20:04:21 2023
    On 1/2/2023 3:19 PM, Bret Hess wrote:
    I've been following reports on fusion progress for decades. Commercial power is always 15 yrs away. Close enough to attract funding, far away enough to not have to provide real evidence for feasibility.

    The latest result was never a "breakthrough" as the media wanted to call it. It was a milestone after long slow progress in an experiment that I don't think is suited to go commercial. How often can those lasers fire without overheating?

    The experimental test chamber was not designed to produce power, and the lasers aren't
    intended to fire more than a few times a day. They are still a long way from a prototype
    power production unit.
    --
    Eric Greenwell - USA
    - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
    https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot)@21:1/5 to Dan Marotta on Mon Jan 2 19:54:41 2023
    On Monday, January 2, 2023 at 1:07:38 PM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
    When I started this thread, I linked to a video by physicist Sabine Hossenfelder. In that video the description of the amount of energy
    produced by the fusion reaction was "enough to boil a few of kettles of water". Since these terms are seldom used in the US in the context,
    we'd say, "a couple of pots of water", I suspect the author copied from Hossenfelder.

    That said, just like all climate liars, the author neglected to include
    the energy required to fire the lasers which caused the fusion reaction.
    So, to be fair, how many dinosaurs had to be burned to generate the
    400-odd megajoules required to fire the lasers to impact the target with
    2 megajoules to cause the fusion to generate 3 megajoules (or thereabouts)?

    And the politicians aren't necessarily ignorant, they're simply cynical, knowing that the ignorant rubes will vote for them if they hear the
    party line often enough.

    In 1869, before Lenin was even born, in "The Crown of a Life" it was
    written by Isa Blagden:

    If a lie is only printed often enough, it becomes a quasi-truth, and if
    such a truth is repeated often enough, it becomes an article of belief,
    a dogma, and men will die for it.

    Not much has changed since...

    Dan
    5J
    On 1/2/23 07:57, kinsell wrote:
    On 12/31/22 8:06 PM, [email protected] wrote:
    For all of you "what will never work" posters, a few interesting quotes. >> https://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/really-wrong-predictions-made-pretty-smart-people-16-pics/

    Steve

    One quote they missed was the head of the National Ignition Facility predicting commercial production of fusion power was ten years away.

    Unfortunately, that was in 2012, so now we can officially say that
    didn't come true.

    I don't think many people have claimed it will never work, only that the ten year projection is extraordinarily optimistic. It seems to be a figment of the imaginations of ignorant politicians, rather than based
    on reality. They keep trying to tie it to the climate change narrative.
    A more sober assessment of the situation is here:

    https://www.grid.news/story/climate/2022/12/26/calling-nuclear-fusion-a-potential-climate-solution-may-undermine-actual-solutions/
    Actually, I thought it was started by a "US founding father", if you repeat a lie enough, it can become "fact".
    That whole "repeating history" and stuff...
    The recent news is a step forward....yes....lots of wasted energy leading to this step. But I believe a first to generate more energy out than going in......ignoring the power generation charging the lasers....it's like statistics, you can make the same
    numbers say different things.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From kinsell@21:1/5 to Eric Greenwell on Mon Jan 2 21:26:43 2023
    On 1/2/23 9:04 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
    On 1/2/2023 3:19 PM, Bret Hess wrote:
    I've been following reports on fusion progress for decades.
    Commercial power is always 15 yrs away.  Close enough to attract
    funding, far away enough to not have to provide real evidence for
    feasibility.

    The latest result was never a "breakthrough" as the media wanted to
    call it.  It was a milestone after long slow progress in an experiment
    that I don't think is suited to go commercial.  How often can those
    lasers fire without overheating?

    The experimental test chamber was not designed to produce power, and the lasers aren't intended to fire more than a few times a day.

    The National Ignition Facility was never intended to be used to develop
    power generation technology. it was targeted for nuclear weapons
    research since we no longer do test explosions.


    They are still a long way from a prototype power production unit.

    Weird. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the achievement puts the world “on
    the precipice of a future no longer reliant on fossil fuels”

    Maybe he doesn't know what the word "precipice" actually means.

    -Dave

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dan Marotta@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jan 3 08:11:09 2023
    More like engineering school: "Ignoring friction, calculate..."

    When I see the output generating sufficient power to drive the input AND
    the lights in the building, I'll raise a glass. Until then they're
    still ignoring "friction".

    I can hear the conversations in the White House: "Mr. President,
    they've achieved a gain of 0.7%!" "Really, give them another Trillion dollars."

    Dan
    5J

    On 1/2/23 20:54, Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot) wrote:
    On Monday, January 2, 2023 at 1:07:38 PM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
    When I started this thread, I linked to a video by physicist Sabine
    Hossenfelder. In that video the description of the amount of energy
    produced by the fusion reaction was "enough to boil a few of kettles of
    water". Since these terms are seldom used in the US in the context,
    we'd say, "a couple of pots of water", I suspect the author copied from
    Hossenfelder.

    That said, just like all climate liars, the author neglected to include
    the energy required to fire the lasers which caused the fusion reaction.
    So, to be fair, how many dinosaurs had to be burned to generate the
    400-odd megajoules required to fire the lasers to impact the target with
    2 megajoules to cause the fusion to generate 3 megajoules (or thereabouts)? >>
    And the politicians aren't necessarily ignorant, they're simply cynical,
    knowing that the ignorant rubes will vote for them if they hear the
    party line often enough.

    In 1869, before Lenin was even born, in "The Crown of a Life" it was
    written by Isa Blagden:

    If a lie is only printed often enough, it becomes a quasi-truth, and if
    such a truth is repeated often enough, it becomes an article of belief,
    a dogma, and men will die for it.

    Not much has changed since...

    Dan
    5J
    On 1/2/23 07:57, kinsell wrote:
    On 12/31/22 8:06 PM, [email protected] wrote:
    For all of you "what will never work" posters, a few interesting quotes. >>>> https://www.dumpaday.com/funny-pictures/really-wrong-predictions-made-pretty-smart-people-16-pics/

    Steve

    One quote they missed was the head of the National Ignition Facility
    predicting commercial production of fusion power was ten years away.

    Unfortunately, that was in 2012, so now we can officially say that
    didn't come true.

    I don't think many people have claimed it will never work, only that the >>> ten year projection is extraordinarily optimistic. It seems to be a
    figment of the imaginations of ignorant politicians, rather than based
    on reality. They keep trying to tie it to the climate change narrative. >>> A more sober assessment of the situation is here:

    https://www.grid.news/story/climate/2022/12/26/calling-nuclear-fusion-a-potential-climate-solution-may-undermine-actual-solutions/
    Actually, I thought it was started by a "US founding father", if you repeat a lie enough, it can become "fact".
    That whole "repeating history" and stuff...
    The recent news is a step forward....yes....lots of wasted energy leading to this step. But I believe a first to generate more energy out than going in......ignoring the power generation charging the lasers....it's like statistics, you can make the
    same numbers say different things.

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