Re: Home Power Generation
Originally Posted by
Barry
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I was interested to read this too Bob. I've been loosely following the nuclear fusion story for a few years now and often wondered how, if they succeeded, could they possibly contain a mini sun on earth. Reminds me of that old joke about the man who invented the universal solvent but couldn't find anything to keep it in...
Nice one Barry....
I think we are still in the steam age just like in the past when the internal combustion engine took over from the old steam driven vehicles.
Nowadays we produce heat to make steam to power turbines, even in nuclear power stations. If we could cut out the steam and turbines and find a material or combinations of materials that would produce electricity by just applying the heat directly. We are halfway there with the discovery of solar panels and lithium and it's properties. In the old days we used to get old flat zinc batteries and put them in the oven to increase their life. Just by heating them would liven up the chemical reaction inside and give it extra life.
Even if they could come up with a cold fusion reactor that could be made small enough to say power a small housing estate, that would be a major step forward, reducing the need for cables striding the countryside. Imagine the size that computers used to be. I remember when the NCB had one installed in a three story building in Doncaster and the roof of the building had to be removed to lift it in. They rented out space on it so the local council could do their wages and accounting on it. Now we have the same computing power sitting on your lap...