Ed Could a city be run using only alternative energy sources?

Cainkane1

Philosopher
Cainkane1
Joined
Jul 16, 2005
Messages
9,011
Location
The great American southeast
Neal Boortz said a few years ago that Saudi Arabia is planning and by now building a city in the desert which requires no fossil fuels to run. I think the main source of energy is solar and whatever else is alternative to oil.

Is this possible?
 
Sure, why not? Power is power, no matter how it's generated.
 
Depends on how much power is needed to run the city.
 
"Could a city be run using anly alternative energy sources?"

Someone needs to fix the typo. I misread this is saying "could a city be run using anally alternative energy sources?" The mental picture boggled even my mind.
 
Cainkane1 said:
Saudi Arabia is planning and by now building a city in the desert which requires no fossil fuels to run.
Click to expand...

Wait, so Saudi Arabia is using a small fraction of the vast revenues they garner by selling fossil fuels to the rest of the world to build a city that runs entirely without fossil fuels, an endeavor which, if it became common globally, would spell the end of their fortunes, were it not for the fact that no one else can afford it?

They're just taunting us at this point, aren't they?
 
Vorticity said:
Wait, so Saudi Arabia is using a small fraction of the vast revenues they garner by selling fossil fuels to the rest of the world to build a city that runs entirely without fossil fuels, an endeavor which, if it became common globally, would spell the end of their fortunes, were it not for the fact that no one else can afford it?

They're just taunting us at this point, aren't they?
Click to expand...
You can't edit the title just the post of the title. Sorry.
 
Cainkane1 said:
You can't edit the title just the post of the title. Sorry.
Click to expand...

No biggie. I just hope I'm not the only one who made the same misreading, and then thought, after a moment or two of speculation, that such a city might be fun to live in but it would smell terrible.
 
TragicMonkey said:
No biggie. I just hope I'm not the only one who made the same misreading, and then thought, after a moment or two of speculation, that such a city might be fun to live in but it would smell terrible.
Click to expand...

I had a different interpretation of "anally-alternative energy sources":

"No, we can't consume the fossil fuels required to truck the solar panels into place. Instead we'll gently float them in over the course of several weeks using solar-heated, wind-directed balloons."
 
TragicMonkey said:
"Could a city be run using anly alternative energy sources?"

Someone needs to fix the typo. I misread this is saying "could a city be run using anally alternative energy sources?" The mental picture boggled even my mind.
Click to expand...

I think it was tried once, only it worked too well.
 
Vorticity said:
I had a different interpretation of "anally-alternative energy sources":

"No, we can't consume the fossil fuels required to truck the solar panels into place. Instead we'll gently float them in over the course of several weeks using solar-heated, wind-directed balloons."
Click to expand...
I did not misread the OP title, but I somehow did misread the last word in Vorticity's post as "baboons".
 
Cainkane1 said:
Neal Boortz said a few years ago that Saudi Arabia is planning and by now building a city in the desert which requires no fossil fuels to run. I think the main source of energy is solar and whatever else is alternative to oil.

Is this possible?
Click to expand...
In Saudi Arabia, with its reliable sunlight, probably.

Most places in the world, no.
 
Sword_Of_Truth said:
Short version: No. The grid would be too unstable.
Click to expand...

Couldn't that be circumvented if the scale of the energy production was large enough? Normally, excess energy could be stored in batteries, or hydrogen, or water potential energy, and then channeled to the grid when output fell for some reason or other.
 
Depends on what the economy of the city is. Is the city going to provide large internet data centers or manufacturing like making PV cells, consumer electronics, cars or wind turbines? Then the answer is most definitely no. If the economy is going to be based on something less energy intensive then it certainly could be done but not if you want to do something like manufacture solar cells. Maybe it would make a good college town?
 
Yes, nuclear reactors could easily power a city.

Just sayin' !!
 
The nation of Iceland generates all of its electricity from hydroelectric dams and geothermal power. They're working on having all of the cars and fishing boats in their country run on hydrogen fuel cells instead of petroleum powered engines.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom