Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs

[Bar Sinister]

Just put a wood fired steam engine in your car. Free power.

Really? Doesn't someone have to cut the wood?

 

[L Gilbert]

.....3% of total electricity.[3] Some market analysts expect this could reach 25 percent by 2050

3%..WOW that's stellar and another 22% in another 40 years. They'll burn a ****load of coal in the mean time before reaching a whopping 25% in 40 years.

Actually last year, they calculated that they'd saved 15% to 20% on energy costs by using alternative power. It doesn't sound like much but when you're considering that Germany sucked up over 600 TW/hr last year, that's a whopping pile of cash. Scoff all you want.

Just put a wood fired steam engine in your car. Free power.

lol What's free about it? A cord of wood around here costs about $185. If you get your own wood, you can probably cut back by about a third of that price. Water here costs about $120/3 years for water licenses.

 

[EagleSmack]

In some places it's already cheaper than coal:
Solar Power May Already Rival Coal, Prompting Installation Surge - Bloomberg

And the price is falling year after year:

In THIS place it is very expensive and will cost rate payers much more. Not too mention these solar companies going belly up after they get their billions in Golden Parachute money.

Actually car wood/gas technology exists and this Swede uses it to power his car:
Swede gets around in wood-burning car | Wheels.ca

I suspect the engine gets gummed up, so you'd have to be a mechanic.

here is the science behind this technology:
Wood gas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What about the trees? Say good-bye to the rain forests... AGAIN.