1145
same shit every day, on god
(mander.xyz)
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.

Rules
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Except solar. And wind. And hydro.
Some solar is also boiling water
Isn't salt like the main bees knees these days?
I'm assuming ceramics to the rescue?
I don't know, but the Ivanpah solar power station near Primm NV, which is a set of three molten salt towers is reportedly getting decommissioned, removed, and replaced with PV panels. Word is PV technology had improved in efficiency and stopped in cost enough that the whole molten salt thing is no longer economically viable, at least in comparison.
:D
Something all the way down something
And zapping birds!
They did fix that pretty quickly, but what a classic mad scientist blunder that would turn a well meaning researcher into a villain in any action hero film.
And some fusion is direct to current in coils. The z-pinch style approaches mainly.
My local solar steam generator was shut down years ago as it was no longer worth testing direct reflector material anymore — even if they had gotten perfect reflectivity they couldn't compete with photovoltaics anymore
Expect for solar, it's all just flowy stuff through spinny stuff: wind, water, steam. GRAAAAAAAAAA
Good ol' mill.
Spinny stuff is basically the universe on all scales, so it makes sense. And that's fucking cool, IMO.
wind is just the effects of premade steam
Hydro also uses steam
In liquid form?
Condensed steam.
It's still the same turbine shit
It’s all turbines, but quite dissimilar turbines.
and fuel cells
And waves/tidal, but now we're getting into the really niche types.
i knew i was forgetting something
I dunno if "power plant" quite fits for solar and wind. Definitely for Hydro, though.
"Power Plant" won't be a fitting term until we can generate electricity (at a viable scale) from chloroplasts.
And wouldn't that just be solar with extra steps?
Even better if you can use it to power a humanoid robot for a real world plant golem.
fun fact: chloroplasts generate an electric potential across the cell membrane during photosynthesis. essentially, they have membrane proteins in their chloroplast membranes that push electrons from one side of the membrane to the other side whenever a photon hits the protein. It's essentially a natural photovoltaic cell.
That electric potential is then used to create ATP in nature, while we just directly extract the electrical power through cables.
Why not?
The First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy Cannot Be Created or Destroyed
Fossil fuel power plants merely convert chemical energy into another type.
Just that "power plant" I think most people associate with large enclosed facilities that house power generating equipment, which doesn't quite describe wind and solar farms. Hence that most people refer to them as "farms".
Isnt hydro in a small part powered by steam just post condensation steam.
I do enjoy a nice glass of post condensation steam on occasion