Mixed Martial Articles by Pat Darnell | Nov 29, 2014 | Bryan TX
That's a great question. American industry stumbles along when it comes to long term commitments to energy sources other than our standard pole and wire power supply. No one in North America is independent of our electric grid. We all plug in our devices and run our things from our 100 year-old utility-run grid.
"... It’s amazing that in this day and age, when investment bankers routinely take home $50 million paychecks, we can’t seem to work out how to help the majority of people on this planet from being at risk through lack of water and power. Astonishing. Here’s hoping things change sooner rather than later (Nigel. red ferret. March 29, 2008. LINK)..."
Segway Inventor Dean Kamen Thinks His New Stirling Engine Will Get You Off The Grid For Under $10K: "The Stirling is quieter than an internal combustion engine, and it’s more efficient because the heat is retained inside the engine to do more work rather than allowed to escape to the environment."
'via Blog this'
"...Though Stirlings are highly efficient, they haven’t caught on because it takes them a while to warm up and they can’t change power output quickly. That makes them unworkable for cars and trucks, but potentially ideal both for power generation and water heating. More than just a backup generator, these machines, depending on the price of natural gas, could also provide round-the-clock power to a home or business. Beats solar panels (LINK)..."”We don’t think we should be just selling a box,” says Kamen. “We think we should be part of a system of the future, powering the evolution of microgrids.” (ibid. Forbes) Fuel for his engine is not a problem, "... 'We have powered them using cow dung in Bangladesh, and even by burning olive oil,' Kamen says..."
CONCLUSION
So in 10 years will everyone have one?
“I’d say yes. Ten years from today the probability that you are depending on wires hanging on tree branches is as likely as that you’ll still be installing land lines for telephones. Close to zero. (ibid. Forbes)”
__________________________Reference
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2014/07/02/dean-kamen-thinks-his-new-stirling-engine-could-power-the-world/
http://segwayecotour.com/Segways/About-the-inventor-Dean-Kamen
http://www.redferret.net/?p=10222
http://www.martinlamonica.com/energy/
http://www.keelynet.com/indexoct12.html
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