Interesting Talk About Alternative Energy Production for the Grid

Donald Sadoway of MIT talks about an aspect of energy issues not normally focused on - batteries, or at least some way of storing energy created by solar and wind sources. If the sun is not out, and the wind not blowing, we need to have back-ups so we can continue to have access to energy. Our society simply demands this, and it will only increase as the population grows.

We will not be able to conserve enough, or drill enough, to continue to match increasing demands, so energy storage is the key to future energy production and consumption. Check out this TED talk. It is also a wonderful application of the chemistry and physics we are learning!

Solar Furnace

Thanks to George:

I found this video extremely interesting. It is a video of convex mirrors focusing sunlight on one direct point. The video speaks for itself but I love how the two men doing the interview stand so closely to the extreme heat. The video was filmed in France in the Solar Furnace Research Facility. It probably takes a large amount of time and effort to get sunlight to focus that well. The amount of heat generated is just ginormous and I feel like their are scientific values to this device, maybe an easier way to melt steel.