First off, good news!! You don't have to be clairvoyant anymore to know what is going to be in most of the messages on this board. All you have to do is read the subject line. If you don't like the subject DON'T READ IT!!
Some facts in the new Pop Sci magazine. They even say NUCLEAR is really working out there!! They are not just "fools goals"!!
-- 75% of France's electricity generated by NUCLEAR power, the highest anywhere. U.S. only 20%
--93% of homes in Iceland heated by geothermal power. Rich in both geothermal and hydroelectric power, Iceland is now using those sources to charge fuel cells for busses and, by 2040, all vehicles. (I think Nando may be correct with his assumption on Hydrogen, just my personal opinion)
--1:2 ratio of CO2 emmissions Japan creates to generate $1 of economic activity, to the amount the U.S emits for the same returns. Japan does more with less, thanks to NUCLEAR power, residential solar power and tough effeciency standards for home appliances.
--20% of Denmark's electricity provided by wind turbines. Wind will supply 25% of the country's power by 2008 and 40 percent of it by 2030. In the U.S., wind turbines make .4%of electricity. (good news, my home state of SD ( which ranks 2nd in wind power potenial) just anounces 100 wind turbines going up near Brookings. Up to 200 megawatts!)
--By the year 2020 Sweden aims to free its economy of fossil-fuel dependency. Thanks to NUCLEAR and hydropower, Sweden now gets 35% of its energy from oil, coal and gas, versus 77% in 1970. Fossil fuels are 86% of U.S. energy demand.
--127 Megawatts of electricity-enough for 40,000 homes-produced by a new solar-thermal hybrid power station planned for sun-rich Egypt.
--40% of Brazil's gasoline demand already met with sugarcane-based ethanol. The country is the world's leader in ethanol production.
--30,000,000 households in China that rely on solar water heating. No electricity is required--the simple $150 devices heat water in roof-mounted exchangers from which sunwarmed water is drawn for showers and dishwashing.
--Next year, in a Los Angeles desert farm, we will see 37 foot diameter stirling dish's track the sun, and heat a collector, where it will power a stirling engine and then turn a generator. Powing up to 278,000 homes.
This is my favorite one, since I have made a few of these hot-air engines. If I only had plans to make one that produced over 5HP, I would then forget about the wind power.