Alternative Energy Sources

[paulpaul]

How about methane. It's already being produced by every home that has a septic tank.
And the methane usually just vents from the tank straight back up the shower drain pipe into the bathroom creating a terrible smell and health hazard in the home.
Keeping effluent in a tank to collect bio-gas also has the effect of primary treatment so the waste that's released is not as bad as the effluent that's poured into the septic tank where it soaks into the ground polluting ground water.
So collecting methane can reduce both pollution and health issues as well as generate energy.

[hawaiiman]

Isn't it interesting that all the posts supporting nuclear back in 2006 have dried up since the recent tragedy in Japan? Reality bites again.
I think methane is a potentially useful technology since we are so busy producing the feedstock all the time. The two major problems are that any use of it requires a purpose built system from source to use. I'm not saying that the sewers of BKK shouldn't be dug up and re-done, but as an example, it would take a major commitment by government. I don't see enough reason being exercised by any party in the Kingdom to accomplish it. This is sad as the potential is huge, and the proximity of production and consumption does a lot to reduce transmission losses and cost of establishment.
Another interesting technology which would be far easier to implement is refuse burning to produce electricity. It has it's downsides, but the major plants currently in operation for example in Honolulu Hawaii have proven the concept.
One major drawback to harnessing solar, wind, and tidal is storage and therefore dependance on batteries.
I used to live a few kilometers from a major geothermal plant. It's a great technology, and if the resource is there, produces huge amounts of power relatively cleanly without the issue of storage.

[flippogirl]

For those that are interested in Nuclear Fusion development, check out this website

http://www.iter.org/

ITER is a multination initiative (includes EU, Japan, India, US, and more) to develop Nuclear Fusion as a safe, reliable and sustainable process.
Interesting read.