[ExI] Efficiency of wind power

[Kelly Anderson]

2011/4/8 John Clark <Jonkc at bellsouth.net>:
> On Apr 7, 2011, at 4:31 AM, Eugen Leitl wrote:
>
> Geothermal: Given that the heat flux from the interior to the surface is
> less than 0.1 W m^2 the efficiency would be very low and only about 40 TW of
> free energy could be obtained.

In the VERY VERY long term, if we got extremely active and successful
about extracting heat from the earth's core, we might eventually
affect the magnetic fields that protect the earth from solar
radiation. That would make global warming look like a cake walk. :-)
Given that the core is heated by nuclear fission, it would be a long
time before it created huge problems, it would be interesting what it
did to the dynamics of subduction zones too.

> Unless we have a technological breakthrough long
> term nuclear fission is the only technology that is economically and
> thermodynamically feasible.

Well, you didn't mention nuclear fusion. True we can't do it today,
but perhaps someday with a lot of AI we might figure it out. That
would resolve a lot of problems for quite a while.

-Kelly