Another reality TV-series / The truth and nothing but the truth? / Daily energy…
I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. Ecclesiastes
Both deuterium-helium-3-fusion and helium-3-helium-3-fusion have some significant advantages deuterium-tritium-fusion. First, less radioactive waste, since the reactor inner lining does not become highly radioactive. Second, no need to transfer energy from high energy neutrons to steam and running turbines. Instead, fusion of/with helium-3 produces charged particles, which can be converted to electricity directly. The only problem — if one forgets that the engineering for a helium-3-fusion reactor is incomplete — is absence of helium-3 on the Earth.
The Lunar soil — regolith — contains a lot of helium-3. This is the reason why Schmitt wants to start a program for mining the Moon. The mining operation would be large. A single 1000 MW fusion reactor would need 100 kg of helium-3 per year. Mining 2.8 square kilometers lunar surface 3 meters deep would produce 100 kg of helium-3. The value of 100 kg of helium-3 is, according to Schmitt, $140 million.
The value of $140 million of 100 kg of helium-3 sets limits to the Moon-mining business. For the business to be profitable, the cost of transport to the Moon should be less than $3000. This is about 5% of the cost of Apollo. Schmitt proposed all kinds of tricks (using commercial competition, resurrecting Saturn 5 and turning it to Saturn 6, etc) for making the cost reductions feasible. Being a professor of geology, Schmitt is also able to plan the mining operations painstakingly, so that overall cost of helium-3 would be below $1400 per 100 kg on Earth.
Return to the Moon is an entertaining book. However, it reads more as a work of science fiction than a real plan for developing helium-3 energy economy. Schmitt clearly knows a lot of space systems and geology and his enthusiasm is infectious, but his calculation are very rough, and his habit of looking down on other energy systems is infuriating. Is establishing Schmitt's helium-3 enterprise really easier and cheaper that developing better solar cells and other ways of using sun's fusion? Schmitt wants us to believe in his project, but the reader is left in wondering.
Return to the Moon suffers also from a lack of editing. Schmitt reprints his emails to Karl Rove and other member of the administration. The purpose of reprinting seems to be merely boasting. Anyway, the book is worth reading and would make a great script for a scifi-movie.
Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs January to February 2006".
Another reality TV-series
All reality TV-series are for non-intelluctual pursuits. Let's change this! Let's have a new series, in which a group of people are locked in a house — Big Brother-style — with TVs, computers, mobile-phones, XBoxes, books and magazines. Anyone, who either watches TV, surfs the net, talks on the phone, or plays with the XBox, is expelled from the house. No mercy, no second chance. Furthermore, anyone who fails to read a book and pass a quiz on the book one a week is expelled as well. The winner will then get all the books. How about?The truth and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Bush let us know, that the US government used its wartime powers well and foiled an terrorist attack against Las Vegas in 2002. The question is: why should we believe what Mr. Bush is telling us? He has been caught telling lies before. Surprisingly, he kept the victory secret for almost 4 years, only to tell us about it exactly when the Congress is having hearings about the illegal domestic spying program. What a coincidence!Daily energy blogging (3): "Return to the Moon"
Fusion energy will be the energy solution of the — distant — future. There are two possibilities: using energy from the ongoing fusion reaction in the Sun or from fusion reactors on Earth. In his book Return to the Moon Apollo-17 astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt advocates the latter possibility. He has developed a plan for a 15-year project for developing helium-3-fusion reactors, new generation of rocket boosters, lunar mining equipment for helium-3, and transportation systems from the Moon to the Earth.Both deuterium-helium-3-fusion and helium-3-helium-3-fusion have some significant advantages deuterium-tritium-fusion. First, less radioactive waste, since the reactor inner lining does not become highly radioactive. Second, no need to transfer energy from high energy neutrons to steam and running turbines. Instead, fusion of/with helium-3 produces charged particles, which can be converted to electricity directly. The only problem — if one forgets that the engineering for a helium-3-fusion reactor is incomplete — is absence of helium-3 on the Earth.
The Lunar soil — regolith — contains a lot of helium-3. This is the reason why Schmitt wants to start a program for mining the Moon. The mining operation would be large. A single 1000 MW fusion reactor would need 100 kg of helium-3 per year. Mining 2.8 square kilometers lunar surface 3 meters deep would produce 100 kg of helium-3. The value of 100 kg of helium-3 is, according to Schmitt, $140 million.
The value of $140 million of 100 kg of helium-3 sets limits to the Moon-mining business. For the business to be profitable, the cost of transport to the Moon should be less than $3000. This is about 5% of the cost of Apollo. Schmitt proposed all kinds of tricks (using commercial competition, resurrecting Saturn 5 and turning it to Saturn 6, etc) for making the cost reductions feasible. Being a professor of geology, Schmitt is also able to plan the mining operations painstakingly, so that overall cost of helium-3 would be below $1400 per 100 kg on Earth.
Return to the Moon is an entertaining book. However, it reads more as a work of science fiction than a real plan for developing helium-3 energy economy. Schmitt clearly knows a lot of space systems and geology and his enthusiasm is infectious, but his calculation are very rough, and his habit of looking down on other energy systems is infuriating. Is establishing Schmitt's helium-3 enterprise really easier and cheaper that developing better solar cells and other ways of using sun's fusion? Schmitt wants us to believe in his project, but the reader is left in wondering.
Return to the Moon suffers also from a lack of editing. Schmitt reprints his emails to Karl Rove and other member of the administration. The purpose of reprinting seems to be merely boasting. Anyway, the book is worth reading and would make a great script for a scifi-movie.
A puffin video
S sent me the link to the cutest puffin video. It is part of Bruce McMillan's puffin-pages. What a nice way to start a day by looking at puffins. They are my favorite animals, in addition to polar bears and penguinsOrwell on style
George Orwell's essay on Politics and the English Language is rare example of clarity. His advice for writing better is simple:- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never us a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs January to February 2006".
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