Alternative Energy Challenges

The purpose of this discussion thread is to explore the challenges and potentials of alternative (non-carbon) energy production and distribution. Subjects such as energy return on energy invested (EROEI), technical feasibility, market introduction, scaling, etc. will be cogent topics for discussion.

Clearly, alternative energy sources have to play a major role in both the peak energy and climate change challenges. But exactly how these will work and when we can expect them to have a significant impact on either problem is not clear.

Everyone seems to have one or two 'favorite' technologies they like to champion. But I hope this discussion can be more evidence than opinion based. We probably don't have a lot of slop in the schedule to get such sources on-line, we can't afford to make mistakes like corn ethanol. So we should try to keep our beliefs out of the discussion and focus on feasibility and technical realities as we explore the possibilities.

One other word of caution. It isn't a requirement that everyone be a physicist (technically I'm not one) but having a grounding in the laws of thermodynamics, work, etc. sure wouldn't hurt. No perpetual motion machines tolerated here!

See: Wikipedia article