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[LeoLeonardoIII]

Also what was your source? Many sources are crap.

[Sheb]

Yeah, as I pointed out earlier, it varies a lot from source to source.

[Arcvasti]

Closest thing to clean energy I can think of is having something living turn a crank connected to a generator thingy. You just sort of feed and water it and it creates electricity. Might be impractical, but it seems like it would work in theory. You'd also need some way to placate PETA and them. Or at least some way to get them not to tamper with them. Someone with the power to do something about it should look into that eventually.

On a less theoretical note, nuclear power is pretty safe most of the time.. That's my personal favourite energy source out of the main contenders nowadays. It doesn't pollute[Not in a traditional sense, at least] and is very efficient. Nuclear meltdowns are rare and seldom ruin the surrounding countryside to any great degree. Nuclear waste is less of an immediate problem then smoke from coal generaters. I wouldn't support it as a long-term energy source, but it seems like the best we're going to get until we can set up reliable solar or wind or biological[See above] energy infrastructure for the entire planet.

[WillowLuman]

Animal power is vastly inferior to pretty much any other source. You can't power industrialized society off of actual muscle.

[Sheb]

But it actually works pretty well in some context, mostly smaller farms. After all, you save a lot on conversion costs of biomass to fuel.

[Frumple]

... do you, though?

[10ebbor10]

Anyway, corn biofuels also have the nice problem that they use 90% of their energy content for processing and stuff.

[Sheb]

... do you, though?

I can go and dig it up, but yes, it can works in some case. Also, generally tractors are way too powerful for their intended use, so replacing them by an horse can be done.

[DJ]

Use human power instead of animal power. Voila, unemployment solved!

[WillowLuman]

But it actually works pretty well in some context, mostly smaller farms. After all, you save a lot on conversion costs of biomass to fuel.

Smaller situations, yes. It's better to mow a lawn yourself than use a riding lawnmower, for instance (though lawns are a problem in their own right). But as to this:

Closest thing to clean energy I can think of is having something living turn a crank connected to a generator thingy. You just sort of feed and water it and it creates electricity. Might be impractical, but it seems like it would work in theory. You'd also need some way to placate PETA and them. Or at least some way to get them not to tamper with them. Someone with the power to do something about it should look into that eventually.

...large scale power from animals is a bit ridiculous.

[Arcvasti]

But it actually works pretty well in some context, mostly smaller farms. After all, you save a lot on conversion costs of biomass to fuel.

Smaller situations, yes. It's better to mow a lawn yourself than use a riding lawnmower, for instance (though lawns are a problem in their own right). But as to this:

Closest thing to clean energy I can think of is having something living turn a crank connected to a generator thingy. You just sort of feed and water it and it creates electricity. Might be impractical, but it seems like it would work in theory. You'd also need some way to placate PETA and them. Or at least some way to get them not to tamper with them. Someone with the power to do something about it should look into that eventually.

...large scale power from animals is a bit ridiculous.

The notion I was trying to convey was having physical energy from muscle and such turned into electricity. The above example would probably not work that well[Or at all]. Maybe if you genetically engineered something just to turn a crank, you might have more success. Maybe not. I'm thinking that things like having a path that gathered energy from the downwards force peoples feet applied to them, bikes that used the rotational force applied by the biker to charge batteries and things along those lines. Those ideas have potential.

Of course, the best way to generate power is to create some sort of perpetual motion machine using a portal gun. Or geothermal power is nice too.

[Sergarr]

But it actually works pretty well in some context, mostly smaller farms. After all, you save a lot on conversion costs of biomass to fuel.

Smaller situations, yes. It's better to mow a lawn yourself than use a riding lawnmower, for instance (though lawns are a problem in their own right). But as to this:

Closest thing to clean energy I can think of is having something living turn a crank connected to a generator thingy. You just sort of feed and water it and it creates electricity. Might be impractical, but it seems like it would work in theory. You'd also need some way to placate PETA and them. Or at least some way to get them not to tamper with them. Someone with the power to do something about it should look into that eventually.

...large scale power from animals is a bit ridiculous.

...large scale power from humans is a bit ridiculous.

Oh wait.

[Sheb]

Well, yeah of course. You don't want an engine that needs tons of calories just to stay alive.

Also, regarding your lawn, it's even more efficient to have a sheep turn it into tasty meat. :p

[alexandertnt]

Animal power - A power source that requires fuel even when not performing work. What could possibly be inefficnent about that?

At least when it inevitably breaks down beyond repair you can set fire to it and extract a bit more energy with a stirling generator

[Sheb]

Or extract energy by barbecuing it.