100 years to early New Technology

[Zolar V]

So while thinking about the oceans i had a wondrous idea on space.

 

I though of a near impossible way to get unlimited free(ish) energy that could power everything on earth for the entirety of earths existence. Upon pondering the idea it also came to me to use a similar system as a way to travel or move materials between different celestial bodies. So hear i will discuss the first idea.

 

>Using the Moon's motion as a conduit to change gravitational energy into electrical energy.<

 

We know and can predict where the moon will be relative to the earth at any given point in time. we can model where it was and where it will be for many many years. This idea can be built with current technology. This idea is built upon 3 different pieces, the ring, the moon structure and magnets.

 

If we built a metal ring around the entire orbit of the moon, where the moon follows the ring. The metal ring will be freaking huge covering thousands of miles and i don't believe it will have to be very thick.

 

On the moon there will be a structure built that has the ring going through it. Imagine it similar to a pole holding up a ski lift. the moon following its orbit will also follow the metal ring. on the moon in the ski lift structure there will be a structure similar to the magnets in maglev trains.

 

Because the moon follows its orbit around the earth, the motion caused by gravity will move the magnets around the ring, the movement will produce electricity in the same way that any dc current is produced. the ring is stationary.

 

Now you may be wondering how the ring will stay in geostationary orbit. it could stay by making the magnets on the moon stronger than the magnets on the ring, thus keeping the ring in tandem to the moon.

 

 

the transmission of the electrical energy from the moon to the earth could be done simply by transmitting it via microwave technology. or we may use higher frequencies.

 

IDEA 2

 

Now you are obviously wondering where we would get all this metal from, and my answer again is just as extraordinary as the idea presented here, the previous idea, and the answer itself.

The answer is, other planets. Mars it is a giant mass of red. so by doing some radiospectronomy we should be able to discern whether or not there are metal deposits on the planet. and i'm sure there is. why don't we mine the iron on the planet and ship it back to the earth to build the ring. Now you are obviously wondering how the hell are we going to mine on mars. well robots. robots that have humans in them and an AI that records all the human actions during mining. eventually the AI Linked to all the other robots will evolve enough that it can mine itself without a human. We could develop the AI here on earth. then send the robots with no humans in them onto mars.

Due to the lessened gravity i would theories that any metal mined and refined will have different properties than the metal refined here.

If you were to heat up and cool a metal into a form or mold, due to the decreased gravity, i would suggest that the cooled metal will be lighter and have more space between its atomic particles. Also it might require less energy to refine the metal on mars.

 

But that is not the second idea. The second idea stems from the problem of transporting items from mars to earth. Why not use a similar concept from the ring and maglev trains in space?

this is a sort of celestial tram. lets build a strait metal track and put a maglev on it. of course it would only be accessible at only one time frame a year. but the track could just float in space.

the propulsion system of the train could be the maglev tech, or something else. idk yet. but a sort of celestial tram is the idea. magnets would be an energy efficient way to transfer everything.

 

So what do you think?

[TonyMcC]

Idea 1 - I think the ring would rotate with the moon thus preventing the generation of electricty (unless it is held in place by huge anchoring pylons).

If you got it working and managed to get copious amouts of energy from it this would gradually change the speed of the moon and alter its orbit. (You can't get energy out without putting energy in).

Edited November 29, 2010 by TonyMcC

[Zolar V]

no it wont. the machine has no moving parts and there is no interaction between the moon and the ring. and yes it will generate "copious" amounts of energy due to the immensity of everything. energy generation is extremely dependent on size. also i'm not generating electricity, the moon is already falling to the earth in a slow controlled sort of fall. this concept just uses that fall to generate electricity.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Zolar V

[Rhiaden]

, the moon is already falling to the earth in a slow controlled sort of fall. this concept just uses that fall to generate electricity.

 

 

Isnt the moon moving away from the Earth?

[TonyMcC]

The machine has two parts that must move relative to each other - the moon and the ring. If you take any generator the force needed to maintain the relative movement between stator and rotor will increase if it delivers power. For example if you really want to squeeze the most miles / gallon out of a car it pays to switch off as many electrical components as you can. The car's alternator will be stiffer to turn the more items take power and so the engine will have to work harder.

[Mr Skeptic]

I think it sounds like a good idea but with a modification to make it easier to exploit the moon's energy. Instead of building a hugely expensive (energetically, materially, and technologically) ring around the moon's orbit, we could use the moon's kinetic energy via gravity directly from earth.

 

My modification to your idea is that we make huge pools of water, the bigger the better. Because of the inverse square law for gravity, some parts of these pools will be more strongly attracted to the moon than others. This will result in bulges in the huge pools of water that rise and fall periodically as the moon/earth system move. A bonus to my version over yours is that my system could also use the kinetic energy of the earth-sun system, again via gravity and directly from earth, with the same infrastructure as for getting the moon's energy. Anyhow, as the water bulges move around the earth, we could let them in to an enclosure, and then when the bulges move away, we'll have a lot of water with a bit of a gravitational potential energy, which we can release for energy. Oh, and for whatever it's worth since salt water is denser than fresh water, it would be better if the water in question were salty. Also, to save on infrastructure costs and environmental damage, it would be better if these huge pools of water and enclosures were naturally formed.

 

So what do you think of my idea? Just gotta think of a name for it now.

[John Cuthber]

I think it sounds like a good idea but with a modification to make it easier to exploit the moon's energy. Instead of building a hugely expensive (energetically, materially, and technologically) ring around the moon's orbit, we could use the moon's kinetic energy via gravity directly from earth.

 

My modification to your idea is that we make huge pools of water, the bigger the better. Because of the inverse square law for gravity, some parts of these pools will be more strongly attracted to the moon than others. This will result in bulges in the huge pools of water that rise and fall periodically as the moon/earth system move. A bonus to my version over yours is that my system could also use the kinetic energy of the earth-sun system, again via gravity and directly from earth, with the same infrastructure as for getting the moon's energy. Anyhow, as the water bulges move around the earth, we could let them in to an enclosure, and then when the bulges move away, we'll have a lot of water with a bit of a gravitational potential energy, which we can release for energy. Oh, and for whatever it's worth since salt water is denser than fresh water, it would be better if the water in question were salty. Also, to save on infrastructure costs and environmental damage, it would be better if these huge pools of water and enclosures were naturally formed.

 

So what do you think of my idea? Just gotta think of a name for it now.

The power of irony perhaps?

[TonyMcC]

Mr Skeptic - If you made a pool of water the correct size (about the size of the Atlantic Ocean) the water would slop back and forth rythmically producing much larger level changes at the edges than in the centre. These large changes in level could make your "idea" even more efficient.

Edited November 29, 2010 by TonyMcC

[Zolar V]

I think it sounds like a good idea but with a modification to make it easier to exploit the moon's energy. Instead of building a hugely expensive (energetically, materially, and technologically) ring around the moon's orbit, we could use the moon's kinetic energy via gravity directly from earth.

 

My modification to your idea is that we make huge pools of water, the bigger the better. Because of the inverse square law for gravity, some parts of these pools will be more strongly attracted to the moon than others. This will result in bulges in the huge pools of water that rise and fall periodically as the moon/earth system move. A bonus to my version over yours is that my system could also use the kinetic energy of the earth-sun system, again via gravity and directly from earth, with the same infrastructure as for getting the moon's energy. Anyhow, as the water bulges move around the earth, we could let them in to an enclosure, and then when the bulges move away, we'll have a lot of water with a bit of a gravitational potential energy, which we can release for energy. Oh, and for whatever it's worth since salt water is denser than fresh water, it would be better if the water in question were salty. Also, to save on infrastructure costs and environmental damage, it would be better if these huge pools of water and enclosures were naturally formed.

 

So what do you think of my idea? Just gotta think of a name for it now.

 

yes i already thought of that, and I am currently working on a patent for an idea related to the field.

 

Utilizing the moon in such a manor would provide many things, aside from electricity. on the ring you could install space stations, between them you could have a maglev type tram system. it's all dependent on what you want to do. the electricity on the moon could also be used as a propulsion method to launching spacecraft. the electricity could be used to create/refine new metals under different pressures. and so on.

[dragonstar57]

a ring around the orbit of the moon? might that accelerate the "fall" of the moon and make it fall to earth?

[Kris K.]

I love it.

[Eyvind]

Idea 1

I think is a doable idea but it has a BIG problem! Where would you store the energy and how would tou send it to earth? Giant cables from the moon to the earth is not something that i can see done in the future...

 

Idea 2

Now that is an idea!! I have a few changes though; the 1st is having 2 traks. This way you can have 2 trains runing at the same time so that you could send and recive at the same time. Depending on the train speed it would even be possible to have 2 or more sets of traks so that you could have trips every 6 months or do... At that time we could send people there to establish a colony there!