Scientists Developing Tornado Power Plant

[kannibus]

Didn't Cobra already come up with this idea? I'm not sure if I want my electricity to come from a Weather Dominator...

Seriously though, while promising (and I for one support new ideas/science like this wholeheartedly) I see no way that this will actually work. Any minute now the Canadian Government will swoop down like an evil Batman and cut off all their funding.

Don't believe me? I work for the buggers...

 

[spartan231490]

This is actually a really good idea. I am curious what would happen if the column was broken and allowed the tornado to escape. I think the tornado would lose stability and dissipate almost immediately, but I'd wanna know for sure. Also, I would want to see some sort of plan to make sure nothing gets sucked into the lower turbines. Otherwise it would be really dangerous when these things built up in the inner turbines.

 

[spartan231490]

That sounds like a perpetual motion machine, to the point that its bound to fail.

How is it that the energy consumed by making a TORNADO is lower than the energy we receive from it?

This comes down to how much energy does it take to make a tornado vs how much energy does a tornado give off. Tornado's are made from contrasting sets of temperatures for the most part so how much energy does a tornado give off compared to heating and cooling the designated areas. It is a interesting question but obviously there must be something to it or else the government would not have invested all this money.

Maybe I can explain. Initially, it would take more energy than you gained, but one the air got going fast enough, the differences in temperature between the bottom of the column and the top would drive the tornado, not the energy input. In other words, the energy would come from the heat in the air at the base of the tower, that energy comes from the sun, not the input. That's why you can produce more energy than it takes to start the tornado, because the energy you're getting from the tornado comes from the thermal energy of the air, not the kinetic energy that you put into it.

Although, I believe the column would need to be extremely high for this to work, otherwise the temperature differences between the top and bottom wouldn't be large enough to continue driving the tornado.

 

[A Satanic Panda]

That sounds like a perpetual motion machine, to the point that its bound to fail.

How is it that the energy consumed by making a TORNADO is lower than the energy we receive from it?

They plan to use the excess heat energy from nuclear power plants if I remember correctly (and presumably that's why the
picture has a tornado coming out of a cooling tower).

THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS, ALL THE SAFETY OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT COMBINED WITH THE SAFETY OF A TORNADO, WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Nah, I'm kidding, Nuclear power plants aren't nearly as dangerous as people make them out to be. Still, a tornado's a tornado.

I can see it now.

>Loose screw in panel

>Power of the tornado breaks panel off

>Panel goes flying to nuclear reactor core

>Chernobyl firemen roll in their graves

 

[JellySlimerMan]

It is a interesting question but obviously there must be something to it or else the government would not have invested all this money.

I dont want to generalize ALL goverments of the world as more evil or stupid than the Umbrella Corporation, but most of the time the goverment invest money in something, its for the wrong reasons. Like "Project: Jedi" (no really, that actually exist)

I know, i know, you may say "They couldnt possible be THAT stupid, they clearly know what they are doing. Its the only logical conclusion" well, its just a matter of time before everyone says "we told you"

 

[aba1]

It is a interesting question but obviously there must be something to it or else the government would not have invested all this money.

I dont want to generalize ALL goverments of the world as more evil or stupid than the Umbrella Corporation, but most of the time the goverment invest money in something, its for the wrong reasons. Like "Project: Jedi" (no really, that actually exist)

I know, i know, you may say "They couldnt possible be THAT stupid, they clearly know what they are doing. Its the only logical conclusion" well, its just a matter of time before everyone says "we told you"

Why would the government be investing in an Open Source project with the goal to translate C headers to Object Pascal and share the results with fellow Delphi programmers?? This being open source and such doesn't really strike me as something that would get funding to begin with.

The only other thing I am really finding is some moronic military project from US but you said "the government" in a article about Canada implying we are talking about the Canadian government. So I don't really see how you would be talking about US... unless your from the US and are pulling a classic only the US exists mind set the US is so famous for.

 

[Robert0288]

That sounds like a perpetual motion machine, to the point that its bound to fail.

How is it that the energy consumed by making a TORNADO is lower than the energy we receive from it?

They plan to use the excess heat energy from nuclear power plants if I remember correctly (and presumably that's why the
picture has a tornado coming out of a cooling tower).

THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS, ALL THE SAFETY OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT COMBINED WITH THE SAFETY OF A TORNADO, WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Nah, I'm kidding, Nuclear power plants aren't nearly as dangerous as people make them out to be. Still, a tornado's a tornado.

I can see it now.

>Loose screw in panel

>Power of the tornado breaks panel off

>Panel goes flying to nuclear reactor core

>Chernobyl firemen roll in their graves

Who needs a dirty bomb when the tornado can fling radioactive debris farther than any bomb? And yes I do know that nuclear reactors are incredibly safe, and that this statement was only one of amusement and should not be taken seriously by anyone

 

[RaNDM G]

Gotta love those Canadians and their fancy weather machines.

 

[Ldude893]

Science and Canada's awesomeness ratings just skyrocketed.

Seriously, twenty years ago people were skeptical enough of the prospects of hand-held computers and 3D printing, but harnessing the power of a tornado would probably be considered as mad science; probably something from the same guy who devised the Tsunami-based Water Cleaner and the Earthquake Massage Unit.

 

[weirdee]

I'm not sure if something like this is exactly safe, per se...

Worst case scenario, you have a loose tornado. I mean, sure, it's bad, but compared to the kind of disaster you get from a nuclear meltdown or an oil spill, it's relatively minor.

I'm sure their apology of "well it's not as bad as a nuclear meltdown" will go over well with the public.

 

[UltimatheChosen]

I'm not sure if something like this is exactly safe, per se...

Worst case scenario, you have a loose tornado. I mean, sure, it's bad, but compared to the kind of disaster you get from a nuclear meltdown or an oil spill, it's relatively minor.

I'm sure their apology of "well it's not as bad as a nuclear meltdown" will go over well with the public.

Since you can use this to replace other power plants, I'm sure it will.

 

[Strazdas]

It's estimated that the AVE would cost about 3 cents and total destruction of air streams per kilowatt hour, which ranks it among the cheapest and most destructive forms of energy.

fixed that for you.

 

[Vegosiux]

Okay, just how do they plan on making the tornado stay put? Yes, creating one is easy (enough). But all you've accomplished is a health hazard that's no good for anything else.

 

[ace_of_something]

One industrial accident away from a super villain. seriously.

Okay, just how do they plan on making the tornado stay put? Yes, creating one is easy (enough). But all you've accomplished is a health hazard that's no good for anything else.

I would assume much the same way a wind tunnel works?

 

[rayen020]

This sounds pretty awesome.

Texas won't make tornados though, just capture them.

 

[rayen020]

Okay, just how do they plan on making the tornado stay put? Yes, creating one is easy (enough). But all you've accomplished is a health hazard that's no good for anything else.

Theoretically you could contain a low level(EF1, EF2) tornado quite easily. The Wind is high enough to spin turbines but provided the containment system isn't built our of brushwood or gable roofs pretty much anything else could hold it in. In a cold place like Canada even if it broke out of its containment the climate would allow it to last or escalate in any sort of significant way.

 

[Orange Monkey]

OH GOD YES

PLEASE

WHATEVER IT TAKES MAKE THIS HAPPEN

It will be incredible

''Hey so what do you do for a living?'' ''Oh you know, I maintain a controlled vortex of pure destructive wind that generates energy for our country''

 

[Callate]

...So, where do the costs figure in, once the thing is built, up, and running?