Scientists Developing Tornado Power Plant

[Jowe]

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?

Sounds as much a perpetual motion machine as solar power, i.e. not at all, but powered by the sun.

(the sun drives the wind and waves)

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

Sounds like a load of hot air.
They're just taking us for a spin.
The big twist is that it won't work.
This will blow over eventually.
This news is just static.

Okay I'm done now but seriously this is pretty electric!

Don't be such a blowhard.

 

[Bobic]

and in 2 weeks we will enjoy another cheesy "what would happen?: tornado apocalypse!" """""documentary""""" on the syfy channel...

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?

Sounds as much a perpetual motion machine as solar power, i.e. not at all, but powered by the sun.

(the sun drives the wind and waves)

wait, what?

please specify and add some sources

since i dont think the sun affects the wind that much.

One example was a study to see if the solar cycle affected wind patterns on Earth. In 1949, H.C. Willett looked to see if the solar cycle affected long-term changes of wind patterns. He saw the solar cycle as a definite factor in influencing wind variations. He did admit that, "the physical basis of any such relationship must be utterly complex, and is as yet not at all understood." However, attempts to confirm his conclusions were not successful.

In fact, over time and with more and more studies and better instruments (especially satellites outside the Earth's atmosphere), connections between the solar cycle and Earth's weather have been found more and more unlikely.
One exception to this seems to be that solar cosmic rays do affect Earth's cloudiness.

http://www.windows2universe.org/sun/sunspots_and_wind.html

He probably is referring to the fact that winds are caused by differences in pressure, which is related to temperature, which is obviously governed by the sun.

 

[Somebloke]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower

 

[lacktheknack]

Let's see that pic again!

http://cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/412/412093.jpg

NUCLEAR TORNADOES.

Quick, anyone wanna start a band?

OT: This is amazing. I just hope they have a foolproof way of containing said tornado.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Sweet! Not only is this really cool and potentially a breakthrough in green energy, but Canada, my own country is making this!

Wait...Canada is making this... Harper hates the environment, is doing tons of stuff to screw over green alternatives and protected wildlife and...

.....Bah. Watch this get defunded next week for "Not showing any progress" while his big oil buddies pat themselves on the back for another successful interruption of progress.

>_< I hate that guy...

 

[The Great JT]

Tornado power? BEST. IDEA. EVER!!

Also, cheap power that's as good as what we got? Good idea! Canada, give these guys more money, we need to fund this!

 

[aba1]

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.

 

[aba1]

Sweet! Not only is this really cool and potentially a breakthrough in green energy, but Canada, my own country is making this!

Wait...Canada is making this... Harper hates the environment, is doing tons of stuff to screw over green alternatives and protected wildlife and...

.....Bah. Watch this get defunded next week for "Not showing any progress" while his big oil buddies pat themselves on the back for another successful interruption of progress.

>_< I hate that guy...

I can't believe he hasn't been kicked for incompetence to be honest.

 

[aba1]

What could possibly go wrong...

Seems cool enough if they can keep everything under controller. I'd hate to see Canada engulfed by tornadoes.

If the tornado somehow got out of hand it would just dissipate when leaving the area unless outside had the exact conditions to support a tornado in which case we would have had one already anyways.

 

[Jubbert]

Oh my GOD,

THOSE GIANT FAN TUBES IN HALF LIFE 1 MAKE SENSE NOW!

That game really WAS ahead of its time.

 

[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.

 

[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.