Why Silicon Valley Funds Instagrams, Not Hyperloops

[xoxoxoBruce]

Instead of systems based on standard solar panels, Duke engineer Nico Hotz proposes a hybrid option in which sunlight heats a combination of water and methanol in a maze of glass tubes on a rooftop. After two catalytic reactions, the system produces hydrogen much more efficiently than current technology without significant impurities. The resulting hydrogen can be stored and used on demand in fuel cells.

For his analysis, Hotz compared the hybrid system to three different technologies in terms of their exergetic performance. Exergy is a way of describing how much of a given quantity of energy can theoretically be converted to useful work.

"The hybrid system achieved exergetic efficiencies of 28.5 percent in the summer and 18.5 percent in the winter, compared to 5 to 15 percent for the conventional systems in the summer, and 2.5 to 5 percent in the winter," said Hotz, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering.

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I guess KISS is passé.

[Lamplighter]

...how much of a given quantity of energy can theoretically be converted to useful work.

Actually, xoB, I see the point of hybrid systems.
In driving around Oregon/Washington, we have "wind farms" with similar constraints.
If the wind is not blowing...

...and we don't yet have ranches to raise enough gerbils to keep the blades turning.

[xoxoxoBruce]

They're claiming hydrogen is more efficient than batteries for energy storage, with the present state of both technologies. That's only because they think they've found a way around the energy intensive production, but it still has to be compressed for meaningful storage results unless they plan on driving around with giant gas bags like WW II.