this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2025
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Except solar. And wind. And hydro.
Some solar is also boiling water
And some of it is boiling salt!
Which then boils water, of course.
But some of it is electrons from photonic impact, no water involved! In the process of energy generation anyway. Statistically and perhaps somewhat ironically, the electrons from that photonic impact may well be used to boil water regardless... Humans just fucking love boiling water.
Isn't salt like the main bees knees these days?
I don't know, but the Ivanpah solar power station near Primm NV, which is a set of three molten salt towers is reportedly getting decommissioned, removed, and replaced with PV panels. Word is PV technology had improved in efficiency and stopped in cost enough that the whole molten salt thing is no longer economically viable, at least in comparison.
Oh, absolutely. It's very cool technology! Molten salt is corrosive as fuck, but that just kinda makes molten salt solar towers even more awesome.
I'm assuming ceramics to the rescue?
:D
Something all the way down something
And zapping birds!
They did fix that pretty quickly, but what a classic mad scientist blunder that would turn a well meaning researcher into a villain in any action hero film.
And some fusion is direct to current in coils. The z-pinch style approaches mainly.
that's why IMHO it's more important to classify the core coupling mechanism (e.g. photoelectric effect, electromagnetic effect) instead of classifying the total energy in -> energy out types.
My local solar steam generator was shut down years ago as it was no longer worth testing direct reflector material anymore — even if they had gotten perfect reflectivity they couldn't compete with photovoltaics anymore
Expect for solar, it's all just flowy stuff through spinny stuff: wind, water, steam. GRAAAAAAAAAA
Good ol' mill.
Spinny stuff is basically the universe on all scales, so it makes sense. And that's fucking cool, IMO.
Solar is very tiny flowy stuff through very tiny spinny stuff
you forgot the electrochemical battery
wind is just the effects of premade steam
Hydro also uses steam
In liquid form?
Condensed steam.
It's still the same turbine shit
It’s all turbines, but quite dissimilar turbines.
and fuel cells
And waves/tidal, but now we're getting into the really niche types.
i knew i was forgetting something
Isnt hydro in a small part powered by steam just post condensation steam.
I do enjoy a nice glass of post condensation steam on occasion
I dunno if "power plant" quite fits for solar and wind. Definitely for Hydro, though.
"Power Plant" won't be a fitting term until we can generate electricity (at a viable scale) from chloroplasts.
And wouldn't that just be solar with extra steps?
fun fact: chloroplasts generate an electric potential across the cell membrane during photosynthesis. essentially, they have membrane proteins in their chloroplast membranes that push electrons from one side of the membrane to the other side whenever a photon hits the protein. It's essentially a natural photovoltaic cell.
That electric potential is then used to create ATP in nature, while we just directly extract the electrical power through cables.
Even better if you can use it to power a humanoid robot for a real world plant golem.
Isn't that the goal?
You should look at mitochondria:
Oops.. it's turbines all the way down.
So I can launch it from Lutris?
Why not?
The First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy Cannot Be Created or Destroyed
Fossil fuel power plants merely convert chemical energy into another type.
Just that "power plant" I think most people associate with large enclosed facilities that house power generating equipment, which doesn't quite describe wind and solar farms. Hence that most people refer to them as "farms".
And theoretically a massive proton exchange plant.
Are these really power plants? I thought they were called field or farm or something else