Oh so CLEVER

[rubah]

So we started talking about sustainability in intro to engineering today, and of course we watched Fight Club last friday night, so the idea was still in my mind, and I thought the following:

"Okay there's we'll say 300k americans who are on average 20lbs overweight. That's 6bil lbs * 14,630kJoules/lb

Let's convert a similar volume to gasoline, for reference.

The specific gravity of fat is about 0.9g*cm^-3 (it floats on water), 0.45359237 kilograms to the pound.

8.778E13 kilojoules for the american race from fat. That's 2.722E9 kilograms; converted to volume it's 3.024E9 cubic centimeters, or 3.024E6 decimeters. That is directly equivilent to 3.024E6 liters.

8.778E13 kilojoules per 3.024E6 liters = 2.903E7 kJ/L or 2.9E4 MJ/L

Wikipedia gives gasolene as 34.8 MJ/L.

If everyone in america gave 20lbs of fat via liposuction or similar techniques, I could drive my car for about 7700 miles. Basically, the entire length of the Silk Road.

so what kinds of alternative energy could you come up with?

[Shiny]

Garbage used as fuel maybe.

[NeoTifa]

small children.








jk just more nuclear @_@

[Aerith's Knight]

of course, the money and power the liposuction would cost is not up for debate here..

same as with the first generation of solar panels, everyone talks about money and the enviroment, while the energy making the silicon wafers was more then the solar panel would generate in its entire lifecycle

[Captain Maxx Power]

If they can find a way to plug my arrogance and hubris into the national grid we wouldn't have an energy crisis.

[Nominus Experse]

They ought to develop a convertor for logical fallacies. They could ship a number of them to the Fox news network and we'd be set, I believe.

[Anno Domini]

engineering hurts my brain. +cringe+

perhaps, instead of liposuction, we could harness the power of gyms. The people on those mounted bicycles are basically turning a TURBINE TO NOWHERE!! hook em' up to a grid and make a "fit people battery".

its an idea

[Madame Adequate]

I know how to build a perpetual motion engine. I'm just waiting for the idea to be scientifically palatable before I actually do anything with the data.

[rubah]

of course, the money and power the liposuction would cost is not up for debate here..

Government subsidies 8)

[Madame Adequate]

of course, the money and power the liposuction would cost is not up for debate here..

Government subsidies 8)

However, if the total power expended would be more than the 7700 miles' worth of power, it doesn't matter whether subsidized or not, it'd be a net loss and thus pointless.

[rubah]

Yeah but everyone would be a lot healthier not having to pump enough blood and air to move around unnecessary pounds of nastiness.

Plus it'd be a renewable resource 8)

[Peegee]

If they can find a way to plug my arrogance and hubris into the national grid we wouldn't have an energy crisis.

You and the rest of humanity. Present speaker included.

[Shoeberto]

If a battery system could be made efficient enough and a reasonable way to dispose of used uranium rods could be found, I think the option of nuclear-generated electricity plus battery powered cars would be pretty legit.

I think the biggest hurdle is the disposal of waste though... throwing the rods into a mine and waiting for them to decay isn't a very welcoming thought.

[qwertysaur]

Just throw all of the waste into a black hole, or the sun.

Seriously use biodiesel. It is renewable, and the waste from making it can be used to make biodegradable plastics.

Also, a controlled fusion reactor would be great, even though we have one already. (The sun)

Wind energy is also very clean.

[Big D]

Wind, hydroelectric, geothermal. They have to be implemented carefully - especially hyro - but if they're done well, then they're virtually inexhaustible sources.