Re: is perpetual motion possible ?

Rob wrote:

No laws of physics have been broken. So, where does the energy come from?
The initial source of energy harvested by your small turbine is
predominately thermal (although partially tidal). Heat from the sun
creates wind, convection currents, etc. that keeps the water mixed.

Exactly. A somewhat different take on solar power, though. Well spotted.


I really, really don't like this analysis. For one, you are ignoring at least two other oceanic energy inputs. One is very trivial <meteorite bombardment> at least currently, so I don't mind that. The other is not.

The thing I dislike the most is that you decide to chase back through various transformations, then arbitrarily stop at "solar power". Because you like it more?

You could have as easily gone one more step back (where does the heat from the sun originate) and said "Fusion/nuclear" power.

If you had gone another step, you would have actually come to something interesting: That the energy coming from the sun is a result of the gravitational force, which results in fusion, which results in EM radiation, which is what you point to with "solar power".

This is also a strong hint in terms of the other significant oceanic energy input.

And reveals something significant, I think: how much energy in the Universe can be traced back to the "weakest" of forces, gravity?

Cheers.
.

Relevant Pages