good post @sammosk, I like the last one a lot.
It's the only one that seems like it is worth exploring to me.
I always liked ion-drives too though.
I had a non-fiction book as a teenager, called "interstellar travel" and it was basically a book length discussion of all the known or theorised technologies at the time (1980? 1975?)
well outdated now, as these decades have been the decades in all this theoretical physics.
What do you think about the problem that all of our technologies, even the as yet undeveloped ones, make an assumption that there will always be abundant (cheap) fossil fuel energy for the mining processing and transport of raw materials and finished goods and parts.
Even hydrogen is usually derived from natural gas, as electrolysis is very energy intensive.
I know that theoretically we could use the abundant solar energy for this job, but we don't.
And the EOERI of petroleum and nat gas have been contracting sharply for decades.
Not to mention economic chaos.
Do you think we'll get off the planet, in this one window, that we are squandering?
I don't know what to think these days.
Good post, and you introduced me to several new ideas that weren't in my book.
big hugs
I can't for the life of me figure out why we are not harvesting solar energy in orbit and beaming it down to earth, radio, microwave, laser, all could be viable for transmitting this energy down.
Also geothermal and hydrothermal could be tapped, there are many many vents under the ocean that pump out in the realm of 50+MWt per site.
Abundant water for hydrolysis, salt for whatever you like, perhaps molten salt capacitor/heat store? rare earth elements and other exotic stuff like tritium all sorts of fun stuff.
Fossil fuel is just used because it's easy to sell it to you, if they are pumping out 1000's of MW from the sea floor and producing more hydrogen then they know what to do with, well it's tough to charge $1+ per gallon for that I guess.
It's all about the coin, unfortunately.
I hope we get off this planet, all it takes is one catastrophic event and humanity is d.d.d.d.done.
Glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for commenting. Much loves. <3
YUP, it's all about the Petro-Dollar and the tax revenue that the Oil Con generates. Once we break that unholy alliance with the House of Saud, we can explore all the alternatives and then break these planetary bonds that keep us here on Earth ;)