Producing energy on Mars

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dryson

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There is an article in Popular Science on page 46 about using man made tornadoes to create energy. We all know that Mars is known for it's vivascious storms. Is it possible to use this type of machine to create an energy source on Mars? Could this machine also be used to stimulate the atmosphere to re-build itself by using the polar ice caps as a source for the hot water?
 
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nimbus

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IIRC the atmosphere needs more than matter to rebuild itself, it needs magnetic shielding from the solar wind.&nbsp;<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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newtons_laws

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The&nbsp;power produced by a windmill (or more strictly a wind turbine, since I doubt you will be wanting to mill grain<img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" />) is proportional to the density of the air/atmosphere, and the cube of wind velocity.&nbsp; Since the atmospheric pressure on Mars is only about about 8 milliBar (compared to 1 Bar on earth), for a given wind speed a wind turbine on Mars would produce less than a hundredth of the power it would produce on Earth. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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dryson

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>The&nbsp;power produced by a windmill (or more strictly a wind turbine, since I doubt you will be wanting to mill grain) is proportional to the density of the air/atmosphere, and the cube of wind velocity.&nbsp; Since the atmospheric pressure on Mars is only about about 8 milliBar (compared to 1 Bar on earth), for a given wind speed a wind turbine on Mars would produce less than a hundredth of the power it would produce on Earth. <br />Posted by newtons_laws</DIV></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Ah this can be countered by making&nbsp; the vanes on the "windmill" proporational to the push created by the Martian winds. If what you say is correct, then a vane would have to be 4x as heavy to be used on Mars in comparission to the wind vaned used here on Earth. I can see it now, an Earth made vane would simply bend in different angles until it came off of the shaft and spun away at mach 1.<br /></p>
 
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Boris_Badenov

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<font size="2">A </font><font size="2">Stirling engine</font><font size="2">&nbsp;would be a better bet IMHO.&nbsp; They would have more flexibility than great big wind turbine towers.</font> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>
 
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vidargander

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>There is an article in Popular Science on page 46 about using man made tornadoes to create energy. We all know that Mars is known for it's vivascious storms. Is it possible to use this type of machine to create an energy source on Mars? Could this machine also be used to stimulate the atmosphere to re-build itself by using the polar ice caps as a source for the hot water? <br />Posted by dryson</DIV></p><p>I can&rsquo;t see that there are any alternative to nuclear energy.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s insufficient solar, water, geothermal or wind power for effective power production on Mars.<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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Boris_Badenov

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I can&rsquo;t see that there are any alternative to nuclear energy.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s insufficient solar, water, geothermal or wind power for effective power production on Mars. <br />Posted by vidargander</DIV></p><p><font size="2">You may very well be right.</font></p><p><font size="2"><br /><br /><font size="3"><font size="3">Hyperion Power Generation</font></font></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>
 
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