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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Shorty on November 19, 2019, 02:30:58 PM

Title: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Shorty on November 19, 2019, 02:30:58 PM
Bill Gates is investing in a new solar process that uses AI to concentrate collected energy to achieve previously unobtainable high temperatures. It may reduce the cost involved and pollution created with cement and steel making. Might even be able to produce hydrogen. I am not a scientist, (nor a greenie  :wink: ) so I can only take the tech writers at their word, but this might be big.  :thumb:

http://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/news/read?GUID=39152881

https://heliogen.com/

https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/19/heliogens-new-technology-could-unlock-renewable-energy-for-industrial-manufacturing/

I'm not sure how many acres of equipment would be needed to run a factory, but ain't much else going on in some places.  :wink:

Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Groover on November 19, 2019, 02:39:30 PM
I'm mesmerized by the shiny stuff on the main website. Once that passes, I'll read up on it. Thanks for passing this information along.
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: bigbikerrick on November 19, 2019, 03:11:08 PM
Interesting! So in a nutshell, they figgured out a way using AI to heat stuff on earth using the sun, so you can melt steel in steel mills without the use of fossil fuels, or less use of fossil fuels, and as a bonus, hydrogen is produced as a by product which can be used to power other stuff.  Thats what I got from it. Wow if thats the case, thats pretty spectacular!  :thumb:
Rick.
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Sasquatch Jim on November 19, 2019, 04:12:15 PM
 And this has to do with motorcycles?
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: nc43bsa on November 19, 2019, 04:38:58 PM
And this has to do with motorcycles?

As much as steel cut oats.
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: GRGuzzi on November 19, 2019, 04:56:40 PM
A little late they use it in Spain since 2007

https://www.power-technology.com/projects/seville-solar-tower/
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: stormshearon on November 19, 2019, 04:58:44 PM
Well if they manage to figure out a way to commercially get hydrogen without using massive amounts of electricity, we could be using fuel cells powered by hydrogen instead of ICE engines in our vehicles - including motorcycles. This could be a good thing.
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Lannis on November 19, 2019, 04:59:44 PM
Other than the fact that "AI" is the most overused and inappropriately overused term in all of computer technology, ... well, we'll see.   

Lannis
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: AJ Huff on November 19, 2019, 05:05:54 PM
Steel production? I have very strong doubts on that.

-AJ
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: oldbike54 on November 19, 2019, 05:20:54 PM
And this has to do with motorcycles?

 Last time I checked , steel is fairly important to building motorcycles . Add in the heat involved in making tires , etc , well ...

 Dusty
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Mike Craven on November 19, 2019, 05:25:36 PM
It's only going to reinforce the stereotype of the night shift... they hardly get anything done.
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Huzo on November 19, 2019, 05:40:28 PM
And this has to do with motorcycles?
It has to do with our survival.
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Lannis on November 19, 2019, 06:00:27 PM
Steel production? I have very strong doubts on that.

-AJ

Like, +1 to that, dude .... the fires are going 24/7/365 in steel plants, not cooling off and kicking back at eventide ....
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: LowRyter on November 19, 2019, 07:46:45 PM
Great plan.  Mirrors, sunlight = heat = power. 

Maybe these guys will make innovations for the world's benefit?

I understand that some renewables are 1/10 the price of hydrocarbons now.  Invest in a smart grid. Get EVs to the next level.  Think what it might mean to the 3rd world.  The capitalist market place may save us and sustain us.

Peace and prosperity.    :thumb:

Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: chuck peterson on November 20, 2019, 06:23:29 AM
Next best thing to fusion..
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Chuck in Indiana on November 20, 2019, 06:44:33 AM
I've read that Toyota is heavily involved in hydrogen. I personally think that is a better way to go on vehicles instead of the "current"  :smiley: battery tech. That is *assuming* there won't be a breakthrough in battery technology.. who knows? I certainly don't have a working crystal ball.
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Lannis on November 20, 2019, 07:47:07 AM
Next best thing to fusion..

Solar power sort of IS fusion power, if you think about it - we're just a little further away from the fusion reactor ....

Lannis
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Rick in WNY on November 20, 2019, 07:54:06 AM
OK, I have friends who spend their professional lives driving airplanes. That big solar powerplant out in Nevada is a real pain in the eyes for them.

https://www.kcet.org/redefine/federal-study-confirms-aviation-glare-hazard-from-solar-project (https://www.kcet.org/redefine/federal-study-confirms-aviation-glare-hazard-from-solar-project)
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: roadventure on November 20, 2019, 11:57:17 AM
Does anyone remember setting things on fire using sunlight focused through a magnifying glass?  Same concept, but on an industrial scale.  I like it!
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Antietam Classic Cycle on November 20, 2019, 03:51:37 PM
Old news: it was all done before in "The Man with the Golden Gun" in 1974!  :grin:
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Idontwantapickle on November 20, 2019, 05:24:33 PM
Old news: it was all done before in "The Man with the Golden Gun" in 1974!  :grin:

Charlie for the win!

Other than the fact that "AI" is the most overused and inappropriately overused term in all of computer technology, ... well, we'll see.   

Lannis

Nope, the most overused computer term AND the least impressive: MultiMedia. Turned out it was just a computer pretending to be a TV.
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Lannis on November 20, 2019, 05:38:37 PM
Nope, the most overused computer term AND the least impressive: MultiMedia. Turned out it was just a computer pretending to be a TV.

Well, at least "MultiMedia" is accurate ... two ("multiple") different kinds of "media" presentation on one screen.

On the other hand, we don't even understand what "natural" intelligence is yet.   It's a bit arrogant to claim to have invented "artificial" intelligence.   Self-modifying computer programs, yes, and programs that can modify their own programming based on feedback from sensors, yes.   But "AI" is just a "popular science" word to make it sound really neato.

Lannis
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: Lannis on November 20, 2019, 06:15:26 PM
Old news: it was all done before in "The Man with the Golden Gun" in 1974!  :grin:

What is NOT as well known is that Nick Nack, when he escaped the net, traveled to North Korea, where he used his talents as a sommelier and butler to get a job in the NORK Army High Command.   He then sold the plans for the Solar Concentrator to Colonel Tan-Sun Moon who named the device "Icarus" and planned to burn a path through the DMZ.  Could have been real trouble but James Bond was there to stop the villain AGAIN!

So there's really "nothing new under the sun", like the Good Book says.

Lannis
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: chuck peterson on November 21, 2019, 06:48:02 AM
Does anyone remember setting things on fire using sunlight focused through a magnifying glass?  Same concept, but on an industrial scale.  I like it!

Burning leaves like that became a gateway drug to burning ants, I believe. Should be outlawed.... :popcorn:
Title: Re: Bill Gates' new venture Heliogen
Post by: ozarquebus on November 21, 2019, 10:11:57 AM
Yes it appears wonderful, but what about the overall long term cost to benefit ratio?
Will it be like wind power with a ponderous and expensive fixed cost infrastructure dragging it down?
Ideals aside, it if it doesn't pay, it won't stay.