Intel Corp (INTC)

[wbmw]

Re: The best solar technology is still less than 30% efficient.... Similarly, the wind blows with far less predictability than the sun shines, and tides only come twice a day.

Sounds like you support my earlier claim that more research is needed.

Recently, I saw a TV show documenting a design for a wind turbine in Chicago that could follow the wind in any direction. They put it on top of a building, it has near-zero maintenance costs, and it provides 100% of the building's energy needs. The problem with the guy getting these designs in mass production is that the government gives oil companies a lot more tax breaks than they give a start-up company with a really good alternative energy product, so he estimated it would take a few years to get demand up for his product so that it wouldn't require private funding. I hope the current downturn hasn't scuttled the plans.