Why oh why are we hell bent on using a technology that is as effective and usable as the water wheel? Do we really want to depend on something as fickle as the wind to generate our electricity? We have means such as nuclear, to create a reliable source of electricity. Please do not trivialize any argument against this by asking "What are we going to do with the spent rods? If you still are using this argument against nuclear energy you are in la la land. Do not use Chernobyl as an example because because comparing our nuclear power plants to Chernobyl's is like comparing a model T Ford to a Ferrari. Three Mile Island's problem was shut down exactly as the procedure was programed to do. It is nice to read the book Peter Pan but it is impossible to live the book.

Why? Because it is renewable. Renewable means sustainable. Nuclear power's main problem, in my estimation, is that it is too centralized. It takes energy and money to move power. Costly nuclear plants are not going to be built in areas of lower population. Yeah wind power is fickle - unless you can store it in some fashion. That's where a lot of research is going - in storing energy. But, it all boils down to what is best for this planet. Oil and gas will not last forever. Nuclear power will always include some form of risk much greater than that of wind or solar - or water for that matter. We owe it to future generations to use safe, renewable resources. It is the right thing to do and we, in our best humanistic consciousness, should be striving to develop its use.

A negative aspect of uranium fission you did not mention is terrorism. It does not take much uranium to make a dirty bomb. Even if the radioactive amount is low the fear consequences are great. Terrorism is terribly costly. The more concentrated uranium that is around the more likely it will fall into the hands of someone with ill intent.

The one form of nuclear power I wish we'd spend more $ and time on researching is hydrogen fusion. Hydrogen fusion is much safer than the fission of uranium atoms. Instead of radioactive waste you get helium. Hydrogen is also the most abundant element in the universe. We can obtain it from sea water as opposed to the mining of uranium. Mining always has environment impacts to some degree.

I like the idea. Not only is it interesting, it looks and sounds like it would work. But,,, I think of all of the build up that goes on in pipes, especially steel., when there is an un filtered flow of water through them. We need all of the options we can think of to be a green world. And yes. That includes Atomic energy. I think that it will take a while longer for us ( the world as a whole ) to realize that we have no time left. That we have to get together and do it now,,, or we will perish as a race.I do not think that I will be there to see it. But I care all the same because I have lived and loved in this world and want everyone to know the joy and freedom that I have experienced also. I do not have children, but for those that have grown up around me. I care for them. I also care for the heartbeat of America that I have worked with in IN for the last 9 years. Good job Lucid! Let's keep the wheels turning, and the brain cells burning:):)

Harvesting energy from our environment is one very important sustainable design parameter. We must start at the beginning, and move forward from there. Forward progress comes incrementally. Yes, there are challenges that reduce the viability, like days with calm air currents or calm waters. Similarly, cloudy days reduce the efficacy of solar collection... but all energy available to us originates with our sun. Energy from the sun makes the waters flow and the air currents move. Energy from the sun is the original source of fossil fuels, too.

Additionally, our societal infrastructure needs to work on decentralizing energy production. If terrorists crash jet planes into the Houston Oil Refinery, and knock it out, our current socioeconomic infrastructure will send us into a major depression. Oil and gasoline as we now have it, would not flow through their pipelines all across the mid and eastern US. Harvesting water and wind energy are R & D learning curves we must climb. Lucid Energy is climbing and should be rewarded and encouraged. As a result, opportunities like this article tell us about, will help accelerate the learning. Projects and design ideas like these help to decentralize and localize our energy production, sustainably so.

I have had the distinction of seeing and hearing about Lucid Energy designs first hand from both Mark Cosby, and Aeriele Littler, when I visited their facility, so I know much more about their technology than most. Kudos! Keep up the good work!

I hope it works. Elkhart county needs all the help it can get. Can't count on Governor or the President.....

I would be interested in knowing where the energy comes from. Many, if not most, pipes use pumps to maintain flow. Any turbine placed inside the pipe will reduce the pressure, and if pressure must be provided by pumps, it would be a losing proposition. You cannot get something for free! A pressure drop of 30 psi will give less than 10kw per 1000 gpm.

As far as nuclear goes, it is true that the waste will be radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. However, an area of no more than a few square miles could provide secure, safe storage as long as civilization lasts, and the area would be small enough to minimize the risk to any future civilizations that may rise from the ashes. Compare that with global warming, acid rain, and other documented issues with fossil fuels that affect the entire world, and the risk may be less onerous that you might expect.

Fusion is too far into the future to even be realistically included in the current debate.

De-centralized power could be a major boost. But did you know that in California, a bastion of left-leaning eco supporters, there are many neighborhoods that do not allow solar collectors due to the perception that they are "unsightly"? Until people accept solar hot water heaters and collectors on their own homes at their own expense, they will continue to be an under-utilized resource.

This will only be worthwhile in water pipelines flowing from sources in higher elevations to lower elevations. If a turbine is put into a pumped pipeline, it will take more pump energy to combat the increased pressure drop than the turbine will make due to the losses in the turbine. No machine is 100% efficient.

The idea of using turbines in water pipelines is not at all new. In fact its at least 50 or so years old.

For example, in Massachusetts, the public water supply for Boston already has a number of turbines.

"THE COSGROVE AND WACHUSETT INTAKES
The Cosgrove Intake conveys water from the Wachusett
Reservoir to the Cosgrove Tunnel. This construction
package provides for replacement of valves and
rehabilitation of two 1960s-era hydroturbine generators at
the intake. Water flowing through the channels in the
intake building turns the turbine generators to produce
electricity. Modifications to these facilities will also
permit remote control of the water flows and generators,
reducing operating costs."

But we are also discussing modifications and improvements to that system. Your article implies that the engineers at Lucid energy are working on anovel and original concept, they are not.

I am a researcher in the area of alternative energy; I focus on biofuels though I am knowledgeable in a broad area and I am available for consultation anytime by email.

Check out edeniq.com for a company that is interested in breaking new ground for America's energy needs and really is employing novel , original concepts.

Please Will someone at Lucid Energy Technologies send me your mailind address or a phone number

E-Mail me at scottswaterwheel@msn.con

I've been thinking along the same lines, sense the end of last year I don't think you know what you have yet

In the form of clean renewable energy This could and should go world wide What you've got could produce anywhere from 5 to 15% of the energy we'll need for the future

I don't think you've thought out a fraction of the possible applications . I think I can WOW you with some of my thoughts of where and how to put you Water Wheel

If you'll look at me e-mail address ,it reflects on what I've been working on sense the first of the year . I've been exploring way to bring my ideas out to be used

I sure would like to think that your the door is the one I need the knock on I hope what I might find on the other side is what I need to help change the world

I like having lights and power I don't like the thoughts of living in the dark

If any of you are people of faith you might understand I feel as this article was God sent

I've got many ,many ideas in the area of Clean Renewable Energy that need to be explored

RON

In the area of the Energy Bill that's being passed There has to be way that Industry large and small can find ways to stay in bussnies And conform to the new laws

Lucid Technologies I think you've got some of the answers in this area and don't know it

I would be happy to direct your thoughts in that dirrection

You've got my E-Mail address in my previous post Are ready to go to work There is a lot to be done

RON

All tech have (+) and (-).

The issue is of which tech will be at the lowest development cost and O&M, as well as aimed to foster the highest EBITDA/ROI to the Inventors, Investors, Participants, Sponsors and Counterparty.

Not the tech that promulgates that it is the best in Pro Forma Statements and News/Press Releases.

Then, you can choke the conglomerates.

(By not letting them use the “Technology Transfer” fiasco utilized by the Govs, so they can compete with the microns entrepreneurs by eating them alive).

When the “Micron Entrepreneurs” produce the product (what ever the product is) for less and it sold for less, as well as don’t let the conglomerates use the Microns tech, there will be “unequal footing competition” and shall not be called “dumping”, since the Market will decide, not politics.

Then, the cycle of positioning takes place, on the principles of least-cost, least-risk, best-fit, portfolio-fit and in favor of the previously trashed outs.

Count on it, lean and mean micron enterprises methodology.

I'm jealous of the pool table in the background.... Must be a pretty cool place to work. It's enlightening to see places like this, normally found in places like Seattle, or Silicon Valley, right here budding in Elkhart. I'm sure these people work and enjoy life at a fraction of the expense of their California counterparts also. It would be nice to see more companies take advantage of the creative intelligence that can be found right here in the Midwest.