Reply #15: Most of the places where hydro is reasonably possible already have hydro..

[Fumesucker]

You have to have a largish body of water and a relatively close place to drop it, there just aren't that many places that have that particular combination.

I'm far too familiar with the dangers associated with oil and gas drilling, I nearly jumped off a gas platform in the Gulf once due to a gas leak catching fire, we were a long way up and I'm not sure I would have survived impacting the water. Luckily it was only a small gas line that ruptured and the pressure was low so evacuation was not necessary, we just turned off the valve for that particular line.

We really do have to do some serious calculation as a society as to what we are going to do for energy supplies, unfortunately our political process is all but completely broken and under the control of some of the least imaginative elements in our culture.

I have grandchildren and I'm seriously concerned about what sort of world they are going to be growing into, the relative near term future looks remarkably foreboding now and my vision certainly isn't clear enough to see a likely way out of our current predicament.

To me, high altitude flying wind generators in the jet stream make a great deal of sense for the temperate regions that have those powerful winds at altitude. Tropical regions don't have that but often have lower altitude winds that could yield significant energy nonetheless.

It's quite obvious that no single technology is going to meet our energy needs over the next half century or so, barring some totally unforeseen scientific or technological breakthrough.