On 7 apr, 16:45, Michael Ash <m...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Charles Talleyrand <kitplan...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> > Lets suppose I've got *lots* of energy to spend, and I only want to
> > heat just *one* city. I'd like to raise the ambient temperature 20
> > degrees above the surrounding area. YOU ARE LIMITED TO CURRENT
> > TECHNOLOGY, but have a VERY VERY LARGE BUDGET. What might be the best
> > way to do it? And about-sort-of how much energy might this take?
> [snip]
> > Ideas: Run hot water under every street and sidewalk
> > Good: Nice even heating
> > Good: No need for snow removal
> > Bad: Needs lots of piping
> > Bad: Might lose lots of heat down into the Earth
>
> I think that you will reach equilibrium fairly quickly. Remember that
the
> Earth gets warmer as you go down. I don't know how far down you need to
go
> to get a 20 degree rise, but once you heat all that rock you'll "only"
> lose heat to the sides.
>
> Anyway, depending on exactly how you define this measurement, there are
> two cheats:
>
> - If you're only concerned about average temperature over some period,
> merely light the city on fire. You ought to get an average temperature
way
> above ambient for hours or days, and then once it goes out you can wait
> until the average for the period in question drops to 20 above ambient.
>
> - If you want it to last indefinitely but are once again only concerned
> about the average temperature, merely set off a nuclear bomb at the
> appropriate interval over the city.
>
> Slightly less crazy, another poster mentioned doming the city. I'd
submit
> that a dome is impractical and unnecessary, and all you need to do is
> *roof* it (and possibly wall it) with glass. Build a literal greenhouse,
> and the rest takes care of itself. If it doesn't, telling all the
> residents to leave their heaters on all of the time should finish the
job.
> (Figuring out how to keep all the pollution from getting trapped and
> killing everyone is Somebody Else's Problem.)
>
With the obvious first step of making sure that the chimneys are
outside the roof.
Next step would be checking for any fires not hooked to a suitable
chimney. Such as cars.
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