Search Results for: tesla renewable

Countdown Discounts – Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time

In the spirit of Thanksgiving (and Black Friday sales), Amazon and I are making the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time available with big discounts for a limited time.

This is a countdown deal with Amazon, so the e-book is directly and immediately downloadable on Amazon based on the following price schedule:

Friday (11/28), Saturday (11/29), and Sunday (11/30): Only $0.99

Monday (12/1), Tuesday (12/2), Wednesday (12/3), and Thursday (12/4): Only $1.99

After Thursday the price reverts to its normal low price of $2.99, but obviously the best deals are made by acting fast. [More info below the photo]

Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time

This e-book explores the little-known fact that Nikola Tesla was promoting the need for renewable energy 100 years ago. Tesla’s motivations and his contributions predating our current efforts to harness the power of nature are examined. The primary goal of this overview book is to show that Nikola Tesla, and others, were already seeing the need for renewable resources long before the current resurgence in interest. It expands on a concept briefly addressed in my earlier book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, published by Fall River Press (2013).

Don’t wait – the clock is already running on this countdown deal. Get it from November 28th through 30th for only $0.99, or from December 1st through 4th for $1.99.

Feel free to share this deal with anyone you know that might be interested in Nikola Tesla. You can even give the e-book as a gift to anyone with access to the US Amazon site.

And thank you all for spreading the world about Nikola Tesla.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

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Renewable Energy Comes to Tesla Magazine

Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its TimeSolar and wind energy, along with hydroelectric power, may seem like recent ideas, but Nikola Tesla had them in his sights a long, long time ago. As this post goes up on Science Traveler, the new Tesla Magazine goes to the printer. Joining the list of great authors for this issue is an article of mine called “Nikola Tesla Advocated Renewable Energy 100 Years Ago.” It’s an adaptation from my recent e-book, Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time, available on Amazon.

Tesla was right when he said “It seems that I have always been ahead of my time.” While everyone else was rushing to exploit new ways of mining coal – one of the dirtiest forms of fuel on our planet – and drilling for oil and gas, Tesla had already recognized that they were wasteful and finite. Only later did we learn that our burning of fossil fuels is also causing the planet to warm. Had we known then what we know now, perhaps more people would have listened to Tesla’s ideas at the time.

The article in Tesla Magazine will be on news stands soon, so look for it among other science-related magazines on the shelves. The photo below shows the July 2014 issue; the new issue features a graphic somewhat reminiscent of da Vinci’s Vitruvian man and highlights Tesla’s “The Problem of Increasing Human Energy.” As always, publisher Nenad Stankovic has done a wonderful job pulling together some great articles.

Tesla Magazine on display

This is my second article in Tesla Magazine. I was fortunate enough to join other noted Tesla authors and leaders in the premier issue of July 2013. You can subscribe to the magazine here, and check out their Facebook page here.

Tesla Magazine TOC, first issue July 2013

It’s been a good week for my writing. I just had my article “Lincoln and the Rule of Three” published in The Lincolnian, a publication of the Abraham Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia. This week will also see publication of another article of mine in the newsletter of the Chesapeake-Potomac Regional Chapter of SETAC. Along with some editing of others publications and some works-in-progress – including a grant request involving filmmaker Ken Burns – I’m keeping busy.

Now, on to the book proposal!

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and an e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

Nikola Tesla and Renewable Energy – Discovering Hydrothermal and Geothermal Power

Nikola TeslaNikola Tesla believed that the thermo-dynamic process, i.e., the burning of fossil fuels, was “wasteful and barbarous.” He foresaw the limitations on supply and the inherent dangers to man and the environment (though even Tesla couldn’t anticipate the impacts of fossil fuels on climate change). “Whatever our resources of primary energy may be in the future,” Tesla argued, “we must, to be rational, obtain it without consumption of any material.” He believed that natural, renewable, sources of energy could “eliminate the need of coal, oil, gas or any other of the common fuels.” Two of the renewable energy sources that he investigated were hydrothermal and geothermal energy.

Tesla recognized that natural heat differentials exist in all three compartments of the environment – the oceans, the earth, and the atmosphere. Tesla saw the potential for a whole new source of energy from nature.

Hydrothermal

Tesla spent a great deal of effort determining a way to harness the temperature differential of the deep seas for power. The basic idea is that the “warmth of one layer” would be “brought into contact with the cold of another, to operate great power plants.” Tesla felt that such a system was practical to develop and operate. While he does discuss other natural sources of energy in his 1931 article “Our Future Motive Power,” most of the article is dedicated to analysis of the theory and practicality of hydrothermal energy from the sea.

Tesla dove into the project with his usual zeal, determined to create something completely new. The basic system relied on an apparatus that had existed for over a century, the cryophorus (“cold carrier”). It consisted of two large glass bulbs connected by a glass tube. The bulbs are partially filled with liquid, one bulb packaged in ice, “which is evaporated in one and condensed in the other.” After many calculations he felt the system could generate massive amounts of power

Tesla was elated. What a discovery!

Geothermal

Terrestrial powerThere are temperature differentials in the earth as well. In 1900 Tesla was already contemplating what today we call geothermal energy. In a somewhat long-winded and metaphysical treatise called “The Problem of Increasing Human Energy,” Tesla wrote that “it is a well-known fact that the interior portions of the globe are very hot, the temperature rising, as observations show, with the approach to the center at the rate of approximately 1 degree C. for every hundred feet of depth.”

Several scientists and adventurously minded dreamers had sought ways to harness this natural energy. French astronomer and physicist M. Camille Flammarion, for example, suggested that a massive hole could be bored through the crust of the earth to “sap the inexhaustible supply of heat” believed present in the Earth’s core. Among other complications, Flammarion’s idea had one huge drawback – the opening to the shaft would need to be “two hundred to three hundred yards, supported by a heavy, thick, cast-iron lining.” Flammarion insisted this plan was “practicable and possible;” in reality it was closer to delusional.

Tesla, on the other hand, felt the basic temperature differential principle was sound and that with his own discoveries (e.g., use of volatile fluids), very small diameter holes and shallow depths would be sufficient to power populated areas. Tesla felt the only requirement still to be met was “to find some economic and speedy way of sinking deep shafts.” If that could be achieved it would “open up unlimited resources of power throughout the world.”

By this time, however, Tesla was in his 75th year and without a laboratory or funds to be doing any groundbreaking research. He decided that developing these natural energy technologies “must be left to the future” and someone else. He also recognized that our energy infrastructure had already swayed toward use of “cheap” coal and oil, and that government and financial support for fossil fuels would make development of renewable resources more difficult. Even with these realities, Tesla was already anticipating the day when “our stores of coal and oil will be eventually used up” and other more sustainable energy resources would be necessary.

[The extract above comes from my e-book, Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. The book is available for download on Amazon.]

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the ebook Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

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Thanks for Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time

A big thank you to everyone who downloaded a copy of Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. There were over 500 downloads during this past week, which helped the e-book reach #1 in several Amazon categories. Thank you all for your support, both for this e-book and for Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (which is now back in Barnes and Noble stores this month).

Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its TimeAfter you read the e-book, please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Doing so helps spread the word about Nikola Tesla to as many people as possible.

To leave a review on Amazon, go here.

To leave a review on Goodreads, go here.

Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricityAnd while you’re at it, leave a review for Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads.

For Amazon

For Barnes and Noble

For Goodreads

Thanks again for reading about Nikola Tesla. And watch for the next book soon!

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Last Chance to Get E-book for Free – Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time

Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its TimeToday is the last day you can download a free copy of my new e-book, “Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time” on Amazon.com. In thanks to all of the people who celebrate Nikola Tesla and have supported me over the last few years, I’m providing followers with the book for no cost during this limited period. After today you’ll have to purchase it.

Please leave me an honest review on Amazon.com and on Goodreads.com. Doing so helps spread the word about Tesla to as many people as possible.

Because of your support the Kindle e-book has been ranked as the #1 download for up to three categories on Amazon.

Kindle ranking #1

Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricityCoincident with the release of my e-book, my first book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity is back in Barnes and Noble stores this summer. It’s a perfect book for all audiences and makes a great Back to School book.  More information and another free book offer can be read here.

Thank you all for spreading the word about Tesla. Because of you and the work of many others, Nikola Tesla’s contributions to society are once again being recognized by the world.

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E-book Now Available – Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time

Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its TimeAs promised, my new e-book, Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time, is now here. And for a limited time only, you can download yours at Amazon.com.

To thank all of those people who have supported my first Tesla book, supporters who view this web page or “Like” my Facebook Author’s Page will find a link to download the book from Amazon.com at the price of only $0.99. Feel free to share this link with Tesla fans everywhere.

I do ask one favor in return for the downloadPlease leave me an honest review on Amazon.com and on Goodreads.com. Doing so helps spread the word about Tesla to as many people as possible.

Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricityAnd that is just the beginning. My first book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity is back in Barnes and Noble stores this summer, just in time for Back to School purchase. Order online at BN.com, stop by your local BN bookstore, or order a signed copy directly from me. Many Tesla fans are buying extra copies to donate to their local public and school libraries. Like last time, the books are flying off the shelves so get them while they are available.

Want more? You got it. A fellow Tesla fan is offering a chance to win one of three free, signed, copies of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. Check out his Facebook page.

This is an exciting time for Nikola Tesla. After being ignored for many decades, his contributions to the modern world are once again being recognized. With the phenomenal help of Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) and the tireless work of Nikola Lonchar (Tesla Science Foundation) and Jane Alcorn (Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe), Tesla’s last laboratory at Wardenclyffe is now in the process of becoming a world-class science museum. [BTW, Tesla Motors’ Elon Musk had committed $1 million towards the restoration. Have you bought your brick for Nik yet?]

And there is more to come.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is scheduled for release in summer 2017.

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Coming Soon! [UPDATE: Now Here] Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time

July is such a great month. For starters, July 10th is Nikola Tesla’s birthday, which always results in an uptick in interest. This year we can add the release of the second printing of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, which is once again in Barnes and Noble stores nationwide and available on BarnesandNoble.com. And coming soon now availableNikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

The new book will be out exclusively on Kindle e-book format later this month now. That means you can read it on your Kindle, Kindle Fire, or Kindle app for any of the popular smartphones and tablets (I read via Kindle app on my iPhone). Download the app for free, then download the e-book. When it comes out I’ll even tell you how you can get the e-book free too – for a limited time specifically to thank all of you, the people who have been supporting my first Tesla book and Nikola Tesla himself.

Want a sneak preview? Check out the opening page after the cover photo below.

Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time“My paramount desire today, which guides me in everything I do, is an ambition to harness the forces of nature for the service of mankind.” – Nikola Tesla

The active pursuit of renewable energy sources may seem like a new phenomenon. Only in the 1970s, as a result of the oil crisis and OPEC limitation of oil exports, did the modern world begin to seriously consider the widespread use of energy derived not from coal, oil, and natural gas, but from the sun, wind, and water. Unfortunately, this surge in interest was largely abandoned in the 1980s as the country redirected investment into the military as a means of “winning” the cold war. Now, with the 21st century upon us and with an emphatic understanding that fossil fuels are causing man-made global warming, we are seriously revisiting a shift to renewable energy. We lost over thirty years of renewable energy development, but even that delay pales in comparison when considering the first recognized need for renewable energy by a man named Nikola Tesla.

In fact, Tesla was into renewable energy long before it became cool to be into renewable energy. As the header quote indicates, Tesla had sought to harness the forces of nature for the good of mankind. And he was doing this a hundred years ago.

This volume will explore the motivations of Nikola Tesla and some of his contributions that predate our current efforts to harness the power of nature. The book is intended as an overview rather than a comprehensive treatise on renewable energy then or now. The primary goal is to show that Nikola Tesla, and others, were already seeing the need for renewable resources long before the current resurgence in interest. This e-book expands on a concept briefly addressed in my earlier book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, published by Fall River Press (2013).

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There is much more that follows. I start by delving into his world-changing contribution to getting power from Niagara Falls…and then it really gets interesting. Tesla was a proponent of solar power, windmills, tidal energy, even getting power from the rain. He developed a system of geothermal energy. He claimed to have harnessed the power of cosmic rays and even the Earth itself. Tesla had all of these ideas when others were focused on energy from coal, oil, and gas – resources that Tesla said were wasteful, dirty, and finite.

He was definitely a man ahead of his time. Find out more in Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. Coming soon! Available now!

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies at Barnes and Noble bookstores, as well as online at B&N.com and Amazon.com.

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Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time – Book Cover

It’s almost Nikola Tesla’s birthday, and that means it’s almost time for the release of my new e-book on Tesla and his interest in renewable energy. I received an amazing number of suggestions for the title of the book, and now I’m looking for feedback on the preliminary book cover design.

Thanks to everyone who contributed their thoughts. After much consideration, I’ve narrowed the book title down to two options, both of which are amalgams of several of 30 or so ideas received. They capture both the name Nikola Tesla and the idea that he was ahead of his time envisioning how to harness “the power of nature.” The title options are:

1 – Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time

2- Nikola Tesla: New Perspectives on Renewable Energy

While I’m trying to decide on a final title I’m also working on the cover design. I wanted the cover to be bright and appealing, plus reflect in some way Tesla’s legacy of his first foray into what today we call renewable energy. What do you all think of this designs?

Tesla Renewable Energy book cover 2

Tesla Renewable Energy book cover 2b

The photo is of the Tesla statue on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, where Tesla’s alternating current designs enabled development of electrical power from the falling waters. I like the perspective of the shot…looking up his outstretched cane as he gazes out upon the power and energy of Horseshoe Falls.

So the dual question remains: which title, and what do you think of the cover design? Let me know in the comments or on my Facebook author’s page. If you haven’t already, “Like” my page so you can keep up to date on progress of the e-book and how to get a free download when it is released.

I’m looking forward to the feedback. Thanks everyone for all your support and assistance in renewing interest in Nikola Tesla. And don’t forget to check out all the other Tesla birthday events coming up in the next two weeks.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies at Barnes and Noble bookstores, as well as online at B&N.com and Amazon.com.

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Countdown to Tesla and Renewable Energy has Begun!

David J. KentThe clock is ticking.The finishing touches are being made. And the countdown has begun. Coming in late June is my new ebook on Nikola Tesla’s interest and advocacy of renewable energy. As I wrote in September of 2012:

How many people knew that Nikola Tesla was a proponent of renewable energy? More than 100 years ago Tesla was pushing the idea that fossil fuels – most coal and oil at that time – were not sustainable resources.

Tesla’s first foray into renewable energy, what he called “harnessing the energy of nature,” was his contribution to hydroelectric power at Niagara Falls.

But Tesla didn’t stop there. He looked at other natural sources of energy too, including the sun (solar power), the wind (windmills), and water (tides, ocean waves, even power from the rain).  He believed we could harness the power of cosmic rays. He developed a system for geothermal energy. And he believed the energy of the earth could be unlimited.

All of this and more will be discussed in an new ebook to be available in June 2014. But before that happens I need a good title, and I’m asking for your help. Tesla and Renewable Energy is my working title, but perhaps you all can come up with something that has a bit more pop, a bit more excitement, a bit more, well, natural energy.

So if you have an idea for a title that captures the idea of Tesla and Renewable Energy, feel free to write it in the comments to this post. Or you can add it on my Facebook authors page. For everyone that leaves a title idea in the comments below I’ll tell you how you can download the ebook for free! If you “Like” my Facebook authors page you can also get the ebook for free when it comes out.

Watch this page in the future because I’ll also be asking for your help in choosing the final cover for the book. More on that shortly.

If the new Tesla ebook isn’t exciting enough, the second printing of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity will be in Barnes and Noble stores in July. It should also be available for order on the Barnes and Noble website (maybe even on Amazon). Or you can buy a signed and inscribed copy directly from me.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

Nikola Tesla and Renewable Energy

Nikola TeslaHow many people knew that Nikola Tesla was a proponent of renewable energy? More than 100 years ago Tesla was pushing the idea that fossil fuels – most coal and oil at that time – were not sustainable resources. In an article he wrote in 1905 he offered:

“Long before this consummation, coal and oil must cease to be important factors in the sustenance of human life on this planet.  It should be borne in mind that electrical energy obtained by harnessing a waterfall is probably fifty times more effective than fuel energy.  Since this is the most perfect way of rendering the sun’s energy available, the direction of the future material development of man is clearly indicated.”

Yes, Tesla was into solar power even before it became fashionable.

He saw two ways in which this could be achieved – “either to turn to use the energy of the sun stored in the ambient medium, or to transmit, through the medium, the sun’s energy to distant places from some locality where it was obtainable without consumption of material.”

Of course, there were tremendous technological challenges in the year 1900 to accomplish this vision, but Tesla believed the best option “to obtain power would be to avail ourselves of the sun’s rays, which beat the earth incessantly and supply energy at a maximum rate of over four million horsepower per square mile.” He believed that “an inexhaustible source of power would be opened up by the discovery of some efficient method of utilizing the energy of the rays.”

The capture and storage technologies for exploiting solar energy would take another 100 years to reach a level of commercial feasibility, but the man who could envision an entire alternating current transformer in his head also envisioned both the need and potential of tapping the energy of the sun.

I have used the renewable energy quote in my new Facebook author’s page cover photo.

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