Well, That settles it.... We're all Screwed! -- Mark Price Morgantown, WV 1969 AMC Rambler, 4.0L, EFI, T-5 " I was different before people dared to be different" -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker) > " From: Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx> > " > " The real, underlying fundamental problem is that our entire world is built > " upon "fuel" as in sticks gathered in the forest that fell there without any > " investment of energy or work on our part some time in the past -- in the form > " of fossil fuel. It's like spending a non-growth inheritance, or next month's > " rent money. > > a hunter-gatherer fuel economy > > " Every single other source of energy requires converting an existing source > " (sun, plants, whatever) into a transmissible or storable form. > > a fuel farming economy > > " There's no way around the no-free-lunch thing. Period. None. > > yupper! you cannot negotiate with the universe about the laws of > physics. > > " Corn-based alcohol is a scam for politicians and oil companies. If every > " square hectare of fertile soil in the US was converted to corn production, > " the resulting alcohol would meet no more than 15% of US energy needs. > > i'm not sure this is right - but there -is- a fundamental flaw in > using near-food-grade produce as fuel. adm [broker for 9/10 of the > crop] has to be snickering all the way to the bank. > > research is only just beginning on fuel crops. more is needed. and > the issue of competition for food acreage could indeed be a serious > problem. > > " Corn-based alcohol is a storage method for solar energy plus the energy it > " takes to produce all the components, which it turns out, is very high. > > see the food reference above. goals are different; quality and safety > are paramount for food; efficiency is not. > > " Hydrogen bonds very tightly to many elements. It's extremely hard to break a > " chemical molecular bond. It takes a fixed and finite amount of energy, > " period. It's not reducable. Many cracking systems have other inefficiencies, > " and these can be improved, but it will always take more energy to split > " water -- or any other H2 compound -- than it produces. It's inarguable > " physics. > > this is true of -every- compound. it's called entropy. > > " Draw your own conclusions. Mine are, reduction of unbelievably stupid energy > " consumption in the first place. We're incredibly stupid and wasteful as a > " race/culture (the overall human one). People have been tricked into > " thinking "conservation" means "giving up" but that's pure politics. > " Energy-neutrality would certainly mean a wholesale revolution in literally > " everyone's world. > " > " I don't have much hope for this being fixed. There's too much stuff with a > " stake in the current infrastructure. > > i sadly agree. human nature is selfish and short-sighted, most > especially as community sizes increase and it becomes easier and > easier to leave the larger issues to 'someone else' - there are plenty > of someone elses, right? > > " On Friday 07 September 2007 20:15:07 Frank Swygert wrote: > " > Using hydrogen in a fuel cell to create electricity is supposed to be much > " > more efficient than burning the gas directly. That's why the fuel cell cars > " > from GM. > > so far, so good. fuel cells can turn h2 into electricity extremely > efficiently, as much as 80% or better. > > only the h2 can be so used though - fuel cells that run on alcohol, > natural gas, etc just throw the carbon and its energy away. so do the > refuelling stations that generate h2 from natural gas. this is > efficient? non polluting? energy reducing? > > " > It would be easy to convert gas stations that way too -- just pump > " > the chemical(s) instead of gasoline. So the existing infrastructure could > " > be used, lessening costs impact. > > this is snake oil, on someone's part. you can't just pump h2 through > gas pipelines. > 1. the molecule is so small it'll whiz through cracks ch4 [natural > gas, mostly] won't even see. > 2. h2 is absorbed directly into the steel, producing a metallurgical > phenomenon called 'hydrogen embrittlement'. this is not a good > thing for pipelines. > > you could pump water or something else and electrical power, and make > the h2 at the refuelling station, but that's a loss; natural gas can > transmit energy over long distance more efficiently than high tension > power lines. you'd be better off making the h2 [from water, not > natural gas!] at the minehead and gasifying the coal or tar sands and > pumping that. > ________________________________________________________________________ > Andrew Hay the genius nature > internet rambler is to see what all have seen > adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and think what none thought > _______________________________________________ > Amc-list mailing list > Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx > http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list