[geeks] electric cars

[velociraptor]

On 10/21/06, James Fogg <James at jdfogg.com> wrote:
> Nearly all newer landfills do it, often as a pollution abatement effort.
> They generate electricity from it with gas turbine engines. Many older
> landfills are being converted. They produce a tremendous amount of
> methane and it's a potent greenhouse gas. A good sized landfill can
> power most of a small city, something on the order of a Worcester
> Massachusetts. And, landfills can be "speeded up" by injecting air into
> them so they produce much more methane.
>
> I recently had a similar discussion with a scientist friend. We are
> surrounded by abundant energy. There is zero need for oil pumped from
> the ground. We just have to adapt a little bit and realize what's
> available.

People are soft and see no need to adapt.

> A careful calculation of the requirements for 100% soybean oil
> conversion from fossil fuel showed that a beanfield equivalent to a
> square 500 square miles on each side in size could replace all our
> fossil fuel needs.

I am having trouble parsing that sentence, James.

> There is abundant coal in the ground. Burning coal is unattractive, but
> it converts to a liquid fuel pretty easily, and I've heard the liquid is
> clean burning. It also converts to a gas (probably methane) and was used
> extensively this way in the early part of the 20th century.
>
> There is also grain alcohol. Municipal waste (garbage) converts to
> alcohol easily too.

In the 19th C., municipal garbage had oil extracted from it--this oil
was re-used for lighting.

> There is slash from forestry operations. A plant in the next town from
> me burns slash (branches, stumps, scraggly trees and forest floor
> litter) and generates steam for turbines to drive electric generators.
> They get their fuel for *free*, since forestry laws require slash to be
> removed for fire prevention.

Similarly, bio-burning plants to generate power are situating
themselves next to animal processing plants--e.g. slaughterhouses.
Chickens, cattle, alligators...whatever.  The processing plant gets
cheaper power, excess goes to the grid.

> Speaking of solar, I just saw a news item about a guy who solved the
> solar "storage" problem. I've always wished there was a good way to
> store solar energy for use overnight and in storms. During sunny days he
> uses the electricity to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water. When
> the sun isn't available he burns the hydrogen in a variety of ways,
> including in his hydrogen fuel cell car. As a byproduct, you could also
> sell the oxygen, since it should be very pure.

This is a good idea, though I wonder if the containment systems for
hydrogen and oxygen are cheaper than batteries in the long run.  The
reality is that "storage" is the problem in our electrical power
system in general.  Our power grid is highly inefficient due to the
need for transmission.  If we could come up with efficient, quiet, and
easily maintained generation systems that could be decentralized, we'd
be better off.  But of course, this goes against the status quo and
will be difficult to market.

=Nadine=