[geeks] Global Warming questions...

[Sandwich Maker]

" From: Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com>
" 
" Sandwich Maker wrote:
" > " > Actually electric cars produce more pollutions due to losses in  
" > " > conveting
" > " > heat into electricty because there are more conversion steps where you
" > " > loose energy.  The only way they reduce pollution is if they are  
" > " > charged
" > " > by wind, solar or other sustainable means.
" > 
" > but large util power plants are considerably more efficient than your
" > car's engine running at part throttle.  they're more efficient even if
" > your car's a diesel.
" > 
" > " ...and if batteries magically become pollution free... :)
" > 
" > this is imho the dirty little secret about current electric and/or
" > hybrid cars.  i wonder what the recycling impact of all those prius
" > battery packs will be?
" 
" Because of the two above points, why not just use hydrogen as the 
" storage medium, acquired through electrolysis of water?

the short/medium term problem is infrastructure.  h2 can't be
liquefied at any temp above iirc 20K; nasa shows it can be done, but
on a national scale?  h2 can't be dropped into natural-gas pipelines
for two reasons: h2 molecules are so small they can whizz through
cracks petroleum gas doesn't even notice, and most common steels [eg.
pipelines] are subject to 'hydrogen embrittlement', which would be
just ducky on pipelines that undergo seasonal thermal expansion and
contraction...  h2 storage with adequate capacity on the vehicle still
needs work, though adsorption onto exotic metal sponge materials looks
promising.

i still think biofuels is the way to go.  i've recently learned of oil
algae research.  it can be several times as productive per acre as the
best dry-land oil crop, though this may be a false comparison.  one
idea was to link oil algae farms with power and sewage treatment
plants and grow the stuff on the co2 and sludge.  this has gotten
power industry attention, and if nothing else the developers will be
able to tap some major r&d money.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh at an.bradford.ma.us                       and think what none thought