Cats are made out of mice
And birds.
Dogs of rabbits and squirrels.
A cow is made of grass.
The dog warns, and attacks the foe.
The cat defends the grain.
And the cow gives her life to furnish the table.
Tout passe comme des nuages...
Monday, September 30, 2019
Monday, September 2, 2019
Twig Song
Saw a flash in the lake
Thought it was a fish
But it was only a twig
Only a twig
Only a twig
Driftwood driftwood
There has been a storm here
There has been a fire here
Thought it was a fish
But it was only a twig
Only a twig
Only a twig
Driftwood driftwood
There has been a storm here
There has been a fire here
Monday, August 5, 2019
Geohydrolysis and the hydrogen fuel economy: A completesolution to the energy crisis and global warming
Using geothermal energy to hydrolyze water, providing inexpensive and practically limitless pure hydrogen to power energy systems through fuel cells or hydrogen combustion is technically and economically feasible, extremely reliable, has zero carbon emissions, minimal environmental impact, and zero potential for unmitigatable disaster.
So, engineering students, get on it! Save the world and become a billionaire! I'm too old and lazy for this sort of thing, so you get the outline for free.
The system would begin by using sea floor vents on the Midatlantic Ridge to generate electricity on floating platforms. The abundance of geothermal energy in this zone is readily observable in the high levels of geothermal energy production enjoyed by Iceland,an island that is essentially a portion of the Midatlantic Ridge that has broken the surface of the Atlantic. The ridge extends North-South across the entire Atlantic basin, and is a zone of sea-floor spreading that drives the movement of the American, European, and African continents away from each other. The energy of earth-crust convection is released ubiquitously along this ridge in the form of sea-floor vents, which are undersea “hot springs,”or “geysers” of a volcanic nature. Because of the high water pressure, the boiling point of water is greatly elevated, and sea-floor vents produce liquid water in the vicinity of 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
To capture this energy, floating platforms, such as are currently used for deep sea oil drilling, instead of dropping thousands of feet of drill shafts, would drop thousands of feet of steel tubing capable of withstanding the high pressures and temperatures of the water. The tube would form a closed loop. Water (or another liquid) circulated through the loop would be heated by the sea-floor vents, or even in hot plumes nearby to the vents. The heated fluid is used to drive turbines on the platform that generate electricity.
Icelandic energy experts have noted that Iceland could become a major exporter of energy if only a way could be found to transport energy across the Atlantic to consumers on the continents. The transport of energy remains the only obstacle to the production of energy from sea-floor vents, as well. A solution to this problem is found in the abundance of seawater surrounding both Iceland and the generating platforms. Seawater is easily hydrolyzed (separated into pure hydrogen and oxygen by passing an electrical current through the water), but hydrolysis is generally energy-cost-prohibitive, since much electricity is needed. But the geothermal generators will produce unlimited electricity, so hydrolysis becomes a viable way to produce abundant hydrogen. Hydrogen can then be transported to consumers by various means. Hydrogen arriving at consumer use-points could be converted back to electricity through fuel cells or combustion to power a diversity of applications: vehicles, buildings, cities, industry, etc.
Among the means to transport the hydrogen to consumers would be pipelines and shipping. But an attractive and flexible way to do this would be through remote-piloted dirigibles. Of course, the specter of a Hindenberg-like disaster is raised, but if the dirigibles are remotely piloted and flown at safe altitudes, then such disasters,when they occur, would engender no injury or loss of life, and little loss of property. Furthermore, the only byproduct of any accidental explosion would be water, and the falling debris of the vehicle, which would be minimal.
The environmental impact of hydrolyzing water at the platforms can be minimized by pumping water to be hydrolyzed into electrically insulated tanks, so that stray charges and voltages do not affect the surrounding ecologies. Hydrolyzed water will leave a saline residue, and disposing of the residue will increase local salinity. Average global salinity will be unaffected though, since all water hydrolyzed will eventually be replaced by pure water produced at the consumer end. As water is hydrolyzed and the hydrogen captured, the local atmosphere may experience enriched oxygen levels. This is not trivial, as the impact of any increase of atmospheric oxygen levels is unknown. However, any excess oxygen produced at the platforms will be balanced, molecule for molecule, by oxygen consumed at the consumer end. Total atmospheric oxygen will remain constant.
The transport of hydrogen may involve occasional leakage or explosions, but hydrogen is not toxic, and is lighter than air, so any spilled hydrogen will float harmlessly into the upper atmosphere. Indeed, hydrogen is so light that the Earth’s gravitational field cannot retain it -- which is why there is little hydrogen in Earth’s atmosphere. Any hydrogen lost accidentally will escape into space.
At the consumer-use end of the process, fuel cells react hydrogen and oxygen, with only water as a product. There is no harmful byproduct of reaction. The construction of millions of fuel cells may require extensive initial investments in minerals for use as catalysts and electroplates. The energy and environmental costs of building fuel cells may be extensive. A simple way to solve this problem is to simply combust the hydrogen in standard steam or internal combustion generators, instead of using fuel cells.
The costs of the system lie mostly in initial investments: constructing the platforms and transport network. These costs would be quickly recouped in supplying all of the world’s energy needs. The actual production of energy has zero cost, since the sea-floor vents will continue to produce energy as long as the continents continue to move, which is to say, long beyond the foreseeable future. The longevity of individual sea-floor vents is not known. It may be necessary to occasionally relocate the platforms from dormant or less productive vents to active or more productive ones. In the event that the vents are short-lived,remotely piloted or robotic submersible vessels could be deployed to continually seek out active vents. There will always be some active vents as long as sea-floor spreading continues. While this time frame is not predictable,sea-floor spreading has been steady for the last 200 million years. In the time frame of human history, it may be necessary to relocate platforms over active vents, and relocating may be an additional cost of energy production, along with maintenance of the platforms and delivery system.
This overall system can yield a low-cost, minimum-impact,highly reliable, disaster-resistant means to produce nearly limitless low-cost energy to every place on earth. All of the technical knowledge necessary to implement the system already exist. So let's do it, kids, and don't forget your old math teacher when you're rich and famous, and enjoying the benefits of a sustainable techno-social system.
So, engineering students, get on it! Save the world and become a billionaire! I'm too old and lazy for this sort of thing, so you get the outline for free.
The system would begin by using sea floor vents on the Midatlantic Ridge to generate electricity on floating platforms. The abundance of geothermal energy in this zone is readily observable in the high levels of geothermal energy production enjoyed by Iceland,an island that is essentially a portion of the Midatlantic Ridge that has broken the surface of the Atlantic. The ridge extends North-South across the entire Atlantic basin, and is a zone of sea-floor spreading that drives the movement of the American, European, and African continents away from each other. The energy of earth-crust convection is released ubiquitously along this ridge in the form of sea-floor vents, which are undersea “hot springs,”or “geysers” of a volcanic nature. Because of the high water pressure, the boiling point of water is greatly elevated, and sea-floor vents produce liquid water in the vicinity of 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
To capture this energy, floating platforms, such as are currently used for deep sea oil drilling, instead of dropping thousands of feet of drill shafts, would drop thousands of feet of steel tubing capable of withstanding the high pressures and temperatures of the water. The tube would form a closed loop. Water (or another liquid) circulated through the loop would be heated by the sea-floor vents, or even in hot plumes nearby to the vents. The heated fluid is used to drive turbines on the platform that generate electricity.
Icelandic energy experts have noted that Iceland could become a major exporter of energy if only a way could be found to transport energy across the Atlantic to consumers on the continents. The transport of energy remains the only obstacle to the production of energy from sea-floor vents, as well. A solution to this problem is found in the abundance of seawater surrounding both Iceland and the generating platforms. Seawater is easily hydrolyzed (separated into pure hydrogen and oxygen by passing an electrical current through the water), but hydrolysis is generally energy-cost-prohibitive, since much electricity is needed. But the geothermal generators will produce unlimited electricity, so hydrolysis becomes a viable way to produce abundant hydrogen. Hydrogen can then be transported to consumers by various means. Hydrogen arriving at consumer use-points could be converted back to electricity through fuel cells or combustion to power a diversity of applications: vehicles, buildings, cities, industry, etc.
Among the means to transport the hydrogen to consumers would be pipelines and shipping. But an attractive and flexible way to do this would be through remote-piloted dirigibles. Of course, the specter of a Hindenberg-like disaster is raised, but if the dirigibles are remotely piloted and flown at safe altitudes, then such disasters,when they occur, would engender no injury or loss of life, and little loss of property. Furthermore, the only byproduct of any accidental explosion would be water, and the falling debris of the vehicle, which would be minimal.
The environmental impact of hydrolyzing water at the platforms can be minimized by pumping water to be hydrolyzed into electrically insulated tanks, so that stray charges and voltages do not affect the surrounding ecologies. Hydrolyzed water will leave a saline residue, and disposing of the residue will increase local salinity. Average global salinity will be unaffected though, since all water hydrolyzed will eventually be replaced by pure water produced at the consumer end. As water is hydrolyzed and the hydrogen captured, the local atmosphere may experience enriched oxygen levels. This is not trivial, as the impact of any increase of atmospheric oxygen levels is unknown. However, any excess oxygen produced at the platforms will be balanced, molecule for molecule, by oxygen consumed at the consumer end. Total atmospheric oxygen will remain constant.
The transport of hydrogen may involve occasional leakage or explosions, but hydrogen is not toxic, and is lighter than air, so any spilled hydrogen will float harmlessly into the upper atmosphere. Indeed, hydrogen is so light that the Earth’s gravitational field cannot retain it -- which is why there is little hydrogen in Earth’s atmosphere. Any hydrogen lost accidentally will escape into space.
At the consumer-use end of the process, fuel cells react hydrogen and oxygen, with only water as a product. There is no harmful byproduct of reaction. The construction of millions of fuel cells may require extensive initial investments in minerals for use as catalysts and electroplates. The energy and environmental costs of building fuel cells may be extensive. A simple way to solve this problem is to simply combust the hydrogen in standard steam or internal combustion generators, instead of using fuel cells.
The costs of the system lie mostly in initial investments: constructing the platforms and transport network. These costs would be quickly recouped in supplying all of the world’s energy needs. The actual production of energy has zero cost, since the sea-floor vents will continue to produce energy as long as the continents continue to move, which is to say, long beyond the foreseeable future. The longevity of individual sea-floor vents is not known. It may be necessary to occasionally relocate the platforms from dormant or less productive vents to active or more productive ones. In the event that the vents are short-lived,remotely piloted or robotic submersible vessels could be deployed to continually seek out active vents. There will always be some active vents as long as sea-floor spreading continues. While this time frame is not predictable,sea-floor spreading has been steady for the last 200 million years. In the time frame of human history, it may be necessary to relocate platforms over active vents, and relocating may be an additional cost of energy production, along with maintenance of the platforms and delivery system.
This overall system can yield a low-cost, minimum-impact,highly reliable, disaster-resistant means to produce nearly limitless low-cost energy to every place on earth. All of the technical knowledge necessary to implement the system already exist. So let's do it, kids, and don't forget your old math teacher when you're rich and famous, and enjoying the benefits of a sustainable techno-social system.
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