Posted by
Barry Williams on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 2:59:22 AM
We should develop domestic sources of energy just as a matter of good business. This lunacy that there is some way for the US to be isolated from world energy markets is pervasive amongst the ill-informed and under-educated. We should develop resources just because we use them.
Mr. Pickens is a pretty smart guy but for the life of me I can't figure how wind power will reduce our demand for foreign oil. It will be decades before the transportation infrastructure has changed sufficiently to make electrically powered transportation viable.
Somehow, many of the politicians seem to think that the change to oil alternatives will be as simple as speaking the buzzword of the day.
Ethanol . . . Rats! No magic!
Ethanol is another boondoggle that the "Kool-aid" drinking crowd in Washington (and many other places) touted as the answer to "energy independence". The flaw with the system is of course the laws of thermodynamics.
In other words, you cannot get more energy out of ethanol than is put into making it! This should be apparent to everyone! Sadly, most of the general public and the politicians don't seem to possess the knowledge to understand this incredibly simple premise.
It means that, no matter how much biological material is put into ethanol production, there will be energy required from other sources to make the process work. Another flaw is the notion that enough bio-material can be collected and converted to replace an appreciable amount of oil.
There have been arguments put forward by scientists of all stripes that the net return of useful energy from ethanol isn't equal to the energy input. I found it amusing that the scientists would even need to point this out. There are many people out there that argue the scientists are wrong!
Another problem is the energy density of ethanol as compared with gasoline. Gallon for gallon ethanol contains 15% less "bang for your buck".
A gasoline station near me was doing a one-day promotional deal for E85 for $2.99 a gallon when gasoline was $4.00. After the promotion, the price was going to go to $3.50 and the stupid customers were glad for the lower price. They did not realize that they were being duped!
When the loss of efficiency is included, they were going to be paying the equivalent of gasoline at something like $4.25 a gallon at the pump! Add in the huge subsidies on ethanol from their taxes, and they were hopelessly upside down. Hopelessly feckless!
Ethanol should not be viewed as a fuel. It is more like an energy transport system akin to the electrical grid. The production of ethanol merely gathers up the Sun's energy plus in all of the input forms of the Sun's energy (diesel, electric, natural gas) and converts it to a convenient liquid form.
Likewise, hydrogen is not a fuel. It takes energy to extract it from other sources. So the output is just the sum of the inputs less the losses in the system. Also, most hydrogen is extracted from natural gas because that is the cheapest way to produce it. If you thought it was electrolysis, you haven't done your homework.
Electrolysis requires prodigious amounts of electricity to produce usable amounts of hydrogen. There are far more efficient ways to use electricity. It would be foolish to use it to produce hydrogen. There would be a huge net loss of energy!
Everyone is in love with the notion that the only product of hydrogen combustion is plain old steam. Well, water vapor (steam) is the single most powerful greenhouse gas. CO2 doesn't even come close!
Here's a bit of sobering information about natural gas. It is estimated that there could be as many as 1300 years supply trapped in gas hydrates. We won't be running out of fossil fuels as soon as the pundits say.
One last closing thought.
Study the petrochemical industry and you'll find that we will still use huge amounts of oil whether we use motor fuels or not. Look around you and you will find "oil" everywhere. A few examples: asphalt, plastics, clothing (plastics), your computer (the plastic case), many medicines, petroleum jelly, paint, fertilizer and on and on and on . . .
Motor fuel is the natural consequence of the refining process. Just what will we do with all of it when we only want the other fractions of petroleum?