Horace wrote: > At 3:15 PM 4/14/5, Mike Carrell wrote: > >In the current discussion of a post-peak-oil world, the usual alternatives > >have been worked over thoroughly, and found unsatisfactory. > > Found unsatisfactory by whom? You must have been on another list.
I've been right here, watching the discussion flow by with good evaluations by you, Jed and others. There are enough energy technologies and resources in advanced stages of development [wind, solar] to say that humankind could exist with a civilization that is not quite as wasteful as our present one. One could even argue that the transition to that civilazation might be painful but in the end 'good for us'. Water is going to be a problem, and dispersion of mineral resources through manufacture will be another. Both take additional energy to resolve. Man could adapt, we have done so before and can do so again. Air cargo is a significant factor in international commerce, which gets fresh fruit from South America into our supermarkets in January. Dwindling oil reserves could be directed to such use [at what cost?] until a substitute for the jet engine [quite effiecient, even used on ships] is found. Without air cargo, we move back a half century, and life wasn't bad then. My point in the essay is that wind and solar have well known problems, and hydrogen storage and distribution on the scale necessary to sustain our present lifestyle is not attractive. However, BLP technologies offer a way forward which can work along with hydrogen produced from wind and solar sources. In transportaiton systems, it can greatly increase the energy yield from whatever hydrogen is stored, making that system more viable. BLP power modules can go everywhere there is water. Eventually it can be scaled both up and down. Wind and solar start looking good because they now have decades of persistant engineering invested in them, while BLP is just starting down that path; but its fundamental characteristics will carry it further. There can be a smooth evolution in a competitve market. Remember that BLP can get far more energy out of hydrogen than any other technology, which means that it can enable the "hydrogen economy" until it renders it obsolete by using water directly as a fuel without the intermediate processes. Mike Carrell
