Re: "The Only Thing They Learn" -- does anyone else find it irritating?

: John Schilling <schillin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
: Even assuming the water and air and electricity are available in
: absolutely unlimited quantities at absolutely no cost, that
: machinery is going to be expensive enough to kill the whole
: deal - at least, it will if you have to compete against people
: who can just suck oil out of the ground and refine it at the
: traditional rates.

I'm not sure that follows. If producing, say, methanol, is made
as easy as electrolyzing hydrogen, (ie, running one of those methanol
fuel cells backwards, as is supposed to be possible, plus some minor
(ahem) refinements (I mean to the technology...)), you don't have to
have nearly the capital tied up as an oil drilling and refining operation
does. Indeed, in iceland, there was a propotype hydrogen filling station
that electrolyzed on-site, given that geothermal power was reasonably
cheap nearthereabouts, and didn't look to be much more capital intensive
than a midas muffler shop (though I expect it *was*... but still, not
anything like an oil refinery, or even just an oil well).

The point being, the startup can be done incrementaly, without nearly
the upfront investment it might first appear.

I mean, if Willie Nelson can fund a biodeisel-only truck stop,
and seem to make money at it, it'd be child's-play to have methanol
stations springing up like toadstools. Of course, biodeisel needs no
conversion of the cars, but still.


Wayne Throop throopw@xxxxxxxxx http://sheol.org/throopw
.

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