Re: Guillemots to the lions!

On 17 Jan, 15:14, "Capt. Deltic" <e...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 17 Jan, 11:08, rob_m8...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:





On 17 Jan, 09:15, "BH Williams" <bhwilli...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"The Good Doctor" <docnews2...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in messagenews:593to316tbjfleti2d0p2mc2ojirvnlgus@xxxxxxxxxx> Mwmbwls <robertg.robin...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Putting yourself in the position of a Transport Select Committee
member - what searching question would you ask and of whom?

1. What is bionic duckweed?

...

There are apparently studies in progress about using algae blooms as a
bio-fuel- there was a piece in the Guardian's Envirionment section a week or
two ago. According to herself, who was at the IRO/IET debate last week, even
the man from the Ministry said it currently seemed to be the wrong sort of
duckweed. Perhaps Captain Delic could elucidate?
Brian

Shell are apparently about to hit the "Go" button on their first pilot
(i.e. evaluation) algal diesel plant.  See:

http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/mg1962...

However, I *really* like the general "rail concept" of bionic duckweed
- i.e. as shorthand for the hope that an as yet unproven technology,
that we don't understand and aren't investing in will miraculously
appear in a timely manner to sort all our problems out for us.  It's
got a vaguely Douglas Adams feel to it.

The other important point which Captain Deltic make is that even if
bionic duckweed is a resounding success and appears to solve all our
problems, the UK still will have the problem that every other high
speed line in the world, including such industry power houses as
Argentina, have gone down the route of OHLE, so we will end up with
unique trains which are consequently more expensive (and assuming
diesel, less reliable and heavier) than what appear to be becoming
commodity product from Alstom/Siemens/Hitachi.

Regards

Bionic duckweed refers to the production of hydrogen.

Sorry if I didn't make it clear.

Personally, I don't understand biofules.  surely you are still burning
carbon in oxygen and chucking CO2 out into the air?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I was aware that you coined the phrase relating to hydrogen, but felt
it was relevant to know that algae is capable of so much more!
Perhaps bionic derv-weed is a better term for what Shell are up to. I
guess I feel there is a need for a generic term to describe unknown/
unproven technologies (whether it's bionic duckweed, anti-gravity or
magic rings) that are going to solve all the problems.

As another poster points out, biofuels in theory draw CO2 out of the
air, so are carbon neutral. If the plant fixes CO2 as organic matter
in the soil, then it could be better than neutral, however crops that
require extensive fertiliser and energy intensive processing are less
than netural. There are also secondary effects such as deforestation
in the tropics to release land to grow the crops (very foolish), and
the effect that biofuels are having on the price of some foodstuffs,
especially oils. New Scientist has quite a lot of coverage, and my
impression is that ethanol from cellulose (especially from grasses and
other plants that need no fertilising) are the eco-friendliest bet.

Drax (Power Station, not the Bond villain) did experiment with burning
coppiced willow.
http://www.drax-group.co.uk/media/press_releases/?id=1438

Regards
.

Relevant Pages

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