From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Tue Aug 06 2002 - 22:53:34 MDT
Michael Dickey noted:
<<I envision in the near future synthetic fuels being manufactured by
applying
energy to CO2 and Hydrogen pulled out of the atmosphere and creating
Hydrocarbon fuels, using the synth fuels as high energy density batteries.
Cheap energy production will be required to do this, either as waste heat
from other manufacturing process (as noted in this article) or through an
infrastructure of fast throium breeder reactors (Id prefer to see the latter
option in the near future, completely relegating our reliance on imported
energy) or a little farther in the future, fusion reactors. A little
farther after that, solar power.>>
Barring a Singularity or Civilization-wrecking disaster, I would caution you
that the "little farther in the future" may end up lasting decades or
centuries. It's not just technology, it's not economics, its both. Your
thorium reactors may be in use for 100 years before fusion becomes
commerical, or (despite constant sunny forecasts), photovoltaics are still a
dream of tomorrow, as they were in 1980.
I am not gloating (far from it!) but there are so many bright forecast for
technology that never seem to mature, something is always lacking. I do know
that Los Alamos scientists did come up with a sequestering coČ for buring
coal. An article I recently read displayed how Vermont is able to have
"green" energy, using wind and biomass, to supplement Uranium-235, to a tune
of 70% of its electricity.
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