U.S. Navy has invented a process for converting seawater into gasoline for $3.00

[Xavier_Onassis]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/09/seawater-to-fuel-navy-vessels-_n_5113822.html

[Plane]

   http://archive.navytimes.com/article/20121013/NEWS/210130317/Navy-eyes-turning-sea-water-into-jet-fuel


   What do you know , it is a real thing.

    This requires a lot of power , which our capitol ships have , and a lot of space which ships generally do not have.

     This is nothing like practical right now , but this is science , practicality can come later.

[sirs]

Indeed.  I recall that when the CVN USS Enterprise was christened, it had at least 2, though I believe it was 4 massive nuclear reactors powering the ship.  I do believe our latest CVN's function on 2 far smaller and far more efficent models

[Xavier_Onassis]

Nuclear power is fine for larger ships, but impractical for smaller one, since the shielding is expensive and bulky.

But if gasoline can be made from seawater for $3.00, that is not just a boon for the Navy, but for the entire world. Since it is taking Carbon from the ocean, which would be returned when it is consumed, the net amount of Carbon added to the environment is zero or close to zero.
 It would be a sustainable source of energy, which what we not use is not.

[sirs]

I wasn't proclaiming a need for all ships to be nuclear powered.  I was pointing to Plane's reference of how there's science, and then there's progress to that science, that has a way of making things smaller and more practical

[Xavier_Onassis]

I did not say you were.

Jeez.

[sirs]

umm.......ok     

[Xavier_Onassis]

Gasoline is not the ideal fuel for naval vessels. It is too volatile and has less energy per volume than Diesel or more dense hydrocarbons.

Gasoline tends to explode more easily than denser fuels.

[Plane]

  According to the "Navy Times" they are making JP-5 which is more like diesel or kerosene, suitable for jet turbine or steam turbine or diesel engines, that is most of the ships planes and helicopters the Navy uses.

   The process requires a large input of power, so it isn't a perfect solution to pollution or CO2 emission , unless the original power source is a clean one.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Solar power and tidal power need to be investigated.

[kimba1]

I can see solar as a supplemental source like homes do now but until they get a better power storage system it'll never a main source of power.

[Xavier_Onassis]

What I was referring to is to use solar and tidal power to fuel the conversion of seawater into fuel.

This is a process better done ashore than at sea.

The use of solar power in Florida is being prevented by FPL refusing to allow meters that run backwards and sell power to the utility. Florida is an ideal place for solar power by the state legislature is filled with anti-solar Republican'ts.

[kimba1]

Still needs massive r&d to reduce cost but that article did say it has that potential so we'll see

[Xavier_Onassis]

What I fear is that a constant steady supply of fuel at a constant price will cause Bog Oil to feel threatened and they will do anything to prevent it from taking place. That, or the entire process will be given to them by the Republicans, just as out national forests have been given to Big Timber to clear cut.


Big Oil cannot be trusted.

[kimba1]

We will see in a few decades. Just like solar this project does not look like it'll get developed to a useable stage anytime soon if ever.