Ways to solve global warming
POSTED BY: SignyM
UPDATED: Sunday, June 16, 2024 03:19
VIEWED: 6297
PAGE 7 of 13
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
citizen
Which fuel source gives off more usable energy per a given unit than gasoline?
Hydrogen.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Let me expand on that a bit for Rap, OK Citizen ?
Energy given off by different fuels (the higher the number, the more the energy).
HHV MJ/kg
Hydrogen 141.80
Methane 55.50
Ethane 51.90
Propane 50.35
Butane 49.50
Gasoline 47.30
Paraffin 46.00
Kerosene 46.20
Diesel 44.80
Coal (Anthracite) 27.00
Coal (Lignite) 15.00
Wood 15.00
***************************************************************
So actually, coal and gasoline are rather LOW in their capacity to store and deliver energy.
Lignite delivers 11% the energy of hydrogen, anthracite 19%, and gasoline 33%.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by rue:
Let me expand on that a bit for Rap, OK Citizen ?
Energy given off by different fuels (the higher the number, the more the energy).
HHV MJ/kg
Hydrogen 141.80
Methane 55.50
Ethane 51.90
Propane 50.35
Butane 49.50
Gasoline 47.30
Paraffin 46.00
Kerosene 46.20
Diesel 44.80
Coal (Anthracite) 27.00
Coal (Lignite) 15.00
Wood 15.00
***************************************************************
So actually, coal and gasoline are rather LOW in their capacity to store and deliver energy.
But in terms of availability , transportability , abundance, and the means by which to USE those fuels.... taken into account, how does that list change ?
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Transporting and storing hydrogen is not the problem people make it out to be - 
The problem is infrastructure - it isn't there for mass consumption.
That's why ethanol for use in fuel cell/ electric vehicles is so attractive. Not only is the infrastructure there, but the overall efficiency of fuel-cell to wheel is greater than that of the IC reciprocating engine to wheel.
PS The reason WHY hydrogen has a greater energy content than gasoline has to do with the heat released during burning. H2 when combined with oxygen creates H2O (water) and releases a lot of energy. Gasoline - made of H and carbon - burns such that H burns like above, while carbon makes CO2. The heat released by burning the carbon is very low. That brings the total down quite a bit. Carbon in a fuel is pretty much dead weight when it comes to energy production.
***************************************************************
Silence is consent.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Not a whole lot of diatomic hydrogen here on earth, true enough. The solar wind blew most of what we could have had away because our gravity wasn't strong enough to hold it. But, we do have some hydrogen in reserve... In water. If we could figure out a way to split the water and have it take less energy than burning the resulting hydrogen, hey.
If you're not just limiting yourself to Earth, then hydrogen is the single most common material in the universe... That isn't dark matter, if dark matter is a real thing. Sometimes I wonder if we don't just need to develop a new theory and adjust the math.
For anyone who's interested in knowing, Ethanol sits just ahead of coal at 31.1 MJ/kg (wikipedia). If we could get away from bloody stinking corn ethanol, which doesn't produce the highest potency yield, and instead go for algae ethanol, people could have their cake and eat it too.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
"Not a whole lot of diatomic hydrogen here on earth, true enough."
That's where THIS reformer 
(the glass set-up on the right) comes in - it creates hydrogen from ethanol with nearly 100% efficiency -
***************************************************************
The catalyst pictured - is large enough to power a fuel cell that powers a house. That little white plug with the orange glow is the catalyst in action.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I'm all for ethanol, as long is it isn't corn based, or some other basic food. Corn is best for people and critters, not for autos.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
"If we could get away from bloody stinking corn ethanol, which doesn't produce the highest potency yield, and instead go for algae ethanol, people could have their cake and eat it too."
I'll drink my (corn mash) whiskey to that !
***************************************************************
Silence is consent.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
So we tie ourselves yet AGAIN to a energy that relys on PRODUCTION?
Frak that. I'll take my energy from the sun.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
So would I. But still you'll be tied to the production of solar cells. Either way, we have to turn matter that is not directly useful to us (sunlight, silicon dioxide, or carbon dioxide) into stuff that us useful to us (electricity or sugar). One approach uses physics, the other uses biology. Both valid.
---------------------------------
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME