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"Mike McWilliams" <michael.mcwilliams@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1121789164.427596@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Don W. wrote:
>> "charliew2" <charliew2@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:11do553ed9lfobb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>>"Don Lancaster" <don@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>news:3jq52pFqg3jrU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>
>>>>Peter Lowrie wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Dear Mike
>>>>>
>>>>>...Is this to say that sugar contains Hydrogen, how would one go about
>>>>>extracting Hydrogen from sugar?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>The energy required to extact the hydrogen would vastly exceed that of
>>
>> the
>>
>>>>recovered hydrogen.
>>>>
>>>
>>>Not so, Don. You would burn the synthetic fuel to release its energy.
>>
>> If
>>
>>>you used atmospheric CO2 in this process (i.e., there is a strong
>>
>> inference
>>
>>>above that the new process would duplicate the way that plants sequester
>>>atmospheric CO2), there would be no net fossil carbon emissions to the
>>>environment.
>>>
>>
>>
>> You're a smart fellow -- where the heck are you coming from here? The
>> energy contained in sugar comes both from hydrogen and carbon.
>> Converting
>> energy from one form to another results in some heat losses. So how can
>> you end up with anything close to the energy you started with if you
>> extract hydrogen from sugar? What do you mean by "burn the synthetic
>> fuel
>> to release its energy"?
>>
>> Don W.
>>
>>
>
> The point is you never end up with as much as you started, but something
> which follows the way nature does it in my opinion has a higher chance of
> success where all methods so far have proven to be expensive. Natural
> systems have been using the sun as the dominant energy source for eons, I
> would suspect that evolution has come up with some fairly decent
> efficiencies, which intelligent humans can hopefully improve on. What I am
> hoping for is a manufactured method which imitates natural methods, such
> that the energy produced doesn't have to go toward reproduction as in
> living systems.
That's a pretty tall order, Mike. Nature uses a LOT of very cute tricks,
and a lot of research needs to be done before humans have a chance to
improve on the natural processes.
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