On 15 Aug 2006 10:13:59 -0700, "Robert M. Gary"
wrote:


Steve Foley wrote:
If they're burning oil to make this fuel, it makes no sense. If they're
something not easily refined into gasoline (coal, solar, nuke, methane), it
does.

As an engineer and an MBA this argument has never made sense to me.
Electric cars use power that may be produced using oil. The idea is a

Unfortunately if you are talking electricity production you are not
talking oil, but rather coal and lots of it. I read an article
earlier this week that stated all but a few of the new proposed power
plants will be coal fired.

large, centeral engine is more efficient (less oil, less expensive,
etc) than millions of individual CO dumping engines. Whether that
central engine burns oil or butter makes no difference, as long as its
more efficient than the individual engines.
Whether that centeral engine puts out electricity or ethanol make no
difference.

If that central engine puts out a lot of particulate matter, sulphur,
and other pollutants it makes one.


Think of ethanol as a battery (stored energy) rather than raw crude and
it will probably be easier to understand.

Now that's Hydrogen. We'd need to nearly double our grid capacity
to go to Hydrogen and/or electric power on a large scale and it takes
more power to produce Hydrogen than you get out of it.




-Robert
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com