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1. "fossil fuel" is actually not from dead animals at all, but abiogenicly generated by subducted water and limestones at the bottom of the oceans, after they come under the heat and high pressure caused by uranium and thorium decay inside the earth and the tidal force from the moon.
We are on the verge of being able to produce synthetic fuel from ocean water
It's irrelevant if fossil fuels are abiogenic or biogenic - it eventually runs out.
What synthetic fuel would this be? Hydrogen? It has very high energy density in terms of kg/watt but compression of it to transport it makes it very inefficient.
Ocean water has 50+ times higher CO2 content than the air.
"fossil fuel" is actually not from dead animals at all, but abiogenicly generated by subducted water and limestones at the bottom of the oceans,
That is not saying much. CO2 is a trace element in the air, and even multiplying that by 50 leaves the CO2 concentration very low. Let's do some math:
A gallon of JP5 (basically kerosene with additives) weighs about 6.5 pounds. At least two thirds of that hydrocarbon is carbon. Just how much sea water do you think you would have to strain to get the 4 pounds or so of carbon you would need to make that gallon of JP5? Keep in mind that CO2 is only about 1/3 carbon. And if were one to strain all that CO2 out of the surface of the sea, you would essentially starve all the algae/plankton in the area that consume CO2. That would also affect the ocean oxygen concentration since that removed CO2 would no longer be converted to oxygen by the plankton/algae photosynthesis.
Limestone itself is a product of "dead animals."
As for algae and planktons, the limiting factor for their growth is not CO2 in water but iron in water.
I never knew this. Usually it's phosphorus which limits plant growth on land.
The CO2 content in ocean water is plenty high enough for the process that the US Navy is trying to make jet fuel.
CaCO3 from shellfish and coral is produced in massive quantities everyday in nature; even white beach sand is made of the stuff.
the limiting factor for their growth is not CO2 in water but iron in water.
I never knew this. Usually it's phosphorus which limits plant growth on land.
Hydrogen? It has very high energy density in terms of kg/watt but compression of it to transport it makes it very inefficient.
I remember reading for-profit projects "fertilizing" ocean surface with iron dust for CO2 trading credits
Assuming more CO2 = more plant growth is simplistic and naive.
No. That is something that can be experimentally tested and proved.
Of course the amount of dissolved CO2 in sea water would depend on temperature and the bicarbonate effects, but generally tops about 337 ppm. So, a million pounds of water would have 337 pounds of CO2, and thus about 112 lbs of carbon. So at best 1 million gallons of water has only enough carbon to make 28 lbs of fuel. That is not even 1 minute of fuel for a fighter jet.
Yes, those beautiful white sand beaches are basically pulverized seashells. But the limestone that comes from quarries, makes up the Sphinx, and buried deep underground is the accumulation of millions of years of a slow process.
This may feel like a gotcha
dit: you might have applied divide by 8 where the calculation should have been multiply by 8.
Edit: you might have applied divide by 8 where the calculation should have been multiply by 8.
No, the error is that I wrote "gallons" on the second line when I meant to write "pounds." It is a million pounds of water to make 28 pounds of fuel. That still means 125,000 gallons of water to get enough carbon for less than one minute of flight. A one hour flight would take over 7.5 million gallons of seawater to be processed. 7.5 million gallons that has to go through a chemical/screen/electrolysis method to extract that CO2 even before doing the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
Why would 112 lbs of carbon result in only 28 pounds of fuel when all the carbon is turned into hydrocarbon fuel?
Edit: also the CO2 concentration number provided by Headset is wrong
richwicks saysWhat synthetic fuel would this be? Hydrogen? It has very high energy density in terms of kg/watt but compression of it to transport it makes it very inefficient.
Synthetic fuel as in produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process . . . i.e. both jet fuel (what the USN is after) and every kind of fuel and lubricant that Germany produced during WWII and their modern day equivalents.
They eventually figured out the soils didn't suddenly become depleted of nutrients, acid rain from uncontrolled nitrous oxide and sulfide emissions lowered the pH of their local environment to the point where the still-plentiful elements couldn't get absorbed by the plant. Fortunately, the general danger had already been recognized and mitigation efforts started upon in the form of industrial and vehicle emission controls, so the multi-faceted problem of "acid rain" was already well on the road to being solved WITHOUT depriving humanity of the fruits of industry or mechanized transportation as critics of "the left" often claim.
The situation turned out to be much more complex than had been predicted. The acidity of a lake is determined as much by the acidity of the local soil and vegetation as it is by acid rain. Many lakes in north-eastern America, dead in the 1980s, had plenty of fish in 1900. It was surmised by environmentalists that 20th-century sulphur dioxide emissions had choked these lakes to death with acid rain. But the NAPAP showed many of these lakes were acidic and fishless even before European settlement in America. Fish survived better in these lakes around 1900 because of extensive slash and burn logging in the area. The soil became more alkaline as the acid vegetation was removed, reducing the acid flowing into the lakes and making the water hospitable to fish. Logging stopped in 1915, acid soils and vegetation returned and the lakes became acidic again. The study also found that in many cases forests were suffering debilitation due to insects or drought and not acid rain.
The NAPAP reported in 1990. The findings were explosive: first, acid rain had not injured forests or crops in US or Canada; second, acid rain had no observable effect on human health; third, only a small number of lakes had been acidified by acid rain and these could be rehabilitated by adding lime to the water. In summary, acid rain was a nuisance, not a catastrophe.
The situation turned out to be much more complex than had been predicted. The acidity of a lake is determined as much by the acidity of the local soil and vegetation
Automan Empire saysThis may feel like a gotcha
I do not do "gotchas" here. I like the intellectual discussions with a knowledgeable crowd that includes various subjects and interests.
Nobody is claiming higher atmospheric CO2 levels will NOT increase plant growth in the absence of other localized nutrient constraints, and to my knowledge this has claim NEVER been made in any discussion or prediction of the effects of rising atmospheric CO2 concentration.
I'm talking about acidity of rainwater, which affects the microclimate of individual plants collectively but won't significantly change the long term pH of bodies of water due to dilution and buffering. Acid rain researchers and activists never claimed that acid rain was affecting the pH of bodies of water, that is a red herring dismissal of the entire topic. Sounds like you're just mashing up different claims, situations, and concerns as if they're one and the same.
Automan Empire saysNobody is claiming higher atmospheric CO2 levels will NOT increase plant growth in the absence of other localized nutrient constraints, and to my knowledge this has claim NEVER been made in any discussion or prediction of the effects of rising atmospheric CO2 concentration.
Oh, I've heard this. The forests were burning down last year on the West Coast because of global warming and large areas of the Earth was going to return to desert. Famines were going to happen as a result of global warming, I've been hearing that since I was a kid.
(This is a general rant, not aimed at any post on this thread or really, board)
That's pretty much the state of this discussion thread, which is a breakout from a different topic thread and seems to be unmoored and drifting from the topic down some unproductive side tracks after 100 posts.
Oh, I've heard this. The forests were burning down last year on the West Coast because of global warming and large areas of the Earth was going to return to desert. Famines were going to happen as a result of global warming, I've been hearing that since I was a kid.
Yeah, well I've been hearing skeptics take a gunny sack of completely independent claims about climate change, mash them together in nonsense ways, and conclude that "climate change is fake and proponents crazy/stupid" for decades. I expected much better than that from you in this thread.
Much of the AGW is a game to facilitate third world outsourcing while kicking the ladder down in first world countries by imposing enviro laws
talk of avoiding an ice age were routine items in Media in the 1960s and especially 1970s.
All right, I give up. This was discussed in the thread already. You're not coming to the discussion well informed, and once here you're not following along with it.
MisdemeanorRebellionNoCoupForYou saystalk of avoiding an ice age were routine items in Media in the 1960s and especially 1970s.
All right, I give up. This was discussed in the thread already. You're not coming to the discussion well informed, and once here you're not following along with it.
I have what ought to be a pretty easy task for you.
It was a good origin of life discussion while it lasted.
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My stance: Just happened!