Re: StratoSolar

On Oct 11, 2010, at 5:29 PM, Alberto Monteiro wrote:

> Keith Henson wrote:
>>
>> Since the 1970s, US politicians have given lip service to "National
>> Energy Self-sufficiency."  The US has failed to achieve anything,
>> largely because nobody had a good idea of how to make it work at the
>> same or lower cost than importing oil.  This method might not work
>> either.  However, it passes first-order physics and economics
>> analysis and seems to deserve serious further study.
>>
> You (USA) might be closer to self-sufficienty than you (Keith) think.
> Deepen the crisis (and reduce energy expendidure) and get a little
> more of shale gas, and you get there.
>
> Alberto Monteiro, minion of evil oil companies

I still want to see someone work out a production scale process for  
seafloor methane->syngas->syncrude.  Or even convert from flaring off  
natgas in the oilfield to field-scale syncrude production.  If we have  
a finite amount of methane available, the least we can do is stop  
wasting it in production.  Once you get to syncrude, you have  
perfectly reasonable refinery feedstock.

Obviously it's a stopgap solution, but it would buy time to get off of  
a petroleum-based energy economy before the worst aspects of post-peak- 
oil economy start to kick in.

(I would *really* like to see petroleum production start to migrate  
more toward plastics feedstock, and plastics in turn migrate away from  
"disposable packaging" -- the dreaded PETE water bottle included --  
and more toward durable materials engineering.  There's time yet to  
consider that.  But that's later on in the plan.  Along with  
recovering a lot of what's already been tossed into landfills .. which  
can be mined, if it comes down to it.)

"'How do I print, Mr. Kahn?’ ‘How do I save?’ It’s Control-S! It’s  
ALWAYS Control-S!!” — Kahn Souphanousinphone