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Originally Posted by m21sniper
Invalid comparison, as that plant is built based on decades old technology. Any modern plant should be quite a bit more efficient, and therefore profitable. It's like saying hybrid vehicles are inviable because the early prototypes from the late 80s were unprofitable under performers.
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It may or may not be more efficient. you still need to address the fac tthat there are physical limits to what can and cannot be done. Extracting hydrogen from other materials is a energy intensive process regardless of how you do it.
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We have a truly mind-boggling amount of coal to work with. There is enough to harvest the carbon for both the hydrogen and the gas itself, for quite a long time.
The question is, how much will it cost. If you can make this stuff for $2.50 a gallon, and it's on US Soil, then it's sure as hell worth it. We should start NOW.
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Agreed. As I pointed out above, to me the sensible approach is to limit petroleum to those uses where alternatives are not that appealing. Things like transportation. Most other uses, heating, power generation, chemical manufacture, can be performed using alternative carbon sources (coal/natural gas).