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Showing Original Post only (View all)The U.S. Navy Just Announced The End Of Big Oil And No One Noticed [View all]
Surfs up! The Navy appears to have achieved the Holy Grail of energy independence turning seawater into fuel:
After decades of experiments, U.S. Navy scientists believe they may have solved one of the worlds great challenges: how to turn seawater into fuel.
The new fuel is initially expected to cost around $3 to $6 per gallon, according to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, which has already flown a model aircraft on it.
Curiously, this doesnt seem to be making much of a splash (no pun intended) on the evening news. Lets repeat this: The United States Navy has figured out how to turn seawater into fuel and it will cost about the same as gasoline.
This technology is in its infancy and its already this cheap? What happens when its refined and perfected? Oil is only getting more expensive as the easy-to-reach deposits are tapped so this truly is, as its being called, a game changer.
I expect the GOP to go ballistic over this and try to legislate it out of existence. Its a threat to their fossil fuel masters because it will cost them trillions in profits. Its also green technology and Republicans will despise it on those grounds alone. They already have a track record of trying to do this. Unfortunately, once this kind of genie is out of the bottle, its very hard to put back in.
There are two other aspects to this story that have not been brought up yet:
1. The process pulls carbon dioxide (the greenhouse gas driving Climate Change) out of the ocean. One of the less well-publicized aspects of Climate Change is that the ocean acts like a sponge for CO2 and its just about reached its safe limit. The ocean is steadily becoming more acidic from all of the increased carbon dioxide. This in turn poisons delicate ecosystems like coral reefs that keep the ocean healthy.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/04/12/navy-ends-big-oil/
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The U.S. Navy Just Announced The End Of Big Oil And No One Noticed [View all]
Katashi_itto
Nov 2014
OP
We're already putting far more CO2 into the oceans than this could pull out
muriel_volestrangler
Nov 2014
#29
That actually won't be a problem due to the rising concentration of CO2 worldwide, due to human
AtheistCrusader
Nov 2014
#71
It went from 360 to 390 PPM in 10 years last decade. And this doesn't add to it.
AtheistCrusader
Nov 2014
#74
You say that as if over-saturating the oceans with CO2 doesn't have any consequences.
AtheistCrusader
Nov 2014
#81
Then Exxon and the other bastards are gonna charge you to truck sea water to your car.
Hoppy
Nov 2014
#5
That type of model engine runs on alcohol and possibly added nitromethane, not jet fuel or gasoline
Fumesucker
Nov 2014
#20
This is just too cool. Thanks for posting, I missed it when the news first broke.
RiverLover
Nov 2014
#8
That's true, and I think the earlier objections didn't mean 'greenhouse', specifically but some
AtheistCrusader
Nov 2014
#86
Nuclear power is almost like solar in that the $$$ cost of the fuel isn't what makes it expensive.
hunter
Nov 2014
#46
It would be cheaper for land transportation to use electricity from the nuclear plants
muriel_volestrangler
Nov 2014
#30
And water used in this process doesn't cease to exist. It goes right back into the hydrologic cycle
AtheistCrusader
Nov 2014
#72
The US could build desalination plants like much of the rest of the world
nationalize the fed
Nov 2014
#58
Ummm ... no, it didn't. It found an expensive way to convert one form of energy to another.
eppur_se_muova
Nov 2014
#37
The new Fuel Cell Cars allow for all the driving anyone wants to do
nationalize the fed
Nov 2014
#57
Yes, this is mainly a way to make nuclear aircraft carriers more self-sufficient
caraher
Nov 2014
#59