beav wrote:
>just because we have a thick oil sludge left over from the putative
>bacteria, doesn't mean that we can't develop the chemistry that we
>currently have. it simply pushes development of things like gasoline
>and diesel fuel out farther in the time line.
Without demand however, they remain largely laboratory curiosities.
Keep in mind that in OTL the whole petrochemical industry arises from
trying to find ways to use the waste products from producing lamp oil.
Without those cheap and easily available and quite useful waste
products being available in large quantities, everything changes.
>heck. the leftover bacterial sludge is probably no differnt than what
>we call 'tar sands' now that Canada has spent nearly $100B developing.
Which are *only* worth developing because our society has a voracious
appetite for petroleum products. In an era when gasoline sells for
$.05/gallon, extracting gasoline that will cost $5.00/gallon or more
makes no economic sense.
D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.
http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/
-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL |
