Wind, Solar...and Gasoline!?

[Vraith]

rameznaam.com/2014/10/05/solar-wind-plunging-below-fossil-fuel-prices/

www.gizmag.com/audi-creates-e-diesel-from-co2/37130/

blog.caranddriver.com/audi-makes-synthetic-gasoline-using-zero-petroleum/

Well, this is kinda fun/cool.
Renewables are almost at parity [or better in some situations] and on track to undercut everthing else for electrical generation---except maybe hydro.
About the only thing that might be better than this is if the Skunk Works fusion idea works out.

AND---look at Audi go. If the processes end up being scalable, diesel and gasoline become clean renewable fuels without pumping any more oil, without using crop lands for fuel production instead of food, and they will be completely carbon-neutral [for those of us who think CO2 and other effects of drilling and pumping are bad.].
[[[I included them with the Solar/wind, because Audi makes the stuff using electricty---so the things together make the entire chain eco-friendly]]]

[wayfriend]

Renewables are almost at parity [or better in some situations] and on track to undercut everthing else for electrical generation---except maybe hydro.

Hydro is a renewable, IMO.

[Vraith]

Renewables are almost at parity [or better in some situations] and on track to undercut everthing else for electrical generation---except maybe hydro.

Hydro is a renewable, IMO.

yes...but dams generally come with a host of bad side effects, and some inherent dangers/vulnerabilities. We're getting better at planning/siting/managing them, but IMO it would be best if we relied on them as little as possible.
[[although hydro from ocean currents and tides have potential and possible upsides in addition to electricity]]

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Outside of fusion, this is the kind of research and trends that we really want to be seeing. Combine this with the ready availability of wind and solar kits for your house--I can stop by Fry's this afternoon and start buying solar panel kits which I can install but an electrician has to wire into the house grid--that people can start becoming essentially energy independent.

People have probably tried synthesizing gasoline before but apparently Audi got there first. Since gasoline is nothing but chains of carbohydrates you would think that chemical engineers would have figured out the processes by which it may be created before now but maybe it simply wasn't important. Sadly, the article still thinks all the crude oil comes from dead dinosaurs--the writer apparently doesn't know that crude oil is typically has a geological creation process. *shrug* Still....let's see how Big Oil reacts to this news. Actually, they probably won't care because they'll probably buy the patents for the production process.

[Vraith]

People have probably tried synthesizing gasoline before but apparently Audi got there first.

I'm almost---but not quite---certain that there have been a fair number of methods discovered to make synth-gas. But they've all required at least SOME drilled/pumped/dug petroleum products as a base, or they weren't efficient/scalable. Or both. [[And Audi might still have a production problem---we'll see, and keep fingers crossed. Cuz their version was significantly cleaner and higher octane than what we get at the pumps]].

[wayfriend]

If it takes the energy equivalent of 1.1 gallons of fuel to create 1 gallon of synthetic fuel ...

This is why we're not all powered by hydrogen cells right now.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Agreed.

Didn't I hear somewhere recently that Tesla had made some sort of long-term battery breakthrough? I'm drawing a blank but I'll look into it.

The primary operative compound in gasoline is 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane, which is just your average, everyday pentane (C5H12) with three methyl groups (CH2) attached (two at the "second" carbon and a third on the "fourth" one). Browse down to the use and manufacturing section for the usual processes.

Still...if wind and solar get to the point where they are on par, or ideally less expensive than, regular electric then more people will jump to those sources which will wind up reducing the dependence on the grid even more.