'68falconohio
Well-known member
I understand that separating the water isn't feasible from an energy standpoint because it's water in it's natural state. When you separate it into oxygen and hydrogen, you're going backwards in the formula and against nature.
But how close is it when you factor in all of the energy required to procure the oil from the Earth, and then refine it into usable gasoline?
Is there anyone on the board who can answer:
How much TOTAL energy is required to produce one gallon of usable gasoline and how much TOTAL energy is required to produce the proper mass of hydrogen that would contain the same amount of potential energy?
Or has this already been covered somewhere?
In the end, we're going to have to figure something out for an alternative to fossil fuels. Sure, there's a lot of oil in shale in the Rockies, but that's going to be expensive to produce. I don't think ethanol is the answer, we should use our ability to produce food as leverage against our debt. There aren't many places IN THE WORLD that are like the Midwest.
But how close is it when you factor in all of the energy required to procure the oil from the Earth, and then refine it into usable gasoline?
Is there anyone on the board who can answer:
How much TOTAL energy is required to produce one gallon of usable gasoline and how much TOTAL energy is required to produce the proper mass of hydrogen that would contain the same amount of potential energy?
Or has this already been covered somewhere?
In the end, we're going to have to figure something out for an alternative to fossil fuels. Sure, there's a lot of oil in shale in the Rockies, but that's going to be expensive to produce. I don't think ethanol is the answer, we should use our ability to produce food as leverage against our debt. There aren't many places IN THE WORLD that are like the Midwest.