Plants Give Up Secret Of Splitting Water

IOL ^ | 2-6-2004

[yhwhsman]

I myself have used genetic programming to produce results, and evolution almost always does so far faster than I had expected, and the solutions are always elegant and surprising.

But is this truly evolution? You (god) are doing the manipulating on whatever you're producing (creation).

[chaosagent]

Ah, but the hydrogen is compressible and the gasoline is not.

The amount of energy in 20 gallons of gasoline doesn't change.

The amount of energy in a 20 gallon tank of hydrogen depends how much pressure it's under.

It's best to talk about the mass (weight) of the two.

20 gallon of gasoline weighs about 125 pounds.

125 pounds of hydrogen (however much it's compressed) does not contain near the energy that 125 pounds of gasoline does.

[StriperSniper]

Invest in manganese.

;-)

[JoeGar]

Producing hydrogen from water is the stuff of science fiction - and some comments by US President George Bush.

Er, doesn't just sticking two electrodes in water do the trick? Oxygen collects at one electrode and hydrogen at the other?

[myself6]

The point is that it is a gas and under pressure. I have no idea how much hydrogen it would take to give a car enough mileage to make it feasible but it must be quite a bit. If the tank were ruptured during an accident the pressurized gas would expand at a terrible rate. If ignited, this rapidly expanding gas would explode (rapidly expand)with a concussive force grater than gasoline. Most hydrocarbons burn rather than explode because the oxidizer takes time to diffuse into the liquid. pressurized hydrogen gas wouldnt have this problem

There are many factors that determine the force of an explosion besides the amount of potential energy stored in the substance. For example, why do you think they don't allow smoking in grain elevators? Those are some HUGE explosions!

[Doctor Stochastic]

An explosion is just something that burns REALLY FAST.

Ok as far as it goes, but somewhat incomplete. A low explosive burns really fast; a high explosive burns faster than the speed of sound in the material.

In an automobile engine, one wants really fast; faster than sound forms a shock which acts like a hammer and punched holes in pistons.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Solar electric panels may or may not be cost effective in the future. We have no ideas what breakthroughs might occur in materials and manufacture

But we know the maximum energy from sunlight. For the nonce, the Sun isn't going to get hotter; this sets an upper limit on the energy/acre extracted from sunlight by any means.

[js1138]

But we have a lot of sunlit areas on earth not being used for much else. not to mention a lot of inhabited areas that could use air conditioning. I suppose solar will never supply all of anyone's energy needs, but it could be part of the mix.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Solar is good for streetlights, sheep tank pumps, and other small uses. It would be hard to power a city.

On the other hand, simple solar heaters do well in heating water for home use. The Department of Energy doesn't like this; they only seem to go for 100% rather than 80% savings.

[#3Fan]

Australia a supplier of manganese. Cool!

[CougarGA7]

True. I was only putting it in the most general form.