Is Shell's Shocking Revelation Good News for Tesla?

fool.com ^ | October 13, 2013 | Tyler Crowe

[Wonder Warthog]

"what is the smallest diesel engine commercially available? do you know?"

Pretty darned small. Years ago, I read a story about model airplaners, and it said that the Soviet model airplane clubs used Diesel engines to power their planes, because the lighter hydrocarbon fractions normally used for model plane engines were not easily available, but that diesel was.

[Wonder Warthog]

"...space travel was too expensive and complicated. but that is slowly changing."

Space travel, like nuclear power, was killed off by the leftists in order to spend that money on the "deserving poor Amish". It wouldn't have mattered how much or how little it cost.

[MrB]

One thing on fuel cells - todays DIESEL engines are within a few points as efficient as fuel cells, at substantially lower cost.

[ckilmer]

the “deserving poor Amish” don’t take government money. That’s just a hopeless homosexual nazi slander you hear on freerepublic.

while government money did slow significantly to NASA — the money to space R&D did not stop nor did technological development. The whole thing is still happening but at a much slower pace. That may pick up because of private enterprise. One of the most exciting achievements of the last decades occurred this summer when SpaceX was able to launch a rocket, send it down range and then return the rocket to its launch pad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZDkItO-0a4

The significance of this is huge. Because if they can get a reusable rocket — it will just collapse the cost of delivering payloads into space.

[Wonder Warthog]

"...while government money did slow significantly to NASA — the money to space R&D did not stop nor did technological development. The whole thing is still happening but at a much slower pace."

Not true. The crippled "Space Shuttle" was a direct effect of the funding cuts. The original design called for a fully recoverable design (fly and land) for both the booster and the orbiter. What we got was a kludge (obiter w. solid rocket boosters) that was the best that could be done with the reduced funding. The crash of Challenger and the resulting deaths were DIRECTLY due to stealing the money to pour down the welfare rathole.

I'm all in favor of the SpaceX (and any other) efforts by private companies, but the transfer from NASA to private would have happened anyway.

[Wonder Warthog]

"todays DIESEL engines are within a few points as efficient as fuel cells, at substantially lower cost.

And the natgas/diesel hybrid combustion process is even more efficient, as well as running a lot cleaner.

[ckilmer]

The crash of Challenger and the resulting deaths were DIRECTLY due to stealing the money to pour down the welfare rathole.

‘’’’’’’’’’
I don’t disagree that money spent on NASA was money better spent than on various welfare programs
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but the transfer from NASA to private would have happened anyway.
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I thought it a good move for NASA to get out of the launch business. long time coming.