2 ms·
The main question that I do not see addressed, is how many Joules of energy does the process need to make 1 Joule worth of liquid fuel. If we need for example
by whatever1 8y ago
The main question that I do not see addressed, is how many Joules of energy does the process need to make 1 Joule worth of liquid fuel.
If we need for example 2J of energy to make 1J worth of gasoline, then it means that we need to double the installation rate of renewable production facilities (wind, solar, biofuels), while the global energy demand increases. This makes it completely infeasible (and I did not consider cost at all in my analysis yet).
Edit: I just saw that the founder mentioned in the comments that they expect 50% efficiency at best. This unfortunately means that the liquid fuel product of this process will have at least double the cost of renewable energy.
- snowmaker 8y agoThat's a smart argument, but I think what it's missing is that the cost of gasoline is much higher than the cost of its energy equivalent on the electricity market. I.e, the cost of 1 Joule of energy != the cost of 1 joule of gasoline. Because gasoline is a premium energy source, if we can produce it from photovoltaic sources, we can effectively mark-up photovoltaic electricity. In the long-term, that would make it economical to greatly expand our photovoltaic capacity. The cost equivalence Prometheus is aiming for is: Market price of 1 gallon of gasoline > cost to produce 1 gallon of gasoline using renewable energy. Another factor is that Prometheus production works in remote areas where transmission losses for electricity are high (i.e., remote hydroelectric plants).