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The Blue Origin "tourist rocket"[1] uses hydrogen as a fuel and oxygen as an oxidizer, so there are no direct emissions or pollutants. In general you are of co
by rplnt 5y ago
The Blue Origin "tourist rocket"[1] uses hydrogen as a fuel and oxygen as an oxidizer, so there are no direct emissions or pollutants.
In general you are of course right. The top 1% will slightly increase their already large carbon footprint by a small amount.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Shepard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Shepard
- jetpackjoe 5y agoHow many emissions and pollutants came from refining the hydrogen and oxygen though?
- anotheryou 5y agoIs it done with electricity? In that case it would be whatever the grip offers and probably the 'd pay the premium for renewables to keep their image.
- auxym 5y agoAccording to wikipedia, 95% is hydrogen is made from fossil fuels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_production
- analog31 5y agoNo, hydrogen at an industrial scale is produced chemically from petroleum. The two steps are "shift reaction" and "steam reforming." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-gas_shift_reaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-gas_shift_reaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_reforming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_reforming The days of hydrogen being an efficient storage medium for solar or nuclear energy through electrolysis are far in the future.
- bryanlarsen 5y agoBlue Origin doesn't need hydrogen at industrial scale. They could easily supply themselves with "green" hydrogen created via electrolysis. Elon Musk has promised to eventually fuel Starship with synthetic "green" methane. Green hydrogen is a much simpler problem, so if Blue Origin hasn't yet made that promise, it's quite likely they will soon.
- lakecresva 5y ago>Elon Musk has promised to eventually fuel Starship with synthetic "green" methane. Just so I can pencil this on my calendar, where does this fit on the timeline relative to full self-driving and the hyperloop?
- leetcrew 5y agonot quite. any high-temperature combustion in atmosphere is going to create some NOx.