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Scalability is a fascinating process, too. But oak trees aren't scalable. There are lots of ways to generate local "renewable" energy optima from waste product
by beat 13y ago
Scalability is a fascinating process, too. But oak trees aren't scalable.
There are lots of ways to generate local "renewable" energy optima from waste products. Unfortunately, none of them scale.
- VLM 13y agoThere are also practical engineering problems with making a "rolling coke/charcoal oven" reliable enough to last 250K miles with about the same maint as a gasoline car. There are certain economic balances that have to be achieved, if the maint cost is going to be X times a gas car maint and lifespan will be Y times shorter that has certain capital cost requirements which probably are not possible to meet. Also this is something of an enviro-slur but renewable ideas are typically horribly polluting but the small scale types handwave past it. A gasoline engine can output exhaust cleaner in some ways than its input air, especially WRT hydrocarbons in smoggy areas, but a coke/charcoal oven is just beyond filthy polluting, which scales pretty well to one dude and his one car but is a non-starter for 100M American cars. The interstate would be unimaginable.
- wil421 13y agoI believe the guy was only using what was available around him. Oak apparently provided the best bang. Who knows what else that we could use that would scale.