rmcginnis

13 ms·

31.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
It's about half of global annual gasoline consumption. It's going to be hard, but worth it to try.
32.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
There are a couple of kinds of efficiency, i.e. Faradaic efficiency vs overall efficiency. We are talking about overall efficiency, which is electrical energy turned into useful chemical energy.
33.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
That is the main input. We also have to keep the capital costs low, but that looks good too.
34.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
We'll want to filter our air, yes. This means replacing filters, etc, which factors into the maintenance costs.
35.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
We will definitely take free power whenever possible!
36.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Both are highly scalable. The CNT membrane is available in commercial modules now and can scale up further quickly.
37.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Gasoline. Each metric ton of CO2 corresponds to approx. 113 gallons of gasoline. The amount of water is approx. 1:1 by volume.
38.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
It's true that running part of the time is not as good as running continuously, but if the capital is low enough, it's ok to start out running intermittently until we get to the point where we have low cost dedicated power and can
39.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
I'm focused on Prometheus and turning CO2 to fuel, but my previous company Mattershift will make the membranes available for other uses.
40.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
There are no limiting factors to us scaling now.
41.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
It's possible to do a deep vacuum distillation (and some people do this for moonshine, etc) to get a useable fuel out. Farmers have made their own fuel from time to time doing this. The economics aren't good enough to compete with
42.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Yes, we have thought about having an "air bar" at events. Downside is we'd have to make sure it was pure ethanol. Gasoline is easier, because it can be a mix of many things that burn. Engines are much less picky than our live
43.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Thanks!
44.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Thanks!
45.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
We think air travel will be dramatically better with zero carbon jet fuel. That doesn't remove all of the impacts, but it's worth doing.
46.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
We want to get to >300 B gallons per year of gasoline, and only direct air capture will scale to that level.
47.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
You could certainly do this, using distillation or the thermal processes Carbon Engineering is doing, and it could be worth pursuing, from a business opportunity perspective. We're focused on an implementation that can scale to >300
48.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
The smallest scale at which we can operate profitably is probably in the 100,000 gallon/year range, although that could go down over time. We will make modular, mobile systems that don't have to be very big to be profitable. One s
49.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Yes, the CNT membranes will improve the efficiency of biofuels, but Prometheus won't do that. My previous company Mattershift makes the membranes and will sell them for other uses.
50.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
We expect to be able to compete with fossil fuels on price as we push the price down to get more market share. The process of extracting oil and refining it to gasoline is not inexpensive or easy. By comparison, making fuel on site that doe
51.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Thanks, will do!
52.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
We have pretty good control, but it's not necessary to make pure substances like only octane, etc. A mix of C4 to C12 hydrocarbons and alcohols that meets the ASTM spec is all we need.
53.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
We expect a long life for the CNT membrane, as it operates on clean internal streams. They are actually not that expensive, so this is a small risk.
54.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
It's likely we will be exempt from ethanol blending requirements, as this would increase the carbon intensity of our fuel.
55.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Competing on price is the plan. It's a commodity, so the only way to replace fossil fuel is to take market share by competing on price.
56.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
We'll start out using other's pumps, and then move into making/selling fuel making systems themselves. I don't see us buying gas stations.
57.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
The best catalyst for CO2 conversion is copper. There are papers that have done an exhaustive analysis of alternative metals, and copper comes out on top everytime. Adding it to other materials like carbon or other metals in a heterogeneous
58.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Much lower particle emissions is what we expect. Also no benzene, sulfur, or aromatics. Despite diesel's drawbacks, I'd rather offer zero carbon diesel as long as people are still using it.
59.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
Thanks!
60.
by rmcginnis 7y ago
The separation itself is not the only thing that makes the economics favorable. It's important that changing the separation makes the process electricity only overall, and this is a big deal. We can run intermittently, allowing low ren

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