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Age-old myths and fantasies about turning stuff that was worthless into gold. Alchemists leaning over their cauldrons of bubbling brew in the dark recesses of the dungeon of some mythical castle somewhere unknown to mankind. Well, perhaps not so unknown and not so fantastical. Today, the US Navy has succeeded in transforming sea water into gasoline. No point in having sea water these days either for all the eco-warriors that will worry about the fauna and flora. My, oh my! Since when did people actually care what might happen to the fish in the sea or the plants? We have been shown for many a year now that it’s the economy that counts; fuel and energy are the key-words of the 20th century and they are even more so in the 21st. Holy Cow! Damn the sea water, fill the barrels and turn it into gas!
How can they do it? Simple: Seawater contains carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Separating them in H2O would mean being able to create hydrocarbons. Oil is just one form of hydrocarbon, that’s all. The gasses are transformed into a fuel by using a process of gas-to-liquid using catalytic converters. Easy-peasy. Even the US Navy can do it! We wanted renewable energy, didn’t we? Haven’t we been harping on about the ethics of preserving our mode of consumption and at the same time not wasting our resources for years now? It’s taken the US Navy decades, but now they have managed to power a small model plane. All that there’s left for them to do is to produce it in industrial quantities. The proof-of-concept test was carried out in September 2013 atBlossom Point, Maryland on a model P-51 Mustang 2-stroke engine. It was made public just a few days ago.
The US Navy relies on oil-based fuel for 289 vessels. There 72 submarines rely on nuclear power. Moving into a new era of producing enough gas to power those vessels would mean that there would be incredible savings to be made and thus less reliance on the Middle East or other countries for the source of energy. The idea would be that the vessels would be transformed into floating refineries that would transform seawater into their own energy source, thus doing away with the need to refuel with tankers in tow. The Navy has called it a “game-changer” and a “huge milestone”.
Strangely, it can power ships, it will power aircraft too on the aircraft-carriers, but the Navy says that after a decade of research they can’t make cars run on it yet. Oh! Really? Does that mean the common and mortal American will have to continue digging in his pocket at the pump to get the tank filled with gas before he speeds off to the factory to produce…(what do we produce still in the USA?)? Right! So we’ll have to bleed the planet dry, use it all up, spend all the money and then maybe then, just maybe, they will have come up with the miraculous solution that they will announce to us in a few decades. Nice!
The predicted cost for the US Navy to fuel a jet has been estimated to work out to roughly $3-$6 per gallon. The US Navy has suggested that the project would come to commercial fruition within the next 7 to 10 years and that would mean that there would be removal of dependence on gas from other countries. But, what they fail to realize is that the object of a fight is not the important thing it’s the reason why the punches get pulled. If we aren’t fighting over gas in the future, then we’ll be fighting over sea-water. There’s lots of it on the planet, and everyone could get to it. But, whatever it is, if it’s coveted, then it’s a reason to go to war, invade, pillage, burn and plunder. If that new object is going to be seawater, so be it.
Just as well they decided to use the seawater. Apparently, the seas and oceans are rising in level due to the melting of the ice caps. Hey, you know, the Americans will end up being the saviors of the planet, ecologically-speaking!
There’s 96% of the world’s water in the oceans today. Water covers 70% of the planet. The US Navy has 332, 519, 000 cubic miles of water to turn into fuel now. Who cares about the fish? Having trouble working out how many gallons that works out to be? It’s simple: 352, 670, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000.
That’s going to take a hell of a long time at the gas pump, isn’t it?
Originally posted: US Navy Makes Gas from Seawater [6]
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