Comments on: The Weekly Carboholic: Port of Long Beach powers BP supertankers with electricity

By: Scholars and Rogues » The Weekly Carboholic: EPA Office of the Inspector General recommends EPA enforce Clean Water Act

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:32:07 +0000

[...] that the U.S. could possibly be trading a dependency on Middle East oil for a dependency on Chinese rare earth metals, a domestic source of elements critical to renewable energy would be a good thing to [...]

By: Lex

Lex — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:12:52 +0000

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9898347-54.html

I may have spoken too soon as the site that details the hydrogen ship project begun in 2004 only partially exists.. I don’t know of any other specific projects, though i do know that Germany, Denmark and Iceland are all working on the idea as a way get wind power from where it’s most plentiful to where it’s needed.

By: Rho

Rho — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:19:00 +0000

Lex,

Do you have a link to the pictures of, or any articles about, the ships you mention and/or the German’s hydrogen harvesting?

By: Lex

Lex — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:00:02 +0000

I’ve seen some pictures of cargo ships outfitted with sails. The Germans harvest hydrogen by ship (for use in public transport vehicles). The ship sails out, sea anchors into the wind, and uses windmills to split hydrogen from sea water. When the hold is full, the ship steams back to port under hydrogen power.

By: Russ Wellen

Russ Wellen — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:30:06 +0000

With no way to recharge at sea, I guess supertankers can’t be reconfigured to sail the high seas electrically. But they would seem to be prime candidates for solar energy. Wonder if there’s any research in that area.

By: Lex

Lex — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:20:30 +0000

The plug-in supertanker is a fine idea…even one of those where a person might wonder, “Why didn’t we think of that before?”

The dependence on petroleum vs. a dependence on minerals is a serious question that needs to be discussed. I don’t know which is better or worse. I do know that an international mining giant wants to build a nickel mine not far from where i live (on some spectacular country). If successful, i imagine that much of that nickel will end up in Prius battery packs. But with the possibility so local, i also know what nickel mining will look like…it isn’t pretty and there’s a good chance that the Yellow Dog river basin will be ruined for the sake of it.

I don’t have the answers, but i know that cutting a length from one end and splicing it to the other does not make the rope longer.