The Rude Awakening
Melbourne, Australia
Thursday, December 21, 2006 - Old fuel vs. new fuel…the battle begins,
- The return of the Solar Tower of Power,
- The Reserve - open for a short time only, America's energy saviors and plenty more…
Eric Fry, reporting from Laguna Beach, California… Sometimes clean is dirty. Sometimes dirty is clean. Sometimes it's hard to know the difference. Laundered money, for example, isn't that clean, whereas "filthy rich" isn't that filthy…and "dirt poor" can be clean or dirty. Then there are "clean getaways," which often trail a lot of dirt behind them, and "squeaky clean" alibis, which sometimes conceal a lot more filth than a "murky excuse." Sometimes, it's just difficult to say what's clean and what's dirty. What's dirtier? A moldy piece of Roquefort cheese or a freshly washed piece of raw chicken? What's cleaner? The homemade hamburger that just fell on the ground or the fast-food hamburger that the employee behind the counter just handled. What's dirtier? An earnest, "earth first" neo-hippie driving a smoke-belching VW bus or an environmentally indifferent yuppie driving a fuel-efficient BMW? What's cleaner? A pristine copy of Playboy magazine or a dusty Bible? What's dirtier? Coal-fired electricity or nuclear power? What's cleaner? Hydrogen or natural gas? The answers are not always obvious…or popular, as Jonathan Kolber explains. --- Fresh Off The Press ---
Election Day-Nov. 7, 2006-A Landmark Date in the History of Politics-and Profit The "blue coup" in Congress is poised to turn this 17-cent biotech stock into a 3,000-5,000% mega winner. Political barriers to stem cell-based medicine are about to come crashing down, and savvy investors who act now stand to make enormous profits. Click here. --------------------------- When Clean is Dirty
By Jonathan Kolber
Most of the so-called alternative sources of energy are, at best, transitional in nature. By "transitional," I mean that they can carry us from the hydrocarbon era into something entirely new.
By "entirely new" I mean such things as zero-point energy. (I know an esteemed aerospace engineer who attests to having seen one of these operating steadily for two weeks on a tabletop in a black ops project), cold fusion (I know a U.S. Naval Research Laboratory physicist who's catalogued evidence that it's real), hot fusion (I own stock in a company that's achieved 1 billion degrees Celsius), a Tesla-based technology that uses the ionosphere as a capacitor and others. Meanwhile, what of transitional technologies? Superior ways to sequester the harmful byproducts of coal-fired plants can extend the life of this hydrocarbon fuel for another century or more -- though few of the new plants under construction are planning to use such technologies. Solar-wind hybrid plants such as the novel "tower of power" now planned for the Australian Outback are another promising possibility, as are solar power satellites: essentially, huge panels of solar cells positioned in space, beaming power to Earth via lasers or microwaves. Joel's Note: You can read Jonathan's full Rude column on the "Solar Tower of Power," right here. Improved ground-based solar cells are another promising transitional technology, with efficiencies of as much as 30% and the potential to be sprayed on like paint. One much ballyhooed technology that makes little sense is the so-called hydrogen economy. Why? Consider what is required to produce hydrogen as fuel. It must be extracted from something, usually by splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen. How is this done? You guessed it: Another fuel source is consumed to generate the energy required for splitting. That fuel source will almost always be coal, oil or natural gas. So what's the point? It's true that hydrogen burns clean wherever it is burned. But you've got to burn a lot of dirty fuel to make this "clean" fuel. Therein lies the rub. Instead of truly reducing global pollution, hydrogen shifts it from populated areas to less populated ones. While this benefit may help to reduce urban smog, it does nothing on balance to reduce the toxic emissions spewing into the earth's atmosphere.
It merely shifts the problems. A new analysis published on the prestigious Physorg.com shows why hydrogen doesn't now make sense and will not in the future, at least compared with other alternatives. Ulf Bossel, author of the study, summarized his findings: "More energy is needed to isolate hydrogen from natural compounds than can ever be recovered from its use. Therefore, making the new chemical energy carrier [hydrogen] from natural gas would not make sense, as it would increase the gas consumption and the emission of CO2. Instead, the dwindling fossil fuel reserves must be replaced by energy from renewable sources."
Essentially, his analysis of a hydrogen economy demonstrates that high energy losses are unavoidable, due to the laws of physics. On balance, these mean that a hydrogen economy will never be a viable replacement for fossil fuels.
He states, "The advantages of hydrogen praised by journalists (nontoxic, burns to water, abundance of in the universe, etc.) are misleading, because the production of hydrogen depends on the availability of energy and water, both of which are increasingly rare and may become political issues, as much as oil and natural gas are today."
He blames the "Presidential [hydrogen] Initiative" for substituting politics for science, and argues that a lot of the research now being done is essentially scientists prostituting themselves for directed research grants.
Essentially, the core problem lies in the fact that turning something such as water, biomass or natural gas into hydrogen and then finding a way to transport that hydrogen that's safe (i.e., nonflammable), such as in the form of metal-hydrogen hydrides, consumes more energy than would be used to simply generate electricity in the first place. Both trucks and pipelines are far less efficient means of transporting hydrogen than is the case for natural gas or oil; they are only half as efficient. Storage is similarly problematic. Hydrogen must be bled off from storage containers to avoid risks of explosions. This means that after two weeks, a car would lose half of its fuel, regardless of whether it's being driven. Bossel consistently found that the energy input required for extraction, preparation, transportation and execution exceeds the energy output of alternative sources by a factor of three or more. Essentially, this means that at least three times the hydrogen would have to enter the pipeline to do the work of oil with comparable Btu potential.
Regrettably, this is not amenable to technological improvement but is due to the properties of hydrogen itself - specifically its low density and extremely low boiling point, which raises the energy cost of compression or liquefaction and the investment costs of storage. Can hydrogen be salvaged as a fuel source? I wouldn't bet on it, not unless a transformational breakthrough develops something such as algae that converts biomass directly into hydrogen, and does so in small, easily managed batches near the point of consumption. Meanwhile, many promising and exciting new energy technologies are moving from the drawing board to early-stage development. Stay tuned! Joel's Note: Renewable energy is important to you. Current geopolitical affairs and macroeconomic trends are important to you. Your own money is important to you. Your personal freedoms and liberties are important to you. Keeping abreast of these issues is important to you. I can make these statements confidently because the very fact that you are inquisitive enough to be reading this, an alternative press e-letter, suggests that you do care about these issues and that you are willing to take steps to remain informed. That's why we are thrilled to be able to offer you a lifetime subscription to the Agora Financial Reserve. This service operates with the sole aim of keeping you informed. Whether it is your investments, your personal freedoms, your retirement security or information to help guide you through the world of tomorrow, the Reserve has you covered. If you are curious about what information is available to you with a membership to the Reserve, you'll want to read on here… The Agora Financial Reserve P.S.: January 2 is right around the corner, and that's the day that The Agora Financial Reserve invitation expires. Don't miss out on your chance to get in… Membership Closing Soon --- Special Energy Report --- Countdown to a Full-on Oil War Prepare Your Portfolio for $150 Crude Before Spring 2007 Ninety years ago, a single assassin's bullet triggered the First World War. Now today, another assassination has marked the beginning of an even bigger event - a chain of events that could push oil prices higher than ever before. Discover the proof… and arm yourself with the facts you need to invest and protect your wealth in the troubles ahead. But don't wait. Events are moving quickly - and you need to be ready now for your chance at big profits by spring 2007. | 
