[ExI] Sandia and energy

[BillK]

On 12/20/09, Keith Henson wrote:
>  Bill, parabolic mirror concentrators will make a small area very hot,
>  but they do not increase the collected energy.   They are not magic.
>  If you need a GW of power to drive the chemical reaction, then (at 100
>  W/m^2 time average) you need 10E9W10E2W/m^2 or 10,000,000m^2 or ten
>  square km.
>
> They are *not* going to increase the efficiency beyond the theoretical
>  limit for the energy it takes to break chemical bonds.  Or rather, if
>  they do, we will be living in a magical world where where the laws of
>  thermodynamics have been repealed.
>
>  And it is not hard to pull CO2 out of the atmosphere,
>  http://people.ucalgary.ca/~keith/AirCapture.html  100 kWh/ton will do
>  it. That's a small part (2%) of the energy you need to make the CO2
>  into hydrocarbons.
>

Well, it looks as though either you or Sandia have misunderstood
something about this project.

Sandia have a reputation for technical excellence and employing some
of the best scientists in the country. This project has been going for
years and will soon be in test production status. Darpa has also
contributed some funding.

Let's watch for results.


BillK