[ExI] Syngas was Re: Sell your Bitcoins!

[Stuart LaForge]

On 2026-06-05 15:41, Keith Henson wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 5, 2026 at 2:32 PM Stuart LaForge via extropy-chat
> <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>> 
>> On 2026-06-05 12:12, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote:
>> > Spike, concentrated solar will not do it. I looked into that while
>> > trying to think of what might be done with Ivanpah. Maybe you have an
>> > idea of how to use concentrated solar to make syngas, but I failed. I
>> > considered falling coal in steam behind a window, but the problems
>> > defeated me.
>> 
>> What is the obstacle to concentrated solar? Syngas can be made between
>> 800 and 2000 degrees C while the hottest solar furnace in the world
>> reaches 3600 degrees C according to wiki. Is it a transport/ 
>> circulation
>> or condenser/cooling problem?
> 
> It is the problem of heating carbon in steam with light. I have
> considered a falling curtain of coal behind a window, but that is just
> too complex to work. If the light could be directed down through a
> window, maybe, but keeping the window clean on the inside, with all
> that tar, I don't have a solution for. Open to suggestions.

What is this obsession with a window? Syngas production requires heat, 
not light. Forget a window, just a tungsten pressure crucible painted 
black on the outside, and we can go really BLACK these days (vid. 
Vantablack), and optionally a mirror polished interior surface, is what 
you need. If you want a window for viewing the inside for QC data and 
reaction monitoring, then I would suggest aluminum oxynitride aka ALON 
aka transparent aluminum. (Yes it's real, and sadly Montgomery Scott of 
the starship Enterprise is not given any credit anywhere in the 
literature.) It has a melting point of 2150 degrees C.

> Direct
> heating with sunlight would be more efficient, but we have a lot of
> electrical energy in excess of what can be used.
> 
>> BTW, I think Pristoline  would be a good
>> trade name for the product as it is a portmanteau of "pristine 
>> gasoline"
>> aka clean fuel.
> 
> We don't make trash anywhere close to the rate of fuel we use.

Better than putting the garbage into a landfill with runoff that causes 
toxic red-algae blooms. Excuse the cliche, but "Waste not, want not" is 
still good advice.

> 
> In the long run, cars are going to have to be electric.
> 
> Other uses for oil are hard to substitute, but we will have to do it 
> somehow.

Why? Scarcity or climate change political pressure? The atmosphere and 
surface of Saturn's moon Titan is largely made of various forms of 
hydrocarbon so we could always import oil to Earth so to speak. Not 
really sure that would be wise, but it is possible.

Stuart LaForge