[ExI] [hackers-l] LinkedIn weirdness

[Keith Henson]

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 8:49 PM Michael Shiloh
<michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> This is what All Power Labs in Berkeley is doing

I looked, and they are a biochar project, not making syngas out of mixed waste.

Keith
> On Fri, 20 Mar 2026, 02:57 Keith Henson via Hackers Discussion, <hackers-l at lists.hackersconference.org> wrote:
>>
>> I posted this on LinkedIn.
>>
>> The biggest problem with renewable energy is large scale, long term storage.
>>
>> "A Victorian gas-making technology might solve this problem. About
>> 1860, they made gas by burning coke till it got white hot, then
>> shutting off the air and blowing steam through the mass of coke. This
>> made CO and hydrogen, which was distributed as town gas.
>>
>> "For carbon, we can use municipal waste, which is 40% carbon. For
>> heat, renewable electricity from wind or solar. 4 MWh will vaporize a
>> ton of carbon in steam, making about 11 MWh of syngas. The syngas can
>> be stored and then burned in a combined cycle turbine, giving over 6
>> MWh of electricity.
>>
>> "This scales to a rather large size. LA makes 100,000 tons per day, of
>> which 40% is carbon. Run 1/3rd of the day, the gasifiers could absorb
>> 20 GW, producing 240 GWh of syngas. This sounds like a lot until you
>> realize California is putting in 13 GW over the canals."
>>
>> According to LinkedIn, almost 1000 people read it, including people in
>> the utility industry.  There were no comments except my comment,
>> giving my email.  No emails.
>>
>> Is the idea so strange that people can't understand?  75 years ago,
>> the US made town gas from coke at a similar scale.  Is invoking
>> chemical reactions from the Victorian era simply rejected?
>>
>> Any thoughts on the results?  I am mystified.
>>
>> Keith
>>
>> PS March 24, I am giving a talk on this topic to the local IEEE
>> chapter.  If it is not closed, I will let you know.
>> --
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