Pillar to Post: Peter Welander's Blog 
Recent Posts
- Emerson: Watching the ceremony
- Your own home fuel cell plant
- Death of the typewriter (man)
- Living: How green is green enough?
- ISA Expo: Show must go on
- Re-branding a legacy
- Back to the "smart grid"
- Learning to live with change
- Back to $100 oil?
- Economics of not driving to work
Recent Comments
- Sandor Fule, Hungary on I am not a socialist
- Sandor Fule, Hungary on Economics of not driving to work
- Nico on Making gasoline out of coal
- Mark Hoske, Control Engineering on Learning to live with change
- Nancy McIntyre on ExxonMobil helping plug skills gap
Most Commented On
- I am not a socialist (3)
- Chinese pharma plants go un-inspected? (2)
- Making gasoline out of coal (2)
- Economics of not driving to work (1)
- Learning to live with change (1)
Archives
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
Blog
Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)
Cars that run on garbage, part 3
A few years back when we were thinking about the turn of the century, I remember hearing a discussion on the radio (It was probably NPR.) as to what was the greatest invention of the 20th century. I was surprised to hear that the answer wasn't radio, airplanes, TV, or computers. The commentator instead chose the development of synthetic ammonia by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, for which the former won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918. The point was that the discovery permitted the manufacture of affordable fertilizer that boosted crop production and prevented starvation of a rapidly growing world population. (Haber was also famous for some less commendable chemical developments, including poison gas use during WWI.)
So, what does this have to do with garbage powered cars?
As discussed yesterday, there are scientists and engineers who are presently engaged in trying to develop ways to create useful fuels out of inexpensive and readily obtainable materials. One of these days there will be breakthroughs that help us create ethanol or more sophisticated fuels out of feed stocks that aren't also food. When we're having discussions 82 years from now about the greatest developments of the 21st century, I suspect those will be included. That will certainly change the world just as Haber's ammonia did.
I say that at the risk of suggesting that technology will save us and we can still drive to work in our Suburbans. Solving the energy issues we face will require no changes in behavior, right? Don't count on it. Conservation is still critical, and we need to be willing to embrace it.
Cars that run on garbage, part 3
January 17, 2008
A few years back when we were thinking about the turn of the century, I remember hearing a discussion on the radio (It was probably NPR.) as to what was the greatest invention of the 20th century. I was surprised to hear that the answer wasn't radio, airplanes, TV, or computers. The commentator instead chose the development of synthetic ammonia by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, for which the former won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918. The point was that the discovery permitted the manufacture of affordable fertilizer that boosted crop production and prevented starvation of a rapidly growing world population. (Haber was also famous for some less commendable chemical developments, including poison gas use during WWI.)So, what does this have to do with garbage powered cars?
As discussed yesterday, there are scientists and engineers who are presently engaged in trying to develop ways to create useful fuels out of inexpensive and readily obtainable materials. One of these days there will be breakthroughs that help us create ethanol or more sophisticated fuels out of feed stocks that aren't also food. When we're having discussions 82 years from now about the greatest developments of the 21st century, I suspect those will be included. That will certainly change the world just as Haber's ammonia did.
I say that at the risk of suggesting that technology will save us and we can still drive to work in our Suburbans. Solving the energy issues we face will require no changes in behavior, right? Don't count on it. Conservation is still critical, and we need to be willing to embrace it.
Posted by Peter Welander on January 17, 2008 | Comments (0)
Advertisement
Advertisements
