Reply To: Fusion Oil

[Tasmodevil44]

There’s really nothing new about the idea of fusion oil. I had done already arrived at the idea (and possibly many others) years ago that some non – fossil energy source such as nuclear could assist in making renewable hydrocarbons. In fact, I made a post some time ago about how many other energy sources could come riding in on the back of focus fusion : cheaper solar cell manufacture, greater agricultural production of biomass, and etc.

There are many different versions of how nuclear power can do this, from processing recycled garbage, to biomass crops grown specifically for that purpose, to seawater extraction of CO2, and etc. The possibilities are endless.

Several years ago, I came – up with the idea of how thorium nuclear reactors could provide the process heat for more economical large – scale pyrolysis of industrial hemp into renewable petroleum products. If a non – fossil fuel nuclear source is used to provide the process heat, it greatly improves the economics of the entire operation. Because you no longer have the law of diminishing returns, where you have to burn – up hydrocarbons in order to produce them.

Just substitute the thorium reactor for focus fusion and you have thermal pyrolysis of hemp, algae, switchgrass, municipal trash and garbage, etc. by way of endless fusion power. The permutations of the same basic idea are endless, and would radically change the whole economic equation to cellulosic alcohol production and just about everything else.

There is also a company called Startech Corporation. They are already using a high temperature plasma torch to recycle municipal garbage into renewable fuel. It also burns – up toxic chemicals and immobilizes toxic metals in an insoluble glassy material similar to obsidian volcanic rock. The extra glassy rock byproduct can be used as a building and construction material, and also a superior type of asphalt road pavement. Such a plasma torch method could all be powered by nuclear fusion.

And while hydrogen alone in itself is bulky and not very economic to store, it can be added to things like garbage or biomass to increase the amount of renewable diesel fuel and other hydrocarbons produced. It makes the fisher – tropsch synthetic fuel process much more efficient when a higher proportion of hydrogen is added to the synthesis gases. And electricity generated by focus fusion can supply plenty of additional hydrogen to the chemical reaction by way of electrolysis.

And although it would not help the global warming problem any, nuclear energy can also assist in producing more hydrocarbons from things like conventional oil wells, oil shale, and coal. But to avoid global warming, I would prefer the renewable methods as much as posible.