| ▲ | nine_k 7 days ago |
| The real problem is that some of the most important fertilizers are synthesized basically from methane. And about 25% of natural gas is exported via the Hormuz strait. This is something solar energy currently cannot tackle. |
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| ▲ | ZeroGravitas 7 days ago | parent | next [-] |
| You can do solar -> hydrolysis -> hydrogen -> ammonia-> fertilizer, rather than methane -> steam reforming -> hydrogen -> ammonia -> fertilizer. So it's technically feasible. Not quite there in terms of cost and scale but if the alternative is a blockade then probably worth investing in. Ironically some of the best locations for production are in the middle east. |
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| ▲ | Gibbon1 7 days ago | parent | next [-] | | You can run the numbers the cost isn't that bad to do it that way. I think South Africa gets most of its diesel from the Fischer–Tropsch process. You could use electrolytic hydrogen as an input for that. About 40% of the energy in gasoline is from hydrogen burning. It's not great but it would allow you to run current vehicles off about 40% solar energy. | |
| ▲ | dzhiurgis 7 days ago | parent | prev [-] | | Best part you can probably miniaturize entire process into panel itself and 5 panels per hectare would be enough... | | |
| ▲ | euroderf 6 days ago | parent | next [-] | | I'd like to see a turnkey synfuels plant for home/business use. Making methane or (better?) hydrocarbons. "Just add solar panels." Anyone got a WAG about how much it would cost. | |
| ▲ | fc417fc802 4 days ago | parent | prev [-] | | Some university in the US midwest demoed a prototype of this several years ago using wind power. Sorry no link to hand. |
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| ▲ | th0masfrancis 7 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| If 25% of natural gas demand is replaced by renewables then we don’t have to depend on Hormuz for fertilisers. |
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| ▲ | zardo 7 days ago | parent [-] | | I don't think it's feasible to do get that done this season. | | |
| ▲ | coffeebeqn 6 days ago | parent [-] | | It’s less important to get it fully perfectly done this season and more important to actually do it at a short-medium timescale. Why are we still so dependent on the Middle East and Russia? |
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| ▲ | Tade0 7 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Actually it can, but it needs to be scaled up 1000x at least: https://www.topsoe.com/news/worlds-first-dynamic-green-ammon... Main innovation in this plant is that the process is optimized to run off of intermittent sources like solar or wind. |
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| ▲ | 7 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| [deleted] |
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| ▲ | sysguest 6 days ago | parent | prev [-] |
| well I guess its time to grow nitrogen-fixing plants like beans & peanuts... |
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| ▲ | fc417fc802 4 days ago | parent [-] | | Solar and wind are more economically efficient methods of nitrogen fixation. |
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