Are we close to a solution to Global Warming Crisis??
If the US Navy makes available its new invention to the world, sea water could be used to generate electricity.
Washington:
The US Navy believes it
has finally worked out the solution to a problem that has intrigued scientists
for decades — how to take seawater and use it as fuel. The development of a
liquid hydrocarbon fuel is being hailed as “a game-changer” because it would
significantly shorten the supply chain, a weak link that makes any force easier
to attack.
The US has a fleet of 15 military
oil tankers and only aircraft carriers and some submarines are equipped with
nuclear propulsion. All other vessels must frequently abandon their mission for
a few hours to navigate in parallel with the tanker, a delicate operation,
especially in bad weather.
The ultimate goal is to eventually
get away from the dependence on oil altogether, which would also mean the navy
is no longer hostage to potential shortages of oil or fluctuations in its cost.
Vice Admiral Philip Cullom declared, “It’s a huge milestone for us.”
“We are in very challenging times
where we really do have to think in pretty innovative ways to look at how we
create energy, how we value energy and how we consume it,” he said. “We need to
challenge the results of the assumptions that are the result of the last six
decades of constant access to cheap, unlimited amounts of fuel,” added Admiral
Cullom.
“Basically, we have treated energy like air, something that’s always
there and that we don’t worry about too much. But the reality is that we do
have to worry about it,” he said.
US experts have found out how to
extract carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas from seawater.
Then, using a catalytic converter,
they transformed them into a fuel by a gas-to-liquids process. They hope the
fuel will not only be able to power ships, but also planes.
That means instead of relying on
tankers, ships will be able to produce fuel at sea. The predicted cost of jet
fuel using the technology is in the range of three to six dollars per gallon,
say experts at the US Naval Research Laboratory, who have already flown a model
airplane with fuel produced from seawater.
