How green?

It's still a fossil fuel. Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's the best thing out there. I suppose it burns cleaner than gasoline, but it still contributes CO2 to the atmosphere.

 

Propane is "God's own gas". -Hank Hill

 

double post

 

It's cleaner than coal, by a long shot. Interestingly, hydrogen for fuel cells is mostly made from natural gas, but the fuel cell proponents don't talk about that much. A lot of natural gas is currently wasted, burned off from oil wells as a byproduct because it's difficult to transport. (If by cargo ship has to cooled and liquified to LNG). However, with the rising prices, it's being captured and used more and more, pipelines are being built for this purpose, etc.

It seems however, that this thread is in the wrong forum entirely. (Should be environmental forum, I'd say, not hybrid news.)

 

I'd prefer that H2 be made by electrolysis of water. That puts the carbon footprint on the electric power plants - which are mosty hydroelectric and nuclear in my part of the country (AFAIK).

 

Methane (natural gas) is 100% clean burning. CH4 + 2(O2) --> CO2 + 2(H2O)

The problem is that it still releases CO2, which contributes to "the greenhouse effect," known as global warming. Plus, CO2 is still a fossil fuel, and therefore a limited resource. Solar, hydroelectric, wind, ocean wave power are unlimited resources.

 

Just for fun, I'll be a smart-nice person.

I assume you meant CH4 is a fossil fuel. CO2 is a product of burning fossil fuels.

While fossil fuels are very limited, on a geological time scale, the other energy sources mentioned are also limited on an astrological time scale. The energy comes form somewhere, and isn't infinite / unlimited.

Solar, wind and hydroelectric will only last a few more billion years as long the sun keeps shining. Wave power and tidal sources are due to the orbit of the moon and Earth spinning and weather (solar ultimately). The tides are actually slowly robbing kinetic energy away from the Earth's spin and moon's orbit - eventually the moon will leave orbit and the Earth will continue to slow until that happens.

Moot point, since I doubt humans will last that long - most mammallian species only go about 1 million years. I'll be pleasantly surprised if we could last that long.

 

It's vastly better than coal: with gas turbines you can get about 4 times as much electricity out of it for each unit of CO2 emitted. It's not nearly as good as nuclear, but the power plants can be built more quickly.

 

Your assumption is correct. I meant to say that CH4 is a fossil fuel.

I had never really thought of this, but you are right: if the sun and moon pull on the oceans, and the sea floor is not flat, plus continents being steric hindrance, then yea, the tides DO enact an opposing force to the earth's rotation. Interesting. Well ... the Earth has been here for 4.5Billion years, and it is still spinning ... gee, I wonder how fast the earth was spinning 4 Billion years ago.

I'm not sure about you, but I am planning to still be alive in "a few more billion years," at least that's what my financial planner's interest calculations seem to assume. (Lol. just kidding. I manage my own financial planning and I'm doing great). Have you seen the History Channel DVD "How The Earth Was Made?" Every species, era, echelon that has ever existed on Earth has had one purpose... to alter the Earth in some way to prepare it for the next phase. Whether you believe in a God or not, you can clearly see from the history of Earth, that the human race as we know it will inevitably become extinct (it is possible a few humans could survive somewhere on Earth, but it won't be easy). Our purpose will have been completed: to release the fossil fuels back into the atmosphere. Once that is complete, our purpose has been achieved, and we will be destroyed. No, I do not believe everything I read or see ... but this DVD is very interesting as it stimulates the mind to think.

 

Warning freaky thinking above.