bearnard95 wrote:Queso wrote:It's a false economy. Why would you waste energy to convert something to a fuel when it was created from a fuel anyway? There are HUGE inefficiencies in doing so, just use proven fuels in the first place because they are the most efficient we have available and it's better for the environment because fuel is not wasted in converting it to fuel.
It's not like the rocket industry is using a large percentage of the world's fuel supply anyway.
We have tons and tons of plastic waste all around the globe. Why don`t we just remake it into something useful and this plastic waste can be used with the purpose?
Because...
Queso wrote:It's a false economy. Why would you waste energy to convert something to a fuel when it was created from a fuel anyway? There are HUGE inefficiencies in doing so, just use proven fuels in the first place because they are the most efficient we have available and it's better for the environment because fuel is not wasted in converting it to fuel.
It's not like the rocket industry is using a large percentage of the world's fuel supply anyway.
It would cost more financially and use MORE energy to convert it than to use virgin fuels. You can't argue with physics, any time you change a form of energy from one to another, you lose energy.
A good example of this is wind turbines. It takes a LOT of petroleum-based energy to build, construct, create infrastructure for, and support them, but over their life expectancy they never come close to making enough power to pay for themselves without government subsidies. If the same amount was spent on infrastructure for natural gas powered generating plants, they would last decades longer and generally are profitable within 3-5 years.
The same situation occurs in this example, deriving the fuels contained in the plastics will require more energy than will be extracted from them. Period. You're better off using that energy to fuel the rocket directly.
Oh yeah, it makes great press and it FEELS good to think we're making the planet better by getting rid of the evil plastics that are choking the oceans, but seriously, it's better for the planet overall to simply gather them and dispose of them in an efficient way.
Why do you suppose we're not all jetting around the globe on used cooking oil-powered airliners? Because even on a large scale, it still is not financially viable to do so. Petroleum is (and will continue to be) the way to go, and for a good reason. Per BTU/$, it is simply the most efficient fuel. And I've heard for over 40 years that we're running out, yet new sources of it and new ways to extract it are developed every single day. There's enough petroleum fuel available for at least your grandkid's kids.
Slider... <sniff, sniff>... you stink.