Eli5 of we can make lab diamonds on a large scale why can’t we do the same for oil and gas.

Question

Eli5 of we can make lab diamonds on a large scale why can’t we do the same for oil and gas.

In: 166

Answer 1

This seems like a perpetual motion machine type problem. Energy made without expending more energy than it costs to make.

These two consumables diamonds, and fuel aren’t consumed at the same rate. Lab grown diamonds aren’t “consumed” nearly at the rate “fuel” is. So “growing” fuel on a large scale is not financially sustainable.

Ethanol is a fuel “grown” and still is not on the scale of crude.

Another consideration is infrastructure. The plants making fuel are already built and operating. Takes a lot of money to make a new plant to make different fuel.