– Why can’t we just ‘produce’ gasoline, like synthetically?
In: 439
We can but it is a bit self defeating. The point of gasoline is that it takes little energy to get a lot of energy out of it. Synthetic gasoline is the exact opposite, a lot of energy in to get less energy out. Just because something can be dobe doesn’t mean it is worth doing.
We do.
You don’t think there are gasoline springs where they just pump it up into a tank do you?
Gasoline found at the pump is a complex blend of various hydrocarbon chains within a certain range of densities, with various additives to work better in modern vehicles.
Oil refineries separate out those weights from the raw crude oil, heavier hydrocarbons get sorted to sets of tanks, lighter to other storage. Depending on market conditions then the heavier chains are chemically reacted to split them into shorter chains and the shorter/lighter chains are catalytically combined into longer chains to make whatever the market is looking for. Fuels, oils, liquified natural gas, whatwever.
That’s a VAST oversimplification but you get the general idea.
It’s not economically viable these days but in WW2 when all Germany had available was natural gas they converted it into diesel fuel.
You can convert coal to natural gas if you prefer, same problem, costs more than plain old regular natural gas from a well so we generally don’t bother.
We do.
You don’t think there are gasoline springs where they just pump it up into a tank do you?
Gasoline found at the pump is a complex blend of various hydrocarbon chains within a certain range of densities, with various additives to work better in modern vehicles.
Oil refineries separate out those weights from the raw crude oil, heavier hydrocarbons get sorted to sets of tanks, lighter to other storage. Depending on market conditions then the heavier chains are chemically reacted to split them into shorter chains and the shorter/lighter chains are catalytically combined into longer chains to make whatever the market is looking for. Fuels, oils, liquified natural gas, whatwever.
That’s a VAST oversimplification but you get the general idea.
It’s not economically viable these days but in WW2 when all Germany had available was natural gas they converted it into diesel fuel.
You can convert coal to natural gas if you prefer, same problem, costs more than plain old regular natural gas from a well so we generally don’t bother.
We do.
You don’t think there are gasoline springs where they just pump it up into a tank do you?
Gasoline found at the pump is a complex blend of various hydrocarbon chains within a certain range of densities, with various additives to work better in modern vehicles.
Oil refineries separate out those weights from the raw crude oil, heavier hydrocarbons get sorted to sets of tanks, lighter to other storage. Depending on market conditions then the heavier chains are chemically reacted to split them into shorter chains and the shorter/lighter chains are catalytically combined into longer chains to make whatever the market is looking for. Fuels, oils, liquified natural gas, whatwever.
That’s a VAST oversimplification but you get the general idea.
It’s not economically viable these days but in WW2 when all Germany had available was natural gas they converted it into diesel fuel.
You can convert coal to natural gas if you prefer, same problem, costs more than plain old regular natural gas from a well so we generally don’t bother.
Complete and clear answer? I don’t think you can actually “ELI5” to this kind of question. But here’s
the closest to a simple explanation in my head anyway.
The group(s) that would hate for what you said to be reality are far more powerful than the other side.
Fuel can be made from Hemp seed, Hemp repairs soils damaged by over fertilization and doesn’t need either fertilizer nor insecticide, so it’s a win win for the environment as it’s also storing carbon while converting CO2 into Oxygen. The synthetic way of doing this still creates a negative effect on CO2.
Complete and clear answer? I don’t think you can actually “ELI5” to this kind of question. But here’s
the closest to a simple explanation in my head anyway.
The group(s) that would hate for what you said to be reality are far more powerful than the other side.
Can you liquify methane to produce gas? Farts are natural for many species
We can, but it is pricier.
When you dig it out of the ground, you just pay to move it from one place to another (ignore refining for now).
When you make it from scratch, you have to pay for the energy stored inside and the materials, and then move it from one place to another.
Can you liquify methane to produce gas? Farts are natural for many species
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