As I was rereading my last post, something hit me. When we say things like "hydrogen, a virtually unlimited source of power," we are missing a very important point. When viewed on geological timescales, neither hydrogen nor fossil fuels represent a source of energy. Instead, they are means by which solar energy is stored.

In the case of fossil fuels, photosynthetic organisms, over the course of millions of years, have sequestered carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere into more complex carbon molecules with oxygen as a byproduct. This reaction is endothermic with the sun providing the necessary energy to power it.

Hydrogen, in its gaseous or elemental form is not very stable. There are many natural processes that will gladly grab up free hydrogen atoms and, in the process, release energy. By using nuclear or solar power to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, we are able to "store" that energy for later use.

When it comes down to it, there are only a small number of energy sources that are available to us; solar power, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion and geothermal. Wind and wave power are really just indirect sources of solar energy. Most other things that we might think of as sources of energy are more appropriately thought of as means of energy storage. Ultimately, none of these energy sources is infinite, but for the purposes of human beings for thousands of generations to come, solar power is the natural, long term energy source of choice.

The real problem with fossil fuels is that they represent solar energy that was trapped over millions of years and is not renewable. Of course, we could wait a few million years for the process to repeat itself, but Wall Street isn't really prepared to wait that long for a return on their investments.

So, the problems that need to be addressed are how solar power can be captured, stored, transported and used. Energy can be stored using hydrogen more efficiently than almost any other means known to science. Couple that with the ubiquity of hydrogen and you have a sustainable means of storing energy. But, before hydrogen can be used, the means of capturing solar energy, transporting and using hydrogen based energy all need to be standardized and put into mass production. 5:13:24 PM    comment []  

It would be ignorant the think that part of the motivation for moving against Saddam Hussein isn't based on oil. America is a drug addict and our cars and SUV's are the drug. That habit requires oil and lots of it. As I've mentioned before [Aug 19], shortage of fossil fuels is a problem that is looming in our near future. You can interpret our previous conflict as well as our current one with Iraq as a harbinger of the oil motivated conflicts to come.

Increasing efficiencies in our use of fuel combined with developing domestic sources for energy may offset our reliance on the Middle East's oil supplies, but that is a short term solution that only partially delays the inevitable crunch. The only real solution is to break our dependence on oil altogether. There are a number of potential replacements for oil out there to meet our energy needs, but the one that makes the most sense is hydrogen.

The cost of oil dependence has never been so clear. What had long been largely an environmental issue has suddenly become a deadly serious strategic concern. Oil is an indulgence we can no longer afford, not just because it will run out or turn the planet into a sauna, but because it inexorably leads to global conflict. Enough. What we need is a massive, Apollo-scale effort to unlock the potential of hydrogen, a virtually unlimited source of power. The technology is at a tipping point. Terrorism provides political urgency. Consumers are ready for an alternative. From Detroit to Dallas, even the oil establishment is primed for change. We put a man on the moon in a decade; we can achieve energy independence just as fast [Wired].

A lot of money is going to be thrown at the Iraq "problem" when the real problem is the oil money that created this problem in the first place. In the 1920's, Prohibition created an economic environment that catapulted people like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano from petty street thugs to wealthy underworld powerhouses. The nation's love of alcohol, combined with its scarcity created a climate that shot these men to the top. Our nation's love of oil, combined with its scarcity has shot Saddam Hussein to the top. 4:10:56 PM    comment []  

It is a common misperception, partially caused by poor coverage in the media, that 64-bit computing results in a 2x performance improvement over 32-bit. If you really want to know what 64-bit has in store for you, check out this introdution to 64-bit computing [ArsTechnica]. 3:50:14 PM    comment []  

By stimulating a rat's hippocampus over and over with every possible input and recording the results, a group in California has been able to exactly duplicate its behavior on a computer chip [ArsTechnica]. Apparently, the hippocampus is the simplest of brain structures and provides the ideal vehicle to test whether or not a prosthetic hippocampus is feasible. 12:17:28 PM    comment []