We could convert all autos to electric, and phase out all fossil fuel use, except for airplanes. As long as humans use airlines for transportation, they will need fuel from oil or something else. Jet fuel from corn?

why? you can have electric prop powered aircraft.

 

at another extreme you could have EHD thruster propelled aircraft

why? you can have electric prop powered aircraft.

 

Energy storage per unit mass is at a premium and batteries are heavy. I'd guess that this is a large impediment for non-hydrocarbon-fueled planes.

What about electrolyzing water for rocket-powered shuttles with re-usable drop-off tanks like the space shuttles? In fact, why can't hydrogen just be used in jet turbine motors?

Jet engines will run on vegetable oils (biofuel), but corn should probably be the last choice for this. SM

Energy storage per unit mass is at a premium and batteries are heavy. I'd guess that this is a large impediment for non-hydrocarbon-fueled planes.

Some guys at arxiv claim to be able to build a device capable of a MW/cm³.

What about electrolyzing water for rocket-powered shuttles with re-usable drop-off tanks like the space shuttles? In fact, why can't hydrogen just be used in jet turbine motors?

 

That's liquified, which is very expensive.

 

Some guys at arxiv claim to be able to build a device capable of a MW/cm³.

 

It's a huge leap from the lab to commercial/industrial production. Not everything can be made reliable enough and not everything can be scaled up.

It is technologically possible to have nuclear powered aircraft. In fact, prototypes of the drive unit have already been manufactured and tested. in 1955!!!!!!! The power plant could either generate electricity to drive propellers/ turbines, OR it can be used to super-heat air and push through ram-jets.

 

Aircraft however, have an annoying habit to land in uncontrolled circumstances - euphemism for CRASH - LOL

 

Can you imagine the public outcry of a couple thousand atomic bombs taking off and landing daily around the world?

 

 

"The big problem with a nuclear-powered airplane is the disaster that would occur if it crashed. Because of this disaster-risk, the initial excitement around the idea has cooled. " quoted from :

 

http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2010/04/05/is-it-possible-to-make-a-nuclear-powered-aircraft/

 

Nice historical link, notice which way the propellers are facing?

That's liquified, which is very expensive.

Maybe so, but what about electrolyzing water within a closed tank so it compresses itself as it electrolyzes? If anyone would know about the effects of increasing pressure on electrolysis of water, I would think it would be you, swansont.

It takes energy to pressurize a gas (the energy being PV), so I suspect pressure would tend to inhibit electrolysis of liquid water — you have to provide enough electrical energy to do the work of compression. I think people that do this start out with water vapor already at high temperature to pressurize it.

It takes energy to pressurize a gas (the energy being PV), so I suspect pressure would tend to inhibit electrolysis of liquid water — you have to provide enough electrical energy to do the work of compression. I think people that do this start out with water vapor already at high temperature to pressurize it.

So if you filled a tank 1/4 full of water and began electrolyzing it, the water would electrolyze slower as the pressure increased inside the tank? What does the pressure affect exactly then? The free electrons in the electrodes or the ability of the water molecules to break apart? Maybe I should start a new thread on this topic because I'm starting to think about all the forces involved with surface tension, phase change, bonding between the atoms, etc.