gerkletoss

gerkletoss t1_j2wy7n7 wrote

Reply to comment by Sariel007 in The promise of batteries that come from trees by Sariel007

Kinda seems like greenwashing. Graphite for anodes is currently produced from petroleum coke and coal tar pitch, but really any carbon will do with some slight tweaking of the process. I'm not convinced that felling trees to avoid using the waste byproducts of fossil fuels for something useful is actually helping the environment, but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.

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gerkletoss t1_j2epuhd wrote

Reply to comment by Rare-Joke in Israeli pens plan for belt of solar panels on moon to power oxygen production. With NASA mulling nuclear reactor to generate energy, Ben Gurion University expert says his idea would produce same amount of power with six times less mass. by Zee2A

The astronauts are near the reactor. They can potentially service it in shirt sleeves.

A meltdown is nearly impossible with current designs, but it would definitely halt ISRU operations until a new reactor could be sent.

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gerkletoss t1_j2el583 wrote

Reply to comment by sadetheruiner in Israeli pens plan for belt of solar panels on moon to power oxygen production. With NASA mulling nuclear reactor to generate energy, Ben Gurion University expert says his idea would produce same amount of power with six times less mass. by Zee2A

Yeah but no way in hell is it six times less mass when you factor in all the equipment required to actually install the panels in a >300 km circumference ring and wire them up to a polar base. Then there's the usefulness of the reactor's waste heat for melting ice.

And good lucking servicing this distributed network of solar panels.

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gerkletoss t1_j21d5bx wrote

Reply to comment by HelmyJune in UIUC Researchers propose a new way to get fresh water from seawater, without the disadvantages of traditional desalination. They say that a vertical “capture surface” that is 210 m wide and 100 m tall, could extract enough vapor floating above warm oceans to supply 500,000 people with freshwater by lughnasadh

Boiling and aerosols are not the only way for solids to end up in the air. For one thing, things that begin as aerosols can turn into vapor and leave airborne dust behind.

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gerkletoss t1_j211wsd wrote

Reply to comment by HelmyJune in UIUC Researchers propose a new way to get fresh water from seawater, without the disadvantages of traditional desalination. They say that a vertical “capture surface” that is 210 m wide and 100 m tall, could extract enough vapor floating above warm oceans to supply 500,000 people with freshwater by lughnasadh

"Salt fog" is a somewhat colloquial term. Literal fog is not required for significant salt exposure.

And aerosols are not necessarily easy to filter out.

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gerkletoss t1_j20p2ki wrote

Reply to comment by Surur in UIUC Researchers propose a new way to get fresh water from seawater, without the disadvantages of traditional desalination. They say that a vertical “capture surface” that is 210 m wide and 100 m tall, could extract enough vapor floating above warm oceans to supply 500,000 people with freshwater by lughnasadh

Do they not know about salt fog? The water vapor over the ocean is less saline than the ocean, but still saline enough to really fuck with machines that aren't designed for maritime applications.

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