Japanese idea of using satellite for split water on the ground

Lets see if I have it? All poor countries are filled with lazy people who
would like to be rich. All rich countries are filled with people who work
hard and deserve to be rich. Japan has been dropped as a model, maybe
because their economy isn't doing too well, or maybe because of what they
did to industrialize and cause WWII. The US has not indicated it will join
Kyoto and Japan has put off ratifying it until October, and so may not join,
but never mind, Kyoto will stop the burning of petroleum. George Bush
apparently lost money on oil in Enron and so now is for hydrogen, and that
means our future is in hydrogen. This line is not worth reading, I this is
the last one for me. Jay Huebner

o n the ground

In a message dated Fri, 11 Jan 2002 1:58:33 PM Eastern Standard Time,
"Huebner, Jay" jhuebn@... writes:

> cheaper. If the price of oil goes down because SPS/Hydrogen, or
what-ever,
> is used, "environmentally insensitive" industries and other folks will
still
> burn oil.

Not if the Kyoto treaty is enforced.

Most coutnries of the world signed up to the Kyoto protocol except the USA.

But now that the USA is throwing its weight behind the hydrogen economy,
then it appears for the first time that the days of fossil fuels may be
truly numbered.

Yes, even though fossil fuels will always be the cheapest source of energy,
the nations of the world are heading in the direction of simply not burning
them any more.

The writing is now firmly on the wall for fossil fuels.
Of course, there is stil time for people to change their minds, and I do not
have a crystal ball, but the public positions of the USA as recently stated
are very interesting.

>Oil is produced in the middle east for $ 0.25 per barrel. Those
> folks will sell it because they don't have much else to sell. No matter
how

Not if nobody will buy the stuff.

> wonderful you think Japan is, you won't be able to get many other
countries
> to do what they did, which is not really going that well now anyway. They

Nonsense. Japan is not unique, many European and Pacific rim countries have
achieved similar economic miracles.

Let's face it, some of the nations living off their oil "fat" might actually
work for a living - gasp !

> have been in recession for a decade. Most of us can not even get our own
> kids to get a BS, MS or Ph.D. in engineering, let alone influence folks in

Speak for yourself. My family did it, so can yours.
And so can anybody else's. It can take drastic measures, like doing
unpleasant work in unpleasant places for unpleasant people in unpleasant
conditions.

The first thing you have to figure out is that the world does not owe you a
living, then take it from there.

> other countries to do it. I don't think I missed your threads, Charles, I
> just don't share your view of the world. Coal is still mined and burned,
> including in Jacksonville by the JEA. We get our electricity (from coal)
> near the lowest rate in the US, at $ 68/MWH. We won't likely give it up
> until another scheme is proven to be cheaper,

You may well be forced to give it up as part of a national policy linked to
international treaties.

> including paying for building
> the new generating plants, which are not cheap. And in many places on the

Many things are not cheap. But governments will pay for them (and charge
us taxes for it of course) if they believe it is the right thing to do.

It appears that a majority of governments (and now including practically all
the western countries) are now seriously looking at eliminating fossil fuels
and using more expensive alternatives, e.g. hydrogen eocnomy.

> Earth, wood and cow dung are still major fuels. Many in the non-western
> world do not want to be westernized, even if you think it is wonderful.

Do not confuse materialism and westernism.

If you are telling me that many countries do not share the western value
system, that is clearly true. No problem there, I am all in favor of human
diversity.

But if you are telling me that most of the world does not want to enjoy a
western material standard of living, then that is clearly false.

If they want to live in poverty that is fine with me,
but so that that does not appear to be the case.

Cheers,

Charles R.