[HN Gopher] Dude, Where's My Fuel?
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       Dude, Where's My Fuel?
        
       Author : rmcginnis
       Score  : 18 points
       Date   : 2022-05-04 18:53 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.prometheusfuels.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.prometheusfuels.com)
        
       | Manuel_D wrote:
       | This seems like a plan that's contingent on the moonshot of
       | extremely cheap and scalable carbon capture. So far, effective
       | carbon capture has remained elusive. "Carbon offsets" really
       | means signing papers where a country says "we would have cut down
       | this forest, but we won't now that you paid us." Actually taking
       | carbon out of the atmosphere and burying it is the stuff of
       | prototypes.
        
         | ncmncm wrote:
         | Maybe, _just maybe_ , they understand the actual business they
         | are actually in better than you do?
        
       | tedmcory77 wrote:
       | I'm really rooting for your company Rob. Your lean approach to
       | execution and keeping focused on what matters really give me hope
       | you'll be successful.
        
       | johngalt wrote:
       | Prometheus should be laser focused on being first to market in
       | commercial quantities. There are people who want carbon neutral
       | fuels today even if they are more expensive than fossil fuels.
       | Capture that entire market with v1 of the process even if it's
       | $10/gallon. Take everything learned to make v2 at $7/gallon and
       | v3 at $5/gallon etc...
       | 
       | The goal of $3/gallon is pushing Prometheus down the rabbit hole.
       | Waiting for the perfect factory, with the manufacturing methods,
       | to produce the perfect machine that will immediately go into
       | large scale production, and operate on an automated basis. I
       | expect the company aiming at 10-7-5-3 will reach 3 there faster
       | than the company aiming at 3 to start out with.
        
         | nyokodo wrote:
         | > Capture that entire market with v1 of the process even if
         | it's $10/gallon. Take everything learned to make v2 at
         | $7/gallon and v3 at $5/gallon etc...
         | 
         | Due to Russian oil drying up volatile high prices globally will
         | be the norm until technology like this comes into play and at
         | least puts a ceiling on the price. So, the real question is how
         | quickly and how cheaply can they reach 4 million barrels per
         | day of production?
        
       | usrn wrote:
       | All I get is a loading animation.
        
         | ncmncm wrote:
         | Me too. If I turn on some Javascript, I get just a logo and a
         | hamburger symbol on a black screen. If I click on the hamburger
         | symbol, it turns into a big "X" still on a black screen.
        
       | sdkgjajggaf wrote:
       | This page is completely unreadable due to the lagging custom
       | scrolling they added. Just make a regular web page please.
        
       | PaulHoule wrote:
       | I wouldn't call Fischer-Tropsch a "high temperature" process at
       | least compared to other processes that run at an oil refinery. A
       | big problem with it (unless you're making methane) is that high
       | temperatures break hydrocarbons down.
       | 
       | Low temperature processes run at a low rate so you have a huge
       | machine and large quantities of catalysts tied up to make just a
       | trickle of fuel.
       | 
       | Nice to see the F-T process bypassed because the high capital
       | cost makes it the last refuge of the desperate.
        
       | adultSwim wrote:
       | Can someone explain how this is carbon neutral? It sounds like it
       | produces regular gas, but using electricity instead of extracting
       | petroleum. Wouldn't burning the gas produced still be a problem?
        
         | gnulinux wrote:
         | They catch CO2 from air. They make fuel only from this and
         | electricity. Then once someone burns the fuel, it produces the
         | same or less CO2.
        
         | chrisbigelow wrote:
         | They acquire the carbon using direct air capture[1]
         | 
         | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_Fuels#:~:text=The%
         | 2....
        
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       (page generated 2022-05-04 23:01 UTC)