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<DIV>I am not much of a physical scientist, but since I got involved with
studying petroleum depletion, and its consequences for society, I have come to a
new appreciation for the "laws of thermodynamics." For those whose
acquaintance with these fundamentals is hazy, I suggest <A
href="http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae280.cfm">http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae280.cfm</A> ,
which includes this "popular" explanation of the 3 laws of thermodynamics:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1. You can't win. There is no such thing as a free lunch.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2. You can't break even.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>3. You can't get out of the game.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Read the link for a more complete explanation, the point for evaluating the
consequences of peak oil is the second law -- which among other things means
that energy changes always lose energy. If you want 1000 btus of work out
of a hydrogen fuel cell, you must put more than 1000 btus of work into the fuel
cell. This is no way out of this.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It is true for oil too, BUT we make an apparent profit on oil (and gas and
coal) because the original energy investment was ancient sunlight.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We all know technological enthusiasts who believe that the "Deus Ex
Machina" (God of the Machine) will obediently provide some gee-whiz
technological miracle to get us out of our problem, but that isn't going to
happen because it isn't physically possible to get past the 2nd law of
thermodynamics. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Robert Waldrop, OKC</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
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<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jsomdecerff@austin.rr.com
href="mailto:jsomdecerff@austin.rr.com">John SomdeCerff</A> </DIV>It always
takes more energy to split water than you get back out by burning it.
Even if you could split the water at 100% efficiency, your engine will get a
third of that at most out to the wheels. So you get less than 33 watts
out for every 100 you put in.<BR>There are no free rides in thermodynamics,
you always get less out than you put in.<BR><BR>John Somdecerff<BR>Degree in
Mechanical Engineering<BR>Registered PE in Oklahoma (in Control
Systems)<BR>(Former "car guy" before realizing biking is the way to
go.)<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>