Guess solar isn't so good at industrial scale, eh? They should go build some fission reactors instead.
Yeah wow you sure showed those people trying to power rockets with solar power.
Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
21–30 of 203 posts
Re: Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
#22People are being critical of SpaceX for this, but it makes perfect sense for their business model.
As climate change disrupts life on earth there will be greater demand for SpaceX's and Tesla's products and services. It is only rational Elon Musk would seek to accelerate climate change - it would be foolish of him to try and stop it. Every ton of carbon in the atmosphere will eventually become money in his pocket.
Re: Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
How much carbon does one year of fires in California produce? For all the regulations on reducing usage, the wise politicians enabled conditions through neglect of forest care and trimming to allow fires so large, the plume could be seen from space and darkened skies as far north as Seattle. The point here is, what is good for the climate isn’t the purview of these simplistic views of climate science. Drilling a well…
Carbon from forest fires is part of the short-term carbon cycle because it came out of the atmosphere quite recently. It is fundamentally different from carbon found underground that was deposited before humans existed.
[Edit]: You’re a coward if you downvote to suppress an opinion without having the decency to engage in debate.
Jesus. . You actually think carbon released from burning wood is exempt from the whole “making the planet unlivable” effect?
Repeat that to yourself while you watch the skies turn red. That’s a ridiculous statement to make.
Re: Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also don’t see what all the fuss is about here. SpaceX making a well to power the human colonization of mars is a drop in the bucket vs all the other wells in the state.
The big deal is that the well is seemingly exempt from the regulation all other wells go through. It doesn't matter what Musk does with the methane, what matters is that he's at best exploiting loopholes and at worst operating extrajudicially. Also, SpaceX "powering the human colonization of Mars" is a pretty huge sip of the Kool Aid there. Given the founder's track record, it's about as believable as "fully self-dri…
Given his track record? Who has a better one?
Re: Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
How much carbon does one year of fires in California produce? For all the regulations on reducing usage, the wise politicians enabled conditions through neglect of forest care and trimming to allow fires so large, the plume could be seen from space and darkened skies as far north as Seattle. The point here is, what is good for the climate isn’t the purview of these simplistic views of climate science. Drilling a well…
Filed under non sequitur.
There are four paragraphs in the comment. If you have the patience to read through to at least the third , you’d see the comparison.
It’s amazing to see the standard of debate in a thread on HN slip so bad that people don’t have conversations anymore, but walk in with the “know it all” mentality to downvote .
Re: Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
How could it be that SpaceX is answerable only to the FAA and is immune to the EPA? Why is it on the FAA to regulate a well? I think the author of the article should work on including a bit more exposition and a bit less snark (if he actually intents to persuade people, anyway.) Also I'm a bit confused why people are surprised the methane for these rockets will come from a well. Did people really think Elon Musk was…
I also don’t see what all the fuss is about here. SpaceX making a well to power the human colonization of mars is a drop in the bucket vs all the other wells in the state.
I mean SpaceX is trying to colonize mars, if it doesn't manage to pull off this risky gambit we might as well make our only livable planet unlivable in the process. Seems like a good way to operate. At least we will have some cool space tech too.
Re: Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Carbon from forest fires is part of the short-term carbon cycle because it came out of the atmosphere quite recently. It is fundamentally different from carbon found underground that was deposited before humans existed.
[Edit]: You’re a coward if you downvote to suppress an opinion without having the decency to engage in debate. Jesus. . You actually think carbon released from burning wood is exempt from the whole “making the planet unlivable” effect? Repeat that to yourself while you watch the skies turn red. That’s a ridiculous statement to make.
Forest fires are part of forests' natural life cycles and are, in general, carbon neutral. Forests fixate atmospheric carbon and release it through cellular respiration, decomposition and fires. That atmospheric carbon is then fixated again via vegetative growth.
The issue is burning hydrocarbons we pump out of the ground, because doing so interrupts the equilibrium between atmospheric carbon and natural carbon sinks like forests in the carbon cycle.
Re: Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
How could it be that SpaceX is answerable only to the FAA and is immune to the EPA? Why is it on the FAA to regulate a well? I think the author of the article should work on including a bit more exposition and a bit less snark (if he actually intents to persuade people, anyway.) Also I'm a bit confused why people are surprised the methane for these rockets will come from a well. Did people really think Elon Musk was…
I also don’t see what all the fuss is about here. SpaceX making a well to power the human colonization of mars is a drop in the bucket vs all the other wells in the state.
Ah yes, the "The ends justify the means" move.
Re: Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also don’t see what all the fuss is about here. SpaceX making a well to power the human colonization of mars is a drop in the bucket vs all the other wells in the state.
I mean SpaceX is trying to colonize mars, if it doesn't manage to pull off this risky gambit we might as well make our only livable planet unlivable in the process. Seems like a good way to operate. At least we will have some cool space tech too.
Spacex drilling a well to fuel its rocket is not going to have any measurable effect on climate change. And an "unlivable" planet is essentially a hypothetical black swan event, extremely low probably worst case event. This is hysteria.
Re: Engineer demos how SpaceX is building fracked well gas plant
#30The context here seems to be that SpaceX is in fact building an old boring fracked well gas plant in federally protected land, but because they cursorily mention rockets and call it a "methane processing thingamajig" instead of what it plain is, the FAA who has no experience doing environmental review but is involved because rockets is all too happy to just nod it through.
How could it be that SpaceX is answerable only to the FAA and is immune to the EPA? Why is it on the FAA to regulate a well? I think the author of the article should work on including a bit more exposition and a bit less snark (if he actually intents to persuade people, anyway.) Also I'm a bit confused why people are surprised the methane for these rockets will come from a well. Did people really think Elon Musk was…
This is from 2016: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/blog/eagle-ford-shale...
It suggests the FAA’s role is consideration of launch failure and safety on the proposed plant. FERC also evaluated the proposal. FERC doesn’t really do environmental reviews.
Here is a document from April which at the time said EPA had no comment on the draft environmental impact statement as part of an interagency process: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-03/SAR%20-%2...
In short, it looks as if all the usual players are engaged here. While I suspect the FAA has considered the impact of Oil and gas infrastructure on flight paths and airports, I would guess their involvement in this kind of process is an extra layer, not a circumvention.