... I couldn't see any way of getting around the thermodynamics that some form of bio-coal process is the most direct conversion of biomass to combustible fuel, and therefore if done efficiently the process with the best potential EROI, but then I'm not an engineer.

And there is also the question of what is the most effective co-generation with the exhaust gas, after catalytic conversion of pollutants. If that is a useful input into a synthetic hydrocarbon process, that might be very appealing, since the bio-coal itself is such an appealing complement to sustainable "use them or lose them" renewable sources of electricity.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

... cool. After taking the local mailboat between Grenada and Cariacou, and the inter-island mailboat between Grenada and St. Vincent, with the wonderful seas over the channel between Grenada and Cariacou (Cariacou is really the southernmost of the Grenadines, even if it is politically a dependency of Grenada) that the locals call "Kick 'em Jenny", I always thought that a Ground Effect plane would be a more effective way of providing a bus service between the islands.

And that was just from pictures and articles in the press. When I went looking for an article on the concept and stumbled on that PR clip, I knew I had my link.

Of course, in terms of the Midnight Thought on the Arc of the Sun (8 April 08), the main relevance in Africa is for express transport along major rivers and lakes, focusing the express travel on the same route that the much slower barges take and actually connecting the cities and central river ports of the countryside together, rather than having the cities connected by airports and the countryside simply as fly-over country.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.