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Woodge · 01-25-2005, 05:21 AM

A very interesting thread - fuel prices will never be as low as they are right now, in terms of oil wars, global warming and the PeakOil scenario, so what will happen when it reaches USD100, USD200 or USD500 a barrel? USD1000??
It makes sense that the super-wealthy will continue to ply the oceans after the wells have run dry, so how will they do it??

Bear in mind that most plastics will also become very expensive as time goes by, as plastics are petro-derivatives. Epoxies, vinylesters, foams, fillers and fibres would become ever-more expensive....................(one would think that hardly possible

)

Will wooden sailing vessels return to being state-of-the-art?? Who knows.........

I think that for a good while biodiesel will offer a decent alternative, there may even be biodiesel powered craft out there already. A rather pleasant alternative, if emissions and sustainability are taken into account.

Hydrogen will never present a real alternative, because hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source. This is because it costs more energy to extract hydrogen from whatever compound it is taken from (usually methane, I believe); than it yields as a fuel.

Photo-voltaic arrays are a good plan for house power, but I doubt their abilities to supply the kind of grunt required for main propulsion........but I would suggest one moves on that quickly, because most PV panels are heavily plastics-dependent and will become more and more costly as oil becomes dearer.

A very interesting option would be a hybrid system, primarily powered by sail and with something like the electric wheel as an auxiliary power plant.

I think DE will be used as a short term solution on a few vessels, but the really interesting stuff will be what the military are planning to do and the spinoff from there to the yacht industry.

It stands to reason that the military will become ever-more nuclear oriented, and so the conservative yachting industry ( perhaps the conservatism is because of the military connections that have for ever linked the two industries??) will almost certainly be able to offer a prospective customer one of two options in the medium term (25 to 50 year) future - sail or nuclear......................

Who would want to be a Chief Eng in 50 years time???

01-25-2005, 05:21 AM	#20
Woodge Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inland South Africa Posts: 3	A very interesting thread - fuel prices will never be as low as they are right now, in terms of oil wars, global warming and the PeakOil scenario, so what will happen when it reaches USD100, USD200 or USD500 a barrel? USD1000?? It makes sense that the super-wealthy will continue to ply the oceans after the wells have run dry, so how will they do it?? Bear in mind that most plastics will also become very expensive as time goes by, as plastics are petro-derivatives. Epoxies, vinylesters, foams, fillers and fibres would become ever-more expensive....................(one would think that hardly possible ) Will wooden sailing vessels return to being state-of-the-art?? Who knows......... I think that for a good while biodiesel will offer a decent alternative, there may even be biodiesel powered craft out there already. A rather pleasant alternative, if emissions and sustainability are taken into account. Hydrogen will never present a real alternative, because hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source. This is because it costs more energy to extract hydrogen from whatever compound it is taken from (usually methane, I believe); than it yields as a fuel. Photo-voltaic arrays are a good plan for house power, but I doubt their abilities to supply the kind of grunt required for main propulsion........but I would suggest one moves on that quickly, because most PV panels are heavily plastics-dependent and will become more and more costly as oil becomes dearer. A very interesting option would be a hybrid system, primarily powered by sail and with something like the electric wheel as an auxiliary power plant. I think DE will be used as a short term solution on a few vessels, but the really interesting stuff will be what the military are planning to do and the spinoff from there to the yacht industry. It stands to reason that the military will become ever-more nuclear oriented, and so the conservative yachting industry ( perhaps the conservatism is because of the military connections that have for ever linked the two industries??) will almost certainly be able to offer a prospective customer one of two options in the medium term (25 to 50 year) future - sail or nuclear...................... Who would want to be a Chief Eng in 50 years time???