Those who follow my work know that my specific focus has been the implications of renewable ammonia production on fertilization as well as its use as a fuel and as a catalyst for the biological sequestration of carbon. This culminated in the now biannual release of what we’re calling the National Renewable Ammonia Architecture.
The amount of research, analysis, and writing that led to this work was considerable, but much remains to be done before this strategy is accepted as a possible ‘silver BB’ to be used in our battle against the tri-plague of economic collapse, fossil fuel depletion, and climate change.
How, where, when, and why validation is done are extremely important issues that don’t get nearly enough attention.
Dmitry Orlov’s fine little book, Reinventing Collapse paints a disturbing picture of the parallels between the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and the United States today. Of the many things in this work that caught my eye, the warning against the age of boondoggles was most interesting.
Post collapse the Russian government tried many, many things to regain their footing. Some were blatantly foolish, while most were blatant stripping of state assets by those with connections. We face not just the economic issues the former Soviet Union had but also global energy and global environmental concerns; we don’t have the time or the maneuvering room for any more mistakes.
Accepting the fact that we need to validate things before we execute, how might this be done?
We could debate this endlessly, and doing so under the guise of ‘research’, the funding thereof being one way industries that benefit from the status quo distract the best and brightest from changing anything. As I’ve said above, the hour grows late ...
Another possibility, and it’s one I am pushing for with the renewable ammonia/ammonia as a fuel axis, is the creation of a Threshold 21 model that will explore the benefits of a strategic move towards renewable ammonia in all three of its potential roles.
Such modeling, typically done for developing nations that are going to implement policy changes, has not often been brought to developed countries, but there has been some work done for North America.
Most important among the models is the one funded by the Association for the Study of Peak Oil – the T21 North America model. This project, lead by rail electrification guru Alan Drake demonstrates that the electrification of the U.S. STRACNET rail lines will reduce oil use by 10% and cause our economy to grow 25% due to the associated development.
I spoke with Alan as I was writing the previous paragraph and he confirms that they’re going to be looking to add additional inputs and outputs to the model, thusly improving the overall accuracy.
I very much want to see the same level of discipline applied to the concepts of renewable ammonia, ammonia as a fuel, and ammonia as a catalyst for biological sequestration of carbon, but this doesn’t come for free. The ASPO turned over the proceeds from their 2007 conference in order to fund what work has been done. Alan, a Katrina survivor who has remained in New Orleans providing shelter to construction workers in exchange for space in his home, has worked gratis on this whole project, and Dr. Herren and the rest of the crew at the Millennium Institute have gone above and beyond the call of duty getting the model ready.
I feel like these things are coming for renewable ammonia, but it moves too slowly for my liking. I was grateful for the chance to appear at the Ammonia Fuel Network conference last fall. I’ve got an invite to do a policy brief for the Illinois Institute of Rural Affairs, and I’m hoping to get a little more traction at Netroots Nation in a few weeks. Dr. Holbrook from the Ammonia Fuel Network has strongly suggested I clean up the National Renewable Ammonia Architecture for publication in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. I’m open to any other suggestions as to where, when, and how I can move the ball down the field.
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