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Comment Threads

• Elderly Cynic commented on Books I will not write: BIGGLES!!
  No. A significant number of ships were (and are, on smaller scales) powered by wind, with an auxiliary motor. The problem is that you have to put up with slower and more erratic trip times, which is perfectly feasible but precisely the converse to the way we have been going....
• Heteromeles commented on Books I will not write: BIGGLES!!
  Yeah, I was only pointing out that the https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/24/2112238/-In-the-field-a-50-kW-solar-tower-reactor-is-fed-only-CO2-and-water-and-produces-jet-fuel under discussion probably wouldn't work scaled down to fit on a ship because there's no room for all the mirrors. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to move the ships about. This just doesn't seem to be one of them Sorry, missed the lead-in. I quite agree. Others who point out that trapping drone power on stationary solar farms and shipping it from there aren't wrong either. The odd thing is that, once we got away from muscle power, we explored the most energy-efficient forms of travel (boat, rail) first,...
• Bellinghman commented on Books I will not write: BIGGLES!!
  The odd thing is that, once we got away from muscle power, we explored the most energy-efficient forms of travel (boat, rail) first Odd? Those existed as muscle powered transport (canal barges, the first tramways) because they were viable with low power inputs. The efficiency was needed to get round that long before the first motors were substituted for the oxen and horses....
• JohnS commented on Books I will not write: BIGGLES!!
  Heteromeles @ 2007: Others who point out that trapping drone power on stationary solar farms and shipping it from there aren't wrong either. Yeah, my only quibble was the suggestion of putting it right up near the front lines (assuming it's the kind of war that has "front lines") to save on logistics costs won't really work. Putting it within range of the other guy's artillery just makes it a high priority target that's easy to take out. Put it back beyond the range of the other guy's weapons and truck the fuel up to the front....
• Scott Sanford commented on Books I will not write: BIGGLES!!
  Put it back beyond the range of the other guy's weapons and truck the fuel up to the front. Current reports out of Ukraine suggest that 200km behind the lines does not count as 'beyond the range of the other guy." Reports out of Afghanistan in the last two decades suggest that 2000km isn't a guarantee either, especially if the other side has a staging area. This looks like a harder problem in the 21st century than in the 20th, and much harder than in the 19th....