[net.columbia] Burning Coal and other atrocities

twh (05/12/83)

A couple weeks ago, there was some talk of NASA 
making their own hydrogen via a coal burning facility
to be built in Florida.

Have they considered making the hydrogen using a
solar powered machine ?

In the May 1983 issue of "High Technology" magazine,
there is an article, "Hydrogen Energy Creeps Forward."

The article talks about a BTL ( Murray Hill ) scientist,
Adam Heller, and his attempts to do this. Its seems his system
is the most efficient to date. NASA and Texas Instruments also have a
system for doing this.

Question: Has Bell Labs, or Texas Instruments talked with
	NASA or the DOE about bringing these test versions into a 
	workable, practical, usable system ?

If not,  why? If so, when ? Where ? By who ?

It would be a shame for a group like NASA to stoop to
BURNING COAL to produce hydrogen when they have developed 
systems that did not have nearly as much ground work already
done.

Florida would be an ideal place and NASA an ideal
developer or CO-developer of such a system.

While I'm at it, is there anything being done to bring
nuclear fusion into a practical reality as well.

Maybe we should just wait for Japan, Germany or Russia to
do it first.

Anyone with any enlightening information please respond.

Timothy Hitchcock
Michigan Bell
23500 N.W. Hwy. Rm. W130
Southfield MI 48075

(313) 424-1027

sb1!mb2b!twh