[Gasification] The Enigma of Gasification

[Greg Manning]

 Greetings Doug, and list.

Doug, as always, you continue to astound me with your knowledge, and
insight, I only wish I could put pen to paper, as you do.


Happy New Year to all.


Greg Manning
  -----Original Message-----
  From: gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org]On Behalf Of
doug.williams
  Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2011 4:28 AM
  To: gasification at bioenergylists.org
  Subject: [Gasification] The Enigma of Gasification


  Hi Colleagues,

  I address this to no one in particular, as it records for those interested
in the dynamics of making things happen, the futility of assuming we are
movers and shakers of our time. I meant what I said, " we are only
discovering what other people forgot, or chose not to do"!

  There is nothing profound left to say about what we do, unless we are
pumping up the public illusions of our companies (or own) expertise, but
just one fib or silly statement, will see you swing from a petard of your
own making. It's not about gas making of any definition, but I personally
find it alarming to see so much simplistic expectation from those who write
to me, using basic gasification with air, as an opportunity to get their
snout into the public $$ trough. Am I a pricker of delusional balloons, or
just another failed wana-be, out to spoil others aspirations?

  When I start thinking like this, I read what I wrote to this forum back in
October 1997, in the German Reports, which you can read again on the
Fluidyne Archive www.fluidynenz.250x.com   A year later 1998, I pulled the
plug on Fluidyne Gasification as a manufacturing company, finding the graft
and corruption throughout Asia, not my cup of tea, and the time in Europe
wasted.  Trying to work with every company busting their brains to qualify
for EU funding, isn't healthy.  From my perspective, I wasted 23 years
facilitating other peoples dreams, and won the Booby prize of gasification
experience, plus another 12 years of waiting for energy experts predictions
to come true.

  Alex English I remember, appealed to me to save a record of what had been
done, so the Fluidyne Archive came into being. It's not meant to be a
history of Fluidyne, but showing what we had done,and a place to put photos
from our files on topics that are discussed exclusively on this Gasification
List.  I don't belong to, or read any other forum discussing gasification,
so I am not exactly trying to convert the World to my way of thinking, as
some might suggest.

  Remember I said that I was an Indentured Boilermaker?  I dug out my
Certification Papers this morning (1st January 2011), and read again this
archaic document, where- by my father signed away five years of my life, to
be apprenticed to a man who would be responsible for teaching me the art of
working with steel. I muse at the fact that you can be awarded an Honour
Doctorate or Degree, or even buy yourself any sort of academic
qualifications on-line, but no way can you become an Honour Boilermaker.  My
first tool box is still under the house, filled with memories and black
tools, now seeming so crude compared to their shiny modern counterparts that
break when put to do real work. Similar to people really, but I slightly
digress.

  Gasification for me, is a survival technology. We live in a complex World
of change, both political and environmentally, where overnight, we can see
all we take for granted, vanish in an instant. This doesn't motivate me to
save anyone, but the lights will never go out in my house, thanks to
gasified engine powered generation (but only when the grid goes down). The
ability to survive sudden change, has cost attached, but if considered as an
Insurance Policy, gasified power generation has to be a serious contender
for emergency power if nothing else.

  What then, is there to offer future generations about gasification? Teach
them to do it better, faster, and cleaner, cheaper, is that the best on
offer for our expertise acquired at such great expense of time and money?
As a gas, is it only considered to be chemical building blocks, and the
waste char an in-thing, to be seen stuffed in the ground for carbon credits?
Can gasification open a pathway to facilitate new sciences? Hmmm.

  My obligations to gasification continue for another two years, in which
time, my associates will have completed a very demanding five year
apprenticeship in the black art of gasification. Will their efforts be ready
for 2015 when the next oil crunch comes, or is the carrot on the stick
always going to remain the same? Who really cares anyway?
  I'd hate to think that the time will come when gasifier commercials
implore us to buy now, but wait, ring now and get a second free,etc,etc, but
I jest don't I?

  My free holiday time has now been consumed, and reality rules again
limiting my time. My other life awaits, and I must return to being a lurker
again on this Forum.

  Keep it friendly Team.

  Doug Williams.

































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