Wolsky, Alan

Bryant, Lynwood, "Advances in Superconducting Magnets", Scientific American, Vol. 216, No. 3. March 1967, Page 114 Wolsky, Alan M., Giese, Robert F., and Daniels, Edward J., "The New Super Conductors Prospects for Applications", Scientific American, Vol. 260, No. 2 February 1989, Page 60... 

Wolsky, Alan M. Giese, Robert F. and Daniels, Edward). (1989). The New Superconductors Prospects for Applications. Scientific American 260(2) 60-69. 

Alan Wolsky, Argonne National Laboratory This is a very simple question. You spoke in terms of CO2 concentrations, but I know that if you paint the window with three coats of black paint, the second and third coats aren t nearly as efficacious as the first coat. In a simple theory, the effect might be an exponential relationship. What is the first coat of CO2 What s the concentration of CO2 beyond which it doesn t really matter whether you add more CO2 to the atmosphere ... 

Alan Wolsky Let me illustrate my question by asking another and giving a speculative answer. We know water is a greenhouse gas. We know water is given off when you bum methane. So why aren t people upset by increasing the amount of water in the atmosphere I speculate that the correct answer is that there is already so much water in the atmosphere, that the likely anthropogenic increment doesn t... 

Alan Wolsky Does it have an order-of-magnitude answer ... 

Alan Wolsky, Argonne National Laboratory In the units that come to my mind, roughly 3 quads per year are burned under distillation columns. This is the principal component of energy consumption and concomitant CO2 generation from the production of organic chemicals, including plastics. 

Alan Wolsky Perhaps, the work of Harold Hotelling is in the minds of those trained in economics. His work concerned the desired rate of capital accumulation or nonrenewable resource depreciation. As I recall, his answer was the market interest rate. Consistent with his Une of thought, it seems to me the comparison is between the wealth that you would otherwise pass onto future generations and the amount of money you spend now on passing on the same atmospheric conditions, and the interest rate has little... 

Alan Wolsky So, should we spend 10 per ton or 50 per ton this year ... 

Alan Wolsky, Argonne National Laboratory I recollect estimating that using today s technology and today s electricity prices, hydrogen from electrolysis of water was 11 per million British thermal units. That is expensive. I am not aware of any nuclear advocate who thinks that electricity from nukes is cheaper than electricity from gas turbines. 

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