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A comment on Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum efficiency near 100%. Parent comment

Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by ogre_codes on Saturday December 26, 2020 @02:53PM (#25545940)
> If petroleum didn't already exist we'd be trying to create it.

You are forgetting about the power of NIMBY!

If gasoline weren't already a vital piece of infrastructure, nobody would allow a gas station to be built in their neighborhood. Any time someone tried to build one, the pile of litigation would bury the prospective builder. This is already an issue and our society has largely taken the risks of having (literal) toxic waste at the end of their block.

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Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by viraptor on Saturday December 26, 2020 @07:17PM (#25547586)
NIMBY like that is only a problem in a specific environment. My gas station is 5min drive away, which in practice means out of town. Even bigger cities around here have more industrial/commercial areas. It have the gas stations attached to shopping centres. So I don't think NIMBY would affect the introduction of petrol.
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