They’re rapidly being converted into generators to meet A.I.’s insatiable demand for electricity. Environmentalists call it a step backward.

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  • cecilkorik@lemmy.ca
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    12 hours ago

    Since jet fuel is a very similar grade of fuel to diesel, is this where all the diesel is going and why diesel prices are astronomical now? I know the wars are also not helping, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is contributing too.

    • lorty@lemmy.ml
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      9 hours ago

      Diesel is expensive because of the war in the middle east. Anything else is a rounding error next to that.

    • giant_smeeg@feddit.uk
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      10 hours ago

      They don’t run on jetfuel once converted, either natural gas or diesel. Diesel costs a fortune compared to natural gas in a gas turbine.

      I work for a gas turbine OEM and almost exclusively our turbines run on gas with diesel as a backup fuel supply in case of a supply side shortage.

      However in this market who knows, they probably can tanker in diesel ASAP rather than waiting for natural gas infrastructure.

      • LordGimp@fedinsfw.app
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        8 hours ago

        I interviewed for a company working on this project. Their goal is still jet fuel but with greatly increased efficiency by replacing components traditionally driven by the shaft (such as the intake and compressor) with electrically driven systems that in turn take load off of the generator. The net increase in efficiency more than balances out the cost of the electrically driven components, thus increasing the efficiency of the entire system.

        Feels like an engineering wet dream, but i was willing to take their money and tell them how smart they sounded lol predictably, the project is waiting on more funding

    • toiletobserver@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Contributing, yes. In a meaningful way to prices, no. Both the supply and transportation (boats, routes, pipes) of fuel have been reduced.