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One thing to keep in mind is that while commercial and consumer users of electricity generally require steady, high-quality, alternating current, electrolysis can be done with low-quality, intermittent direct current of the sort that can be generated with low-tech electrostatic generators.

A whole new parallel infrastructure of low-quality electricity generation could be built without too much effort for electrolysis of iron oxide, powered by low-grade heat and motion sources that currently can't be effectively utilized.




Same applies to production of ammonia, which has numerous uses other than fuel--right at the point of production, if that happens to be under a wind turbine placed at the edge of a farmer's field.

Waste oxygen is a byproduct of ammonia production from water and air. You really want to use pure oxygen to burn your iron, to avoid producing NOx.




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