[Gasification] off topic discussion

[Tom Miles]

Jeff,

Many people are interested in gasification. We have more than 800 people on
the discussion list. We have gasifier owners, operators, managers and
developers, investigators and consultants (technical and economic). Some are
potential users. Others are simply interested. Fewer are actively engaged in
the design, fabrication or operation of gasifiers at any scale. Of those
actively engaged in gasification many are not in a position at all to share
experience they have gained through companies or organizations they work
for. The rest of us necessarily make judgments about what information we can
or want to exchange or share with the list. Principles are easily shared.
Details are often proprietary. Nobody is obliged to reply to any post. Doug
Williams and others have been quite generous when they have taken the time
to devote to questions on the list. And those of you building small systems
have also been quite open. But you can't expect all your questions to be
answered.

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s we often observed that only 5% of
subscribers actively posted to public lists. The number was slightly higher
on technical and scientific/academic lists. We probably have 40 subscribers
posting to the gasification list today or about 5%. It has often been higher
in the past.       

The recent off topic and personal disputes on the list have turned a lot of
subscribers off to reading the list messages. Some people who have made
valuable contributions in the past have left in disgust. There are times
when I don't blame them. If we can get list participants to behave
themselves and stay on gasification then we can have a more productive and
rewarding discussion. List participants have to be responsible for their own
behavior. We're not going waste our time herding unruly adults. We spend
hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars each year just hosting the list
and website. 

Opportunities for gasification are emerging and we should all be focused on
taking advantage of them. 

Tom Miles   

>Dear Toby,

>I have noticed that Jim M and I (and others) have wrote a lot of
>gasification e-mails that never get a reply. The one exception was when
>you replied to my grate design. There seems to be a lack of interest in
>this subject. I wonder why.

>Jeff