[LMB] Wood, etc.

[Dorian E. Gray]

James replied to me...

> On Fri, 1 Jun 2007, Dorian E. Gray wrote:
>
>> Kevin said...
>>
>>> Hmm. I was just thinking about people who would have temporary postings 
>>> to
>>> Kline Station or Beta Colony, when it would be appallingly expensive to
>>> ship
>>> one's furniture there and back.
>>
>> This is probably another reason why wood is such a luxury item in places
>> like Beta Colony - not only has it to be imported, but it's probably very
>> expensive to import because it's heavy and bulky.
>
>  Energy seems to be cheap as beans in that universe (consider the
> delta vees we see). It's odd nobody has glommed onto the slow frieght
> niche.

Well, okay, maybe the weight thing isn't an issue - but the bulkiness surely 
is; your raw wood or wooden items are going to take up a *lot* more cargo 
space than, say, an equivalent value of micro-chips or even fabric items. 
And your plastic (say) equivalent of whateveritis is presumably produced at 
home, so it's going to be loads cheaper than buying an imported wooden one.

(And how do we get the wood from the surface of the planet up to the freight 
space-ships in orbit?  Even if energy for interstellar travel is cheap, 
surely short shuttle runs out of the gravity well are rather less so?)

Until the sky falls on our heads...

Dorian.
--
Dorian E. Gray
israfel at eircom.net
http://dorianegray.livejournal.com

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
- Napoleon Bonaparte