Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony
Where are you getting significant amounts of hydrogen cyanide from? It has positive enthalpy of formation. I mean, CH4 + NH3 -> HCN + 3H2 might be a useful reaction, or CO2 + NH3 -> HCN + H2O + O, but you'd be keeping the HCN.
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That's exactly the kind of discussion I was hoping for.
So okay, is it conceivable to run it backward? Your energy harvesters produce CN, and dump it out in the form of HCN or NCCN, and then other organisms take it in and reverse the reaction. Yes, it's toxic, but then oxygen is toxic too; there are organisms that die on exposure to it.