I'm not fond of the idea...

...unless you could use them to hide from radar and targetting.

/me imagines sitting in a small nebula with a quad rail.

That would definately be a benefit of having sensors obscured by ion storms and nebulas. The denser and/or more ionized the gas, the more sensors will be obscured. It also brings in the possibility of sensor upgrades (although there should never be one that beats the highest level of distortion). Hiding in ion storms and nebulas would be a viable tactic. It would also become a hideout for pirates.

Hehe, your lack of mining experience shows, Professor... The simplicity of the current mining system (automatically separating materials and only ever having full crates) is part of the beauty of it. I say stay with the current system: multiple bars, full crates, auto-separated contents.
Also, although it is clear that, realistically, scoops should find gas everywhere, I do not think that should be the case - not as fun. There can be no good contest over a resource if it really is everywhere.

I'm fine with it not being able to work everywhere, it's probably easier to implement that way. I'd rather it did, though, because realism is what pulled me to this game anyway, and what will get me back (ok, really what will get me back is if I had money, and my apartment complex didn't have a lame firewall that blocks everything). There would still be good contest over resources, since collecting gas outside a nebula or ion storm would take so long that it's economically unprofitable, and would only be done under extreme circumstances, like if your station is under seige, and you can't get to the nebula. Mining in normal space would be a desperate measure and only profitable when supplies are so low that profit for hydrogen/helium is super profitable.

Short of that, just making it not work in normal space is a start, or compromise, or something.

[EDIT]: My mining license level is zero, by the way. :)