Flounder

Andy
I get 17-20 MPG on the BIG TRUCK, and I have NO concerns about blowing up if I get rear ended...of course, I was a travelling time bomb riding around in my friends pinto in HS. And yes, I'll probably buy a hybrid when my kid takes my truck for his first car in a few years; by then I hope the technology will be greater and the price lower!

The Duke

I agree alternative fuels are great, but there is yet to be a real strong explanation as to how these fuels will replace our current easily extractable oil resources...Yes, shales, tar-sands, and deep oil is great, but the ability to extract these resources in a timely fashion and bring them on-line has done nothing for the cost of oil. The world is full of oil. We will never extract every drop from the earth. However, we have been quite successful at extracting the easy stuff and so far, it has been mostly the easy stuff that has fueled the world's economy. We're all moving ahead w/ confidence based on the assumption that technology and innovation will prevail and everything will work out in the end. I like to believe this, but I must say, I'm skeptical. Virtually all of the oil-producing nations worldwide have peaked in terms of oil production. As of the 1950's, the U.S. was the world's largest exporter of oil. We peaked in 1970 or so, the rest is history. The only countries yet to peak are in the middle-east...that's it. No amount of technology and innovation can change all that.

The fundamental is that the entire global economy, whether we like it or not, is fueled by oil. Alternatives have been available for quite some time now, yet I don't see a dent being made in either oil price or future consumption estimates. We're sitting here putting all this faith in renewables, but not asking the hard questions as to how? We just assume it's going to happen. But that doesn't actually make it so. Hydrogen ain't happening. Hybrids are great, but a short-term solution at best...hybrids only delay the inevitable. Nuclear is great, but you would have to build 10,000 of the world's largest nuclear reactors to replace fossil fuels...we don't have that much uranium, secondly, what will come of all that nuclear waste? Bio-fuels are the greatest croc I've ever heard of, they will not even make a dent in fossil fuel consumption. Solar, fundamentally, is the best way to go...it uses the biggest nuclear reactor God ever gave us: the Sun. However, we'd have to build a solar farm the size of California to power the earth @ today's energy consumption levels...not gonna happen.

Nothing will ever come about again quite like the fossil fuels. The most amazing thing to consider is that during all of human history, we happened to live through and experience life during the fossil fuel age. It's such a small sliver in human history, yet we got to experience its incredible advantages first-hand. It's a sad thing to consider it coming to an end, yet it reminds me of how lucky we have all been. It is what it is.

Flounder

Well said Duke
Doesn't the argument boil down to do what you can/feed your conscience. When the masses cry for relief from rising oil costs and the need exists for alternative sources, isn't that when American ingenuity and our great capitalistic society kick in to far exceed our expectations? Agreed, one source cannot replace fossil fuels, but multiple sources, developed over time, may reduce the demand enough to allow other technologies to develop and allow production of the remaining fossil fuels. Baby steps. Besides, isn't the best storage tank for American oil under American soil? The quicker we reduce our dependence on overseas oil, by any means, the better.

mwa1

if ground transportation used natural gas the oil problem would be solved imo

fosters

They make a pretty convincing case

http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html

waflyboy

Until natural gas reserves become difficult to extract. This is already happening in many US fields. We already import almost 20% of our natural gas to meet demand in the US.

capoetc

It seems that we (in the U.S.) frequently think that if we change our behavior, then we can solve a global issue like rising oil costs. Even if we replace every family SUV with a donkey cart, that won't change the fact that oil consumption is growing exponentially in places like China and India.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't do what we can do, but the problem is much bigger than just convincing Americans to be more efficient.

DYNASTY HVY

I,ll say it again ..These so called Bio Fuels need to be AFFORDABLE TO THE MASSES! and now they are not and I doubt they ever will be .
If bio is the same as fuel in cost then whats the point?

KC10 FATboy

My 2 cents;

The sad reality is, as other countries evolved without wide use of the automobile and adapted in becoming efficient over the last couple of decades, we have not. We are going to have to make great changes to the we way live, the things we have, and how we build/manage our cities and homes -- so that we can become a more efficient society.

For example, Geo-thermal heat. It's real, it works everywhere, and its one of a few true renewable energy sources on earth. Every house and building should be using it. The amount of money and energy saved in heating/cooling buildings would be tremendous. Then, the electricity saved could be used to power plug-in types of cars / hybrids. Simply switching to plug-in cars isn't the answer since we would then create a larger demand for the sources of electrical power at power stations (coal, nuclear energy, etc.).

Solar is ok however, depending on where you live, the amount of light varies. Although every little bit helps, solar has one growing problem. The chemical (I forget) which is used in solar panels to convert the light to energy is in limited supplies. Unless this shortage problem is solved, solar power can't be considerd to be a true renweable energy source. The sun has already heated the earth -- using geo-thermal heat would bring us the same end result without having to produce these expensive panels.

If prices of oil remain high or get even higher, we will slowly adapt our way of life and move on. However, if the price of oil goes down, Americans will not change and we will become even more susceptible to future oil price fluctuations.

-Fatty

fosters

We keep it in the family so to speak. Instead of almost half a trillion dollars yearly (at current prices) going outside the country to buy oil, what if we keep that here in the states? More jobs for farmers, illegals, businesses to support the new infrastructure, it's a domino effect. It would do amazing things for our economy, and strengthen the nation due to not depending on other, less friendly countries for the driving force behind our nation.