Alternative Energy And Transportation

[Anarchist Patriot]

I was at the auto show and a saw a bunch of new hybred cars which ran on both electrical and gas. Here is what I was thinking:

1) Use corn fuel instead of petrolium. The United States and Europe pay farmers not to grow food so that there is not an over supply. So why not turn over produced farm crop into petrol?

2) Encourage the use of electrical cars. Above all make them cheap. Offer tax rebates.

3) Instead of gas stations, why not recharge stations. Cars can have removable wet cell batteries which can be easily removed and replaced by new ones. Then the station recharges the old batteries. How does that sound?

I think this is all stuff that could have been done years ago but the fuel companies forced us to buy their gas.

[RebelWithanAK]

Since the 1890's, America's entire industrial base has shifted more and more towards being dominated by the car. Some of the largest fortunes in this country have been dominated by related industries: Rubber, concrete, construction, steel, oil, etc; and as such have found themselves in government roles over and over: WWII contracts, the federal highway system, municipal transit authorities, guaranteed home loans and subsidized mortgages on new construction, minimum civic engineering rules on road widths and length based on the Cold War apocalypse...

...essentially, you're going against an industry so engrained in the American system as to ensure political suicide. It's like going against the NRA - democrats can't even get background checks.

[G. Adams]

If you don't get to work on it now, then you will find America behind the rest of the world in this field. Everyone else is firmly behind moving from fossils to renewables, petrol to hydrogen etc Then these industries will die because there is simply no market left for them, and you will have to catch up to everyone else. Better make the hard decisions now than later.

[Dislogic]

My personal take on this topic is that sooner or later we will have to go to another form of energy the oil. I forget where (i think it was an article in Wired Mag) it stated that at the rate we as a world use oil it will be almos completly diminished in about 100 years. To me this says we better get a move on alternate techs. A good strategy (depending on the type of new fuel source) would be to let the current major oil companies to set up filling stations at there already created gas stations because then the infrastructure is already there and we dont have to build millions of new stations for fuel filling. this would also keep the oil industries happy since it would allow them to keep making money as opposed to being kicked out of the deal because of a new tech. thats just a rough idea though.

[GreatWyrm of Babylon]

The sooner we run out of oil the better, so I have no problem with the current massive use of petro-chemicals. There does not exist enough oil to destroy the ecology at currents rates unless we suddenly start abusing it much worse than we do currently, and the loss of it would have positive effects.

#1 The Middle East would lose that inflated political power of theirs.
#2 We would be forced to find another form of power that would likely encourage space exploration.
#3 We would be forced to increase our scientific understanding in a direction that was not well suited to war, or at least not directly since everything has military application.
#4 The new source would have pressure to be clean, since oil can be so dirty.

BTW: The estimates of oil running out have stayed at 100 years for the last 50 years...

[Dislogic]

i agree totally with you Wyrm...

Also are you implying in your last statement that the estimates are wrong or that we really only have 50 years left? just want some clarification.

[GreatWyrm of Babylon]

I do not imply anything, I am simply pointing out that the estimate has not changed for 50 years. I do not know enough about the subject to venture an opinion about what it means.

[As'rek]

I found a magazine called "Nexus" in my dad's room one time. It explains that we are able to have unlimited energy simply by some "grid" that exists all over the planet.

That probably doesn't make sense, but if I find the article, I'll type it all up (It also has some other articles that are very good for reading).

[Dislogic]

yep your right that doesent make sense since you gave absolutelty no information about "grid"... I would like to here about it though.

[Pooeypants]

Sod it, we'll just wait till the gov't decides to release info and allow the public access to controlled fusion then we can all have near unlimited supplies. :D
kidding aside, if you look at all the research done into hybrid/electric/LPG cars they are funded by Oil companies...yes, they plan to continue their monopoly into the future.

[castille]

If the monopolies know what is good for them, they'll start converting to new sources of power other than petroleum.

Actually....I get the feeling the Japanese will be the first to convert (Japan being largest importer of Middle East oil). Then the Americans will follow when they start losing money.


If things are done right, nobody is going to lose money. Maybe car companies will need to spend some money to convert to new sources of fuel, but christ, whoever does it first is going to rake in billions.


Also, has anyone got ABSOLUTE proof from an UNBIASED SCIENTIFIC website or journal that PROVES the new fuel alternatives are:

-Cheap?
-All research on them completed, and they are ready to be used?

[Pooeypants]

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (Dislogic,)
yep your right that doesent make sense since you gave absolutelty no information about "grid"... I would like to here about it though.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
More likely it is a equivalent to using the earth as a giant dynamo so as it moves through space it will cut through the Sol's magnetic field and hence generate a current. Absolutely ridiculous ofc as the amount of material required it huge and you'd probably want to supercool them.

[darwinist]

I think the idea is brillent. There was always problems, involiing cost or time. But with your 3 ponts in mind. It is a viable solution. What is more. The technology is avialble today.

All you have to do now is lobby your own goverment to get it impleted.

[Pooeypants]

The gov't are influenced by the big corporations, automotives would obviously be one of them and they'll be the ones telling the gov't when we'll be changing to new tech...