angelfj said:
A must see is "The End of Suburbia" a documentary on peak oil. The gist of this film:
1. As a society we must change many wasteful habits.
2. Our children and grandchildren will most likely be living in cities.
3. What now is considered suburbia will ultimately become a deserted wasteland.
Also some interesting insight into the our government's pre-occupation with the ME. And, the fact that we will be compeating with Russia and China and perhaps other nuclear powers for the remaining oil.
I've seen some of it. It is difficult for me to respond without getting political (but I'll try) because I believe that such documentaries come from a very specific ideological (and political) point of view. Let's please not get into politics in this thread...mmmmk?
These types of movies play on peoples' worst fears and, as such, are great propaganda tools in my considered opinion. Let me just say that I don't buy into the doom-and-gloom, sky-is-falling premise of these types of movies. I'm more of an optimist and I have more faith in the ingenuity of people to solve our long-term energy problems.
Sure, we may run out of oil some day, but we are nowhere near that point yet and in the meantime research into alternatives is progressing fast and furious. So, someday in the distant future we may gradually transition to alternative fuels, but in the meantime the world runs on oil. We are the only country that I'm aware of that places ridiculous, and in my opinion self-destructive, restrictions on the tapping of our own available resources. Funny you should mention Russia - Putin has
reduced the tax burden on oil companies to spur exploration. In the meantime, the US does everything possible to limit exploration or access to known sources for reasons that I completely disagree with and feel are based on faulty reasoning. And speaking of our own resources, there are vast quantities locked away in places like
North Dakota that are now feasible to tap due to newer technology. These fields were always there, put they were not always feasible to access due to the cost and ROI at the time. In my humble opinion, we should provide serious incentives for tapping these areas, just as Putin has done in Russia.
Research should continue into alternatives, but in the meantime, if we were to announce tomorrow that we are going to drill in ANWR, off our coasts, and tap the vast reserves where it is currently prohibited - and do so in an environmentally conscientious manner, you would see the price of crude drop overnight as the speculators sell to cut their losses. And speaking of oil prices, they fell by over $4/barrel yesterday and fell again
overnight on the New York Mercantile Exchange. If we did some of what I propose above, we would see further drops. The current prices are artificially high and the bubble will burst sooner or later. It's the Free Market and it works.
Basil
Hey Guest!
) ANYWAY, South Africa has been using it for years and the Air Force would like to try it also. It seems the biggest obstacles are polution, which can be fixed, and investment in convertion plants. The article says synthetic fuel COULD be made much cheaper than crude based fuel IF investments in gassification plants were made. Might not be the Holy Grail, but a start.
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
