Can Nuclear free us from our dependency on foriegn oil? No!

Can Wind or Solar free us from our dependency on foriegn oil? No!

Can Clean Coal? No.

Can Hydro or Geothermal? No.

There are only 2 things that can free us from foriegn oil. 1 is an energy source, the other is up to the car companies.

First some basic energy facts, that many in the media can't seem to grasp (as well as anyone that says X energy source can free us from foriegn oil). We have two primary uses for energy that are completely independent from each other, electricity (resedential and commercial) and transportation (your car).

Nuclear, Solar, Hydro, Geothermal, Clean Coal, Wind, and all those alternative fuels can currently only be used to generate electricity, which is what we use them for. Oil is used for transportation (primarily, it is also used for other things in industry, but as fuel is where the majority of it goes) and almost none of it goes to electricity. Right now there is no way for me to take power from the dams here in Oregon and use that to power my 97' subaru outback.

So our only options (in regards to freeing ourselves from foriegn oil) is to get our own oil (by drilling) or for our automakers to make cars that run on something other than oil (like electric cars or biofuel cars or whatever). We can use Nuclear, and Solar, and Wind, and all the others but only after the automakers have popped out a bunch of electric cars (that can use the electricity from those power sources).

__________________
Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

I'm no expert, but you might be right.

I'd like to see us go to an all-electric transportation paradigm, as there are plenty of different ways to generate electricity. But, we like loud, fast cars, not weenie little whisper machines, so, until the auto industry either figures out how to make electric cars with longevity, and a "Cool Factor"....OR the government grows a pair and mandates that our energy realities should dictate carmaking, I just don't see anything changing.

__________________
Unfortunately, the Founders did not address the possibility of this nation becoming populated with obnoxious twits.

I'd like to see this movie. This trailer touches upon some possible reasons behind why we still are using oil for transportation instead of electricity or some other alternative: YouTube - Who Killed the Electric Car trailer

__________________


Walter Mondale: "George Bush doesn't have the manhood to apologize." George Bush: "Well, on the manhood thing, I'll put mine up against his any time."

Or we could try abandoning the mass car culture, which itself is inherently incredibly wasteful. Most people don't need such types of transportation, and they didn't have it in the past. Ideally, it would be restricted to key industrial transportation, and if people wanted to travel for pleasure, they could take trains and public transport.

Or stay home.

The problem--the core problem--is the attempt to maintain and extend a dying culture that can't be sustained: the middle class suburban car culture.

__________________

You are forgetting heating....comes from coal, oil, electricity or natural gas. We don't have enough electricity in the current grid (rolling blackouts) and redundancy to have a super reliable system. I stopped setting the clock on my VCR / micr / oven / coffee maker......because of daily blackouts.

Right....and....you can't go electric because there isn't enough power.

There ya go. Europe runs on diesel....so should we. How about a hemp farm in everyone's yard?

__________________
The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish! - Frederick Bastiat

There were problems with the battery and the chimicals in the battery that were big enviromental risks, that is why they were stopped. Which is why, now, car companies are (too slow for my tastes) working at finding safer chemical batteries. The movie looks just for conspiracy with big oil and that it was an inside deal, and la la la. It doesn't look at the actual science that goes on with the ECs of the late 90's. Wikimedia Error
Wikimedia Error
The car used a lead-acid battery, that after 8 hours of charge could move you about 65 miles. Plus, the batteries themselves weighed about 1,000 lb (they were made up of 26 12v lead batteries). Lead batteries can only recharge about 600-650 cycles (though they are listed at 500-800, 600-650 is accurate for about 90% of them), so they would only last about 2 years, meaning that the 26 batteries would have to be replaced every 2 years, or about 1 a month. That is a lot of trash to go into the enviroment, considering how toxic lead is, and it is expensive for the consumer to have to replace those batteries, over $1,000 for all of them.


For Skerlnik, ECs can most definately pack some acceleration. YouTube - Electric car vs Ferrari

__________________
Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

Maybe you haven't looked in the right places, Skerlnik... I think this one is everything you say you want...



Tesla Motors

Just be sure to bring your money... and lots of it...

__________________
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
~~Socrates

My UPDATED Pep Talk For Lefties and Lurkers

That still makes up a very small portion of the use of oil, as much of it now is done by natural gas.

The power is easy enough to increase, we have the tech and the manpower, we just need the go ahead to build solar farms, wind farms, and nuclear powerplants. But they do no good for our oil needs if we are still using oil based cars.

Most cars can't run on diesel. Have you ever put diesel in a gas car?

__________________
Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

Well that is extremely expensive as well.


That won't solve the problem because you are still leaving the monopolies in place. Energy production needs to be decentralized. I am almost of the mind that houses should be 60% self-sufficient. I am shooting for 125% at my place in the woods. I can't do that at my home because of the neighborhood nazis.

Most 'american' cars can't run on diesel. Big difference. I am a motor head dude...I know cars. It is a blessing....and a curse.

here ....check this out

Diesel Cars and Fuel Efficiency

If we could produce hemp...we could make our own diesel. Take a bite out of big oil.

__________________
The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish! - Frederick Bastiat

Times have changed and cars are very much part of our culture, for both business and pleasure. I don't think government should regulate when and where I decide to drive to. You want government regulating your life??

__________________
___________________

A picture is worth a thousand words.
Wish Barack H. Obama good luck on 1/20/2009 (202) 456-1414
Contact the White House
Inauguration Day Events