The Oil “Market:” Time to Get off This Rollercoaster

Townhall.com ^ | September 22, 2014 | Ken Blackwell

[Persevero]

“getting to work in an electric car” always annoys me. Where does the electricity come from? That is what is key.

[thackney]

What’s wrong with a coal powered car?

[556x45]

‘For a daily commute, perhaps this means getting to work in an electric car. ‘

LOL....the electric types just cant get over themselves. Somehow b/c its electric does it get magical energy from somewhere other than a fossil fuel source? In almost all cases no, it doesnt. I see no advantage for most people to use an electric vehicle. Yet, it keep getting shoved in our faces like its a cure all. Its tiresome in the extreme.

[556x45]

Other than being non-PC nothing...either via gassification or steam. In fact steam power might be kind of nifty at least in a retro sort of way.

[rottndog]

Gasoline is now, and will be for the foreseeable future, the most efficient form of transportation energy.

Nothing is as green as a gallon of gasoline!!!

[buffyt]

Range of 50 miles, husband drives a bit farther than that to get to Houston! I guess he could WALK!~ LOL

[thackney]

To strengthen our energy security, domestic production must be accompanied by a policy that would break the monopoly oil holds over our mobility.

What idea do you think is being promoted here? What "policy" is being suggested?

[factoryrat]

Coal isn't politically correct, and neither is oil. The overwhelming majority of
Americans have no idea how an internal combustion engine operates, let alone any sort of grasp of chemistry or thermodynamics for that matter. They rely on demagogues and pretty tales from environmental front groups for all of their opinions, because they are too intellectually lazy and/or stupid to think and research for themselves. In other words, the classic liberal socialist troll/useful idiot.

[taxcontrol]

As a nation, we need to ramp up:

- Domestic oil production
- NG to oil production
- Coal to oil production
- algae to bio-diesel production

[thackney]

Just for clarification, we don’t turn NatGas into oil or coal into oil. There are Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) and Coal-to-Liquid technologies that create liquid fuel like diesel, kerosene, etc.

I agree all benefit our nation, if economic. I don’t want to see the government doing any part of it, besides cutting needless red tape.

[John O]

WOW. I just had a “Willie Green Happy Choo Choo Thread” flashback!

[job]

That would be way better than my old diesel car I had back in the 80s. It was an engine designed by BMW but put in a Lincoln, and when you floored the accelerator, it was like laying a smoke screen down from the batmobile. Pure, thick unadulterated black smoke, that could temporarily cover the car behind you.

Now a coal fired car, that would be even better. Chug, Chug, Chug, that smoke just pouring out at max capacity.

I’m all in.

[RegulatorCountry]

I remember those, they only put them in the Mark. The faux spare tire hump was always covered in soot.

[Go_Raiders]

The thing we need to ramp up is nuclear. Especially Thorium and pebble bed technologies. It is by far the safest, least expensive technology with a virtually limitless source of fuel.

[Persevero]

“What’s wrong with a coal powered car?”

I’d be ok with it.

[Persevero]

Coal is, I think, a finite resource. I suspect that oil is not.

[taxcontrol]

I agree but I was under the impression that Thorium reactors were not yet ready. Has that changed?

[taxcontrol]

I was using “oil” to mean petroleum and petroleum derivative products. Shell has recently announced that they have a patent for converting NG to base oil.

http://www.shell.us/aboutshell/us-media-center/news-and-press-releases/2014/shell-creates-motor-oil-from-natural-gas.html

And Pennzoil has a synthetic made from NG (http://pureplus.pennzoil.com/).

[thackney]

Understood. You may notice in your link Shell calls it natural-gas-to-liquids. Pennzoil is owned by Shell, they purchased it in 2002.