Posted on 04/17/2006 1:32:48 PM PDT by SLB
That's why I drive an old Eagle Summit for my commute. Gets 36-40 mpg. Yeah, it's got absolutely no amenities (I paid more for my lawnmower than I paid for it), but it runs and saves me over a hundred bucks a month on my commute.
If the enviro-weenies would let us drill for oil, we wouldn't even need to rely on outside oil.
Oh, we don't have enough oil domestically for all our demand (although I do agree more domestic drilling would help), but we have coal out the wazoo and gasification is viable at these prices.
http://www.tomvalentine.com/html/karrick2.html
The process was perfected by Lewis C. Karrick, an oil shale technologist at the U.S. Bureau of Mines in the 1920s. LTC is a pyrolysis process that involves heating coal, shale, lignite, or any other carbonaceous material, including garbage) to about 800o F. in the absence of oxygen. Oil is thus distilled from the material, rather than burning as it would if oxygen were present. After treatment by the Karrick process, a ton of coal will yield up to a barrel of oil, 3000 cu. ft. of rich fuel gas, and 1500 lb. of solid smokeless char (semi-coke). The economics of the process are such that the oil is obtained for free!
The smokeless char is an excellent substitute for coal in utility boilers, and for coking coal in steel smelters. It yields more heat than raw coal, and it can be converted to water gas. That gas can be converted to oil by the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis-process. The coal gas produced by Karrick-LTC yields more BTUs than natural gas because it contains a greater amount of combined carbon, and there is less dilution of the combustion gases with water vapor. The phenolic wastes are used by the chemical industry as feedstock for working up into plastics, etc.. The process produces no pollutants other than carbon dioxide.
See links above for rest of the story! And it's in the United States!
And thanks to the anti-nuke crowd we are way too dependant on natural gas.
Nuclear power plants to give cheap energy needed for the coal gasification process.
What about all the tar-sands up in Canada? I heard that there is enough to run all of our energy needs for the next 100 years.
I'm not too worries about peak oil. I am worried that the rate of increase in demand will be far greater than any production increases. If that is the case, peak oil will be moot.
We have been in one for quite some time. Between a government that does not give a damn about the future of the country or a comprehensive energy policy that satisfies our energy needs, and the outright greed of the oil companies (are we down to just two now?) --- the industrial/government complex is doing quite a job on us. To say nothing of the cost of heating fuels...
Energy crisis -- hell yes.
1) They are already being exploited heavily, and
2) It's in Canada, whereas our coal is here, and we have more coal than any other country in the world. By a long shot.
"I think we are probably beyond the point where we can avoid the consequences of peaking. I think what we need to do now is to simply minimize the consequences of peaking. I don't think we have a prayer of avoiding the consequences of peaking."
I think you just like to say the word "peaking".
The law of supply and demand will continue to function, so long as the government lets it.
If the price of gasoline rises we will each make our individual decisions how to cope with it. Those decisions will add up to a far better set of outcomes than anything government action could provide.
Of course the paid off bastards in our House and Senate could give a flip. Ie: No drilling for oil, no incentive for R and D for Alternative fuels etc. Bought and paid for by the energy companies.
Gawd, I hope so. Otherwise all this gloom and doom handwringing and whining will be for naught. All it takes is one mullah farting to goose up the price of oil these days. Sheesh.
AND.....if they quit all the SPECIAL configurations for gasoline for different areas......gas would be a lot cheaper.....sheesh....it's like ordering a cup of coffee vs a double tall, soy mocha with half the chocolate....the second COSTS LOTS MORE cause it's a SPECIAL ORDER!
Energy crises, hell yes!
Yes and the congress has had 30 years to help prevent the on coming on slot of a depression. In their world of government pay all, they loose touch with the American people, and the struggles they must bare every day to put food on the table.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.