[sergey1973]

Anything that could end the dependency on the Middle East Jihadist oil is worthy of consideration.

[sergey1973]

Energy Independence PING ! I'd really love to see the day (and hopefully soon) when the USA is no longer dependent on Jihadist Middle East Oil.

Material for another "I have a Dream Speech" -:))))

[Lucky9teen]

We just need to drill on our own soil in our own land and use our OWN resources. AND, we need to start using alternative sources as well. It's just beyond me why it's not already being done. It would end a lot more than dependency on the Middle East for oil!!!

[Lady Jag]

But DemoGnats would rather bitch about sending our kids to Iraq than have us dig in Alaska or go for any oil on our land.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Nothing I've read convinces me that ethanol is net energy positive. And you are mining the topsoil as you convert the incoming solar energy.

But, at current oil prices, we might find Colorado oil shale, coal gasification, and (already in production) Canadian tar sands able to change our dependence. The problem is that the Arabs will still have the cheap marginal production, and can turn supply up and down to twiddle prices and make these other sources less economic.

[samm1148]

Just forget it. I've went on this tirade before: We can't have our own oil cuz drillin' in the wildlife would upset them bars and deers. Can't have wind power; might shave a wing off a pigeon. Can't have nuclear cuz don't ya know that will ruin your teefs? Can't have coal cuz of the acid rain; aint you seen the evidence on that in the movie Robocop?

Just forget it and prepare to consign yourself to squatting in a damp cave. You could warm your self with a fire but forget that; some enviro nazi will have a regulation on burning wood soon enough.

[GBA]

Ethanol from corn? This is the solution? It's liable to cause as many problems as it solves. Corn production is very energy intensive to farm and does a number on the soil. It doesn't have as much energy as gasoline, so power and mileage suffer.

Let us drill our own oil fields, especially off of Florida before the Chinese take it all. I'm sure we'll do less damage to the environment than the Chicoms will and they will drill for the Cubans.

As the prices rise, market forces will adjust demand and new technologies will follow. Ethanol should be a part of the energy equation, along with new nukes, solar, wind, etc. But let's also open up the areas currently off limits to drilling.

[EVO X]

Anything that could end the dependency on the Middle East Jihadist oil is worthy of consideration.

It is going to have to wait a few years. We have quite a few relatively new low mileage vehicles on the road.

[dakine]

Nah, let's use all their oil first...

[bbenton]

check this out. http://www.angellabsllc.com/mytengine.html

This type of technology could help cut down our consumption.

[dynachrome]

Is it coincidence that Lugar has a lot of corn in his state?

[rambo316]

It's called xsnx.ob (XSUNX is the companies' name)

it is an over the counter stock but it low right now and it is great time to get into it. Of coarse do your DD but it is going to be a good one some day. Have a great weekend all.

[FightThePower!]

Not that I'm anti war, but for the cost of this war the U nited States could have been energy independent by now.

Let's say the war has cost $200 billion a year for the past 5 years. That's $1 trillion. What if the United States spent the money building enough nuclear plants with which to power coal gasification plants, and to power oil shale and tar sands extraction?

[stuckinloozeeana]

I have a brother who is a corn farmer.He is looking forward to the very high protein residue that is left after ethanol production for cattle feed.This is one thing that will help make it profitable/cost effective without losing corn as a feed.

[hinckley buzzard]

Richard Lugar the Senator from Indiana, in the midst of the corn belt. I don't know that alcohol is the silver bullet here. I would like some of these einsteins to consider that with increases in solar/wind, nuclear, and advanced coal technology for power generation, huge amounts of natural gas currently being burned in power plants would be freed up, and natural gas makes vehicles run fine.

[JmyBryan]

Anytime I see "oil addiction" I know there is little to follow. Pure victim, nanny state, stupid labeling.

We use oil. We are not addicted to it. An addiction means we are not capable of making choices. Americans are better able to make choices than any other people in the world.

[mysterio]

Anything that could end the dependency on the Middle East Jihadist oil is worthy of consideration.

Cosign.

[backhoe]

I have covered, ( Or, as Seamole calls it...-backhoe's pseudoblog--...-more- ) pseudo-blogged, this subject for years-- My tongue-in-cheek collection of energy-related links:

Sticker Shock-$3 a gallon gas? Click the picture:

And kindly note, and note well-- the first reply to this post ( when gas was $1.45 a gallon ) was snarky... so, who's laughing now?

Vest-Pocket Summary:

1- drill for gas and oil like crazy- onshore, offshore, and in Alaska
2- go nuclear for power
3- convert stationary plants to clean coal technology or Next-Gen Nuclear
4- slash taxes and regulations like crazy

Our consumer-based economy is driven by and dependent upon readily-available, reliable energy-- choke that off, and we'll all be back to using one rotary dial phone in the dining room, watching one TV in the living room, and driving one car per family-- probably a Hudson Hornet or a Nash Metropolitan...

We need to

1) end the nonsensical ban on offshore drilling off California and Florida--read and weep:
Castro Plans to Drill 45 Miles from US Shores, But We Can't

2) build a lot of next-generation nuclear power plants, not just for electricity, but for any process requiring heat, power, or steam.
And if we replaced our existing nuclear plants with this one... there would be significant benefits.

3) end Jimmy Carter's idiotic ban on recycling nuclear waste, and reprocess the stuff rather than fighting over where to bury it. Europe has done this for decades.-- what to do with spent nuclear fuel? Answer here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1468321/posts?page=50#50  Hattip: Mike (former Navy Nuclear Engineer)

4) use the 300-500 years worth of coal we have on our own land, using the new clean-coal technology.
-Clean Coal Centre--

5) and finally, there's nothing wrong with conservation, we should all practice it- but you can't conserve your way out of a shortage. You have to produce more. Nor is there anything wrong with "alternative" energy sources- except they don't supply the vast ( not to mention readily-available and affordable ) amounts of power we need at a price competitive to more conventional sources.

Then again, there is this to ponder:

Energy from the Restless Sea

Energy From the Gulf Stream
http://www.energy.gatech.edu/presentations/mhoover.pdf

More:
Tidal energy farm proposed for Vineyard Sound

We do need to get serious about this before we get strangled by a bunch of petty thieves and dictators who don't like us much.

[Uncledave]

Renewable Energy Ping

Please Freep Mail me if you'd like on/off

[Myrddin]

If we used 3 times as much arable land as we are already cultivating for food to produce corn for ethanol, it might help a little. The problem is that we have to eat. It's not a viable solution. It does provide a valuable diversion for corn that would be otherwise wasted.

We use oil to produce fertilizer, plastics and a long list of other necessities. Gasoline and diesel are just a part of the oil consumption.