[balch3]

drilling for more oil only delays the inevitable reckoning. Say ANWR has oil beyond the wildest geological expectations. It just puts more oil on the market to be bid up by China and India, and in ten years or whatever, we’re right back where we are now. Where’s the next big technology that gets us off oil altogether? I see news about little projects here and there, but no big breakthrough. We need another Manhattan Project, and I don’t see it happening. The Democrats want to tax the oil companies. The Republicans, when they talk about it at all, want to drill more wells and build more refineries. That’s great, but that alone won’t fix our long term energy problem.

I hate to be a pessimist, but I see nothing happening that will change things. The Energy crisis will be ‘solved’ when thw worldwide economy crashes due to stratospheric oil prices, and the price comes down because nobody can afford to buy it any more.

[SaxxonWoods]

“...hate to be a pessimist, but I see nothing happening that will change things. The Energy crisis will be ‘solved’ when thw worldwide economy crashes due to stratospheric oil prices, and the price comes down because nobody can afford to buy it any more.”

Satire or nonsense?

I quote, you decide. That's almost as good as Yogi Berra's restaurant comment: "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded. By the way, if you really hated being a pessimist, you wouldn't be one.

[papasmurf]

Re: Manhattan style Project...I agree, and I’ve made several posts to that effect.

Still, it makes no sense to kill off our economy, or being held hostage, whilst sitting on relief, albeit temporary.

[mvpel]

Where’s the next big technology that gets us off oil altogether?

It could be algae-based biodiesel...

... with per-acre oil yields orders of magnitude larger than conventional crops, to the tune of 100,000 gallons per acre per year - around 10 acres could supply 100% of Arizona's diesel fuel needs. The "Vertigro" system pictured solves one vexing problem of oil algae - cross-contamination by wild strains.

Diesel-engine passenger cars will finally be widely available in the US later this year and early next year, as Honda introduces the US to their 2.2 iCTDi engine in a Honda Accord that reportedly gets 65mpg.