Subj : Re: Lookin' for oil
To   : Angus McLeod
From : Deuce
Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 13:49:00

  Re: Re: Lookin' for oil
  By: Angus McLeod to Deuce on Fri Sep 02 2005 09:17:00

 >  > Stopping oil exploration won't find a renewable energy source any
 >  > faster.  Taking all the engineers out of the oil business won't find me
 >  > a renewable source any faster.
 > 
 > I at least, am not advocating the surcease of oil exploration.  I am
 > advocating that efforts be made to not only identify possible
 > alternatives, but to push such technologies in the direction of economic
 > viability.  A large factor in bringing the cost of such (or any)
 > technology down, is to make its use widespread, so economies of scale
 > kick in.
 > 
 > I would like to see the government take an active part in this, by
 > eliminating taxes that push alternative technologies in the direction of
 > economic non-viability.  Possibly raising taxes on gasolene, and giving
 > grants to reseadch in alternative fuels.  These technologies need to be
 > encouraged to flourish.
 > 
 >  > You seem to believe that people should stop looking for more ways of powe
 >  > the existing infrastructure and concentrate solely on some hypothetical f
 >  > one.
 > 
 > No, I believe that people should be looking HARD for alternative power
 > sources ('hypothetical', if you like).
 > 
 > YOU seem to think that one day someone is going to discover that if you
 > squeeze sand hard enough, or boil water hot enough, some miraculous liquid
 > will come pouring out that you will be able to burn in your old car simply
 > by changing the sparkplugs.  And that day, or over the weekend, the entire
 > world will be able to switch over from gasolene.  *I* think that it will
 > take several decades to make any switch to the new technologies.  The
 > existing infrastructure will be replaced in time by a different
 > infrastructure.  All the old petrol-burners will be replaced because they
 > are old and worn out, and in the mean time, the cars driven by brushless
 > motors and powered by hydrogen fuel-cells buffered by lithium-sulfer
 > batteries and leeching extra energy from the sun with solar-reactive paint
 > and from the ground with magneto-dynamic suspension will be everywhere.
 > 
 > I think it is folly to believe that we can just "direct *every* effort" to
 > finding new supplies of gasolene, and assume that the day there IS no more
 > gasolene to be found, that some 'hypothetical' replacement fuel will come
 > bubbling up out of the ground of it's own free will, ready to be poured
 > into the tanks of our "existing infrastructure" with only minimal, low-
 > cost modifications being made.  The truth is, the existing infrastructure
 > must be replaced with a new infrastructure, and that will take many years.
 > The process needs to start as soon as possible, giving us as much time as
 > possible so the change can be as gradual (and painless) as possible.  And
 > if "every effort" is directed towards finding more gasolene, that process
 > will *never* start.

Our governemtn is currently encouraging the use and development of alternative
power.

Interestingly enough, if you boil water hard enough, you can produce hydrogen
which interestingly enough, I could burn in my old car without even replacing
the spark plugs (som small modifications to car carb, and timing adjustment
would be required however)

As you've pointed out, we already have a number of alternatives.  None of them
are currently economically feasable however.

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