how can we break our dependence on oil both foreign and domestic?

Question

i think if we didn't need oil anymore, we could bankrupt opec and then this islamic militant problem would cave in on itself. they would all be fighting to keep the money they had if they knew the world wasn't addicted to oil anymore.

Answer 1

This is really an excellent question. Helium 3 which is abundant on the moon will replace petroleum in many areas except for plastics. Automobiles can be powered by hydrogen or even ethanol.

China and the US have the most aggressive programs for lunar mining of Helium 3.

Answer 2

Are we not missing the real truth of the matter.

Most oil used in North America is from North America, we are just allowing the bad situation to dictate a much higher world price so that some in this country including the government can make a fortune.

Don't be fooled by the statement " 80% of foreign oil comes from the middle east", that refers specifically to 'foreign oil'...

I believe I heard something that 80% of US oil consumption is from US oil companies in the US ?

Why don't we pay 'world prices' for our housing...seems somewhat opportunistic, don't you ?

Answer 3

Look west, young mrangryeyes. Our old model is outdated. As usual, the Malthusians will be proven wrong once again by technology.

First a little clarification. 35 percent of our energy needs are applied to vehicles; cars, boats, planes, trucks and things that use variants of petroleum for fuel. 65 percent of our energy needs are electrical. Much of the electrical generation is produced by hydropower, coal, or natural gas.

The USA uses about 20 million barrels per day of oil. About 60 percent of this fuel is imported. Last year, Hurricane Katrina eliminated quite a bit of this oil for several days.

We have alternatives, we need the will to develop them. Detroit cannot build an electric car. The best thing the USA mass-produces in the form of electric cars is presently the Ford Escape, a good hybrid, but the technology was close enough to Toyota's, Ford had to pay a fee to Toyota. And it still relies primarily on petroleum.

That changed last year. Apparently, some engineering types on the West Coast actually built a viable electric car. Granted, it is over $100,000, and is little better than an old kit car, but it outran a Porsche 911 Turbo and a Ferrari Modena, both of which are more expensive. That appears to be the germ of a great new idea. GM and Ford and all the manufacturers should start to look in different directions for engineers.

GM and Ford are also slightly invested in fuel cell technology, but that is so far out on the horizon, if they don't take immediate actions akin to a "race to space" mentality, other manufacturers will get there first. GM has invested in a new type of roofing material that appears to be a viable source of reasonably priced solar power. At the present time, its primary market is still for off-grid applications.

The alternatives to gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are being developed. Ethanol does hold a certain amount of promise, but corn is not the best feedstock to manufacture ethanol from. Sugar cane is good, and USA is being pressed to drop it's sugar quotas, which artificially inflate the price of sugar, and diminish the import supply. There are other seed crops that are viable alternatives to create ethanol from, but hemp is not one of the better ones.

Additionally, a few years ago, SASOL bought a petrochemical plant in the US. Currently they make plastics, but back in South Africa, their home country, they are the largest producer of gasoline and diesel from coal liquefaction. This is an old technology, and Nazi Germany looked into it, but it was during the apartheid years, when South Africa was under embargo, that SASOL became the largest producer of oil from coal in the world. The USA has a lot of coal, but again, that is a band aid approach, only good for a couple of hundred years, IF large scale coal liquefaction plants were to begin to be built tomorrow.

Someone will probably think of the Athabasca tar sands in Canada. Don't bother, that has been the promise for more than thirty years, and four times in that time period, I have been told, "this time it is different, we have better technology and the price makes it viable". Those tar sands look a lot like the blacktop surface on some roads, and are about as easy to extract oil from, except they are deep underground, sort of. Think strip mining.

It would help if we would further develop the recycling technology for old auto tires, especially for road surfaces, to replace asphalt applications. Yes, tires were once oil, but there are good opportunities for them that aren't being exploited.

Here are just a few ideas for your consideration. Feel free to kick the can around and come up with additional ideas and applications. If you do think about coal, remember that it is kind of dirty. You have to do something with the mercury and sulfur byproducts from the use of coal. Heavy sour crude, the cheapest and most abundant, also has a lot of sulfur in it, and the solids take much energy to crack into usable fuel, plus it is slightly radioactive.

Now, here are some ideas. If anyone would like to pursue them further and try to ignite the will of their elected representatives or the businesses involved, remember that a written letter is far more effective than an email, and a personal appearance is even better. Business just needs to be able to justify the phenomenal expense of adopting new technologies.

Answer 4

It's all about a lifestyle decision. Believe it or not, 100 years ago people did not need a SUV to pick up a bag of chips. We could use biofuel (food). Walking would be a good start.

Answer 5

Ever heard of "ethenol"? During the gas crunch in the mid and late seventies, Brazil redesigned their sugar cane factory and combined it with an ethenol factory. So, not only are they rich with sugar cane fields, they also extract ethenol from ther sugar cane as well. The majority of their autos now rely on ethenol. We should have followed suit during the gas crunch

Answer 6

take over all domestic oil producers and refinerys and take their suppressed technologys and use them. why would they want you to have or know that other forms of energy exist, then they would not be rich or powerful.

Answer 7

to get rid of oil depnendence one must stop invading other countries and stealing their oil and re routing there oil pipelines through afghanistan to other areas ... and keep Cheney away

Answer 8

Yo , Instead of ranting in Yahoo! answers, why don't you find a solution if you are so concerned ?