Imagine we have no oil. Should we go electric or ethanol or both?

Question

Suppose we have no oil. We have to go with electric or ethanol for energy. How would your commute be with vehicles that only use electric?? ethanol or both??

Using ethanol may still lead to relying on other countries that can produce it cheaper. But electricity is unlimited and can be manufactured.

If we ran on only electric power, think about how you would commute, refuel and the changes and adaptations to using electric. We would not have to rely on other countries, not have to harm the environment either.

What do you think??

Answer 1

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Electric cars. And I will make a case below for why this is the closest to reality, best for the environment, and the most affordable technology.
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First of all, electric cars are available RIGHT NOW. Look at the links on this page, you can buy a freeway-capable EV for as little as $5000:
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http://www.squidoo.com/cheap-electric-car
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Also on the above page, you can read about how much cheaper (1 cent per mile) electric is than gasoline (at least 10 cents/mile.) No other alt-fuel option can beat this operating cost.
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There are also exciting new-tech electric cars available this year, like the Phoenix:
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http://phoenixmotorcars.com/models/fleet.html
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This car solves all the problems: it gets up to 250 miles/charge, goes 95mph with 5 passengers plus cargo, charges in only TEN MINUTES, and has a battery pack that lasts over 250,000 miles.
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These cars are best for the environment because they emit nothing from the tailpipe. It's true that power plants emit pollution, but the amount of overall pollution is only a fraction of what gasoline cars produce. (Due to the better efficiency of power generation, energy delivery, and utilization by the EV. Plus the fact that much electricity is now made from clean sources.) Charging your EV from solar panels on your garage would make it a true zero-emissions vehicle with an operating cost close to zero as well.
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Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are a fraud. FCV cars are electric cars, with batteries (batteries are needed for acceleration currents), with a fuel cell on top. So they will always be more expensive than electric cars. Plus there is no source of free hydrogen on earth, so electricity must be expended to extract hydrogen. But an electric car can travel further on that same electricity than an FCV can from the resulting hydrogen.
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Answer 2

Must be electric. Running on ethanol still requires oil for lubrication - refining lubricants from crude oil gives gasoline as a by-product. If we have no oil, therefore no lubricant oils, then electric is the way to go. My fave it the hydrogen fuel cell. It mixes hydrogen and oxygen (but does not burn the hydrogen) and gives off electricity and pure water. Since we can currently get over 100 hp from an electric motor that's small enough to fit inside the wheels, we could currently be running 4WD and 400 hp in just about any car - all without using oil, and all without pollutants. Even the gearheads will have something to like about it - even if it doesn't sound as good.

Answer 3

Electricity has to come from somewhere for example from a nuclear powerplant. The environment still suffers in this case, green energy as they call is still verry rare, this needs also a lot of energy and investment to build if you want to preserve the whole world with "green" electricity.
Engines on electricity or hydrogen (water)
need a lot of new development.
The following exampels need only few adaptions to excisting engines.

Only for diesel engines.
Pure plant oil is also an option buth still some continents are not big enough to suport there needs.
Plant polute (give Co2) but the also recycle (take Co2) during there life.
Zero polution operation.

Only for petrol engines.
Ethanol is the same problem as PPO but needs more manipulation, this cost energy.

I think the future is a mix of this all.
New cars on water and old cars on ppo or ethanol.

I like to keep my own old car!

J. and D.

Answer 4

ethanol requires Lots of energy to produce, and transport, electricity uses energy mostly in it's production.

So for me electric would be better, plus electrical generating stations only require ONE pollution control on them, not thousands all over the place on ever vehicule

Answer 5

We should go solar to generate electricity, and use the surplus electricity to generate hydrogen from water, then use that for our vehicle fuel.

Answer 6

Ethanol, for sure.
Brazil uses it since late 70s, why can't US make it?

Answer 7

ethanol would be my answer, electric would cost to much in some states

Answer 8

Neither. I have a product to end the use of both. My prototype will be ready by the end of this year. Once that is done I will be working on mktg..

Answer 9

gasification of coal