Are you ready to pay the price for alternative fuel technology?

Question

For instance, the production of ethanol will cause a rise not only in the price of corn, but in chicken (which eats corn), etc. How resistent do you think the average American will be to the rising prices associated with our independence from oil?

Answer 1

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There is a perfect answer to this problem that we are being urged not to look at, since the petroleum industry can't make any money off of it.
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The answer lies with 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 advancements in electric cars available this year, like the Phoenix below. It was developed with NO HELP or subsidies from your government or the major automakers. Link:
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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 (batteries last for the life of the car.)
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Yes, it is a real car. It is being built for fleet customers right now, and will be available to the general public soon.
Why do you suppose your government, and your media, aren't telling you about this car, or helping with its development?
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Electric 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.)
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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. And you can't beat ZERO.
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Answer 2

I don't know. Let's see, in the 1920's America, Gasoline, a relatively new fuel, was priced anywhere from 12 to 24 cents a gallon. compare to wages, which were roughly 2 to 24 dollars a week. In the early 2000's, average wages were 500 to 2400 a week, with gasoline average 1.30 Gallon. As of 2007, average wages, 300 to 2100 a week and Gasoline at 2.30 to 4.50 a gallon. Price of Alternative Energy Technology (why are you leaving out solar power, Fuel cell tech, Electric tech..ect..) will of course be expensive , as with all new Technology, however alternative liquid fuels made from plants (and animals) would be a very cheap replacement for Fossil Fuels. Bio-fuel Technology is Decades old, but unless you live on mars, you know the Oil industry has had a deathgrip on the energy market. If we took all of the biodegradable waste that we generate everyday and recycled it to bio-fuel, we would not need any Oil at all to fuel Vehicles. Of course, that alone does not eliminate the need for oil. other industries need fossil fuels for product production needs.( ie rubber, ect...)

Answer 3

I think we have reached a point in time when we must stop expecting energy sources on the "cheap". We cant' have it both ways. If we want independence from oil and the questionable countries who have it, then we must accept the move toward E85 and the cost associated with this choice. I would rather pay higher prices for E85 and put the money in the hands of farmers (particularly American farmers), then continue to buy from say ..Citgo and put the money in the hands of a nut from Venezuela. I hear we could pay as much as $3.75 per gallon soon, this should give us more incentive to find and accept new alternatives.

Answer 4

You ask two, very good, questions:

1) There's an indirect correlation with corn, actually. The type of corn used to produce ethanol is not digestible by either human or animal. It's not feed-grade corn, either (which is not digestible by humans). However, the types of corn do compete with one another for land, particularly some of the most fertile land in the world.

Bear in mind that much fertile land remains fallow by a system of government payments that are intended to help keep crop prices above a certain minimum so that farmers are able to stay in business. This means that fuel-grade corn may have an elastic supply so long as spare production capacity exists on unused farm land.

The price of corn-related foodstuffs is not likely to be tremendously impacted by a constriction in the supply of corn, so much as by an increasing demand for these products.

2) Resistence from consumers will only exist where there are alternatives. If the future in two years involves equal numbers of E85 and pure gasoline pumps at each station, then consumers will purchase E85 so long as their vehicles are capable of using it (many post-2003 vehicles are) and E85 is less expensive per mile than gasoline (bear in mind that E85 is less dense than gasoline, and so one gallon of E85 provides less energy than one gallon of gasoline), then E85 will be purchased.

However, if E85 is the only option, say 15 years from now when it is reasonable to believe that most vehicles on the road will be E85 capable, then resistence to price changes will only exhibit itself in choice of vehicle (based on mileage) and number of miles driven per week.

Answer 5

Well, Americans are resisitent to paying anything, but I believe that oil is still higher to produce than ethanol. Who know? Maybe they are on to something.

Answer 6

i think it is approvable becaused compare to traditional fuel sources to days fuel technology always reliable they trying to made natural fuel from sunlight , used wastage raw material etc...