Given the rise in alternative eco-friendly fuels...?

Question

Is the SAME IMPORTANCE to be placed on oil today?...

if so Why?

If not, Why?

http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?tab=all&go=homepage&scope=all&q=eco+friendly+fuels&Search.x=55&Search.y=19

Re : ioerr
QUOTE "Much of the current demand in the US is due to unnecessary consumption to begin with. In the absence of enforced conservation, consumption will likely increase to whatever extent available supplies will permit. Demand in the second and third world will likely increase even more. " UNQUOTE..

In those few words you have succinctly outlined THE problem..

Answer 1

Forced use of these fuels will never work. There has to be an economic advantage. There is no "rise in alternative eco-friendly fuels" other than the perception of such created by the hype of the media.

All the other countries of the world laugh at the folly's of the USA, I'm sure. Killing off the highly efficient Freon R12 gas for protection of the Ozone layer is absolutely absurd. It's just as absurd as global warming.

Believe me, the USA had better start doing things smarter or it will become a 3rd world country. They cannot sustain the folly of their ways forever....

Answer 2

Yes. Under the current schemes being considered, oil would still be required. At the same time, no real plans for fuel conservation are being considered.

Much of the current demand in the US is due to unnecessary consumption to begin with. In the absence of enforced conservation, consumption will likely increase to whatever extent available supplies will permit. Demand in the second and third world will likely increase even more.

At the moment, Bush is only talking about ethanol produced from corn. I doubt the US can produce enough ethanol exclusively from corn to make much difference to its oil dependence, especially given the potential for growth in an environment of unrestrained consumption.

Furthermore, corn which is used to make fuel is unavailable to make animal feed, from which the meat you eat is produced, or any of the various food additives normally produced from corn. Read some of the little labels on the food you eat, to see how many of them contain corn based additives. All these food products will become more expensive, if the US tries to rely on corn to bail itself out of oil dependency.

I suspect the motivation behind the current "rise in alternative eco-friendly fuels" has more to do with increasing the price of corn, for private profit, than with any serious attempt to confront the problem of the US' dependence on foreign oil.

And I suspect that the end result for most people is going to be, high gas prices, AND high food prices.

If alcohol ends up being produced from the full range of biomass sources potentially available, this might make some difference in the importance of oil, at least in the short term.

Answer 3

The use of alternative eco-friendly fuels is necessary but it won't happen soon. The great oil companies have a lot to earn from oil and the industries are not willing to change the way they work because of the cost. It is necessary because the weather is already going mad it is just warning us.

Answer 4

Any source of fuel that is to replace fossil fuel will take it's toll on our plant the same as fossil fuel will. It is the shear amount that it takes to drive the world today.
Also energy can be neither created nor destroyed it can only be changed into another state.
Their is only one true way to be Eco friendly to the earth and that is to reduce total population of the earth on a scale of biblical proportion (along the lines of bird flu pandemic).
Can you imagine what the world would be like with over 50% of the earths population gone.

Answer 5

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There is an economically viable alternative fiuel which is available right now - and it does confer an economic advantage. You just can't see it, because we are all being misdirected.
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It is electricty.
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Take a look at this car, which is on the market today:
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http://phoenixmotorcars.com/models/fleet.html
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The Phoenix electric pickup truck - using new, advanced Altairnano batteries (based on research from MIT) - can:

-Travel up to 250 miles per charge
-Carry 5 passengers plus cargo at 95mph.
-Charges batteries in as little as TEN MINUTES.
-Has batteries that last 250,000 miles (never need replacement.)
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Yes, it is a real car - being manufactured right now for fleet customers like PG&E. This car did not come out of any govenment program. It was not financed or subsidized by taxpayers. For that matter, our government, automakers, and oil interests are doing their best to pretend this technology is still impossible.
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Driving on electricity is very cheap. I drive an EV (a very old one.) My cost for electricity is only about a penny per mile, much cheaper than gasoline. And electric cars need very little maintenance. Electric motors have only one moving part, and can run for decades with no service.
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And even if powerplants burn dirty fuel, electric cars cause very little pollution, thanks to their extremely high efficiency.
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My next project is to install a solar panel on my garage, and drive for ZERO cents per mile, and ZERO emissions. No other alt-fuel option can beat ZERO.
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Answer 6

try walking