if ethonol is a fuel why is there no mad rush to produce it on a large scale?
96767
Yes, there are several ethonal engines available. The reason more ethonal is not produced, however, is supply and demand. There a few ethonal motors on the road, so there is a small demand. It would take a complete phaze-out of gasoline engines in order to fully convert to ethonal, meaning everyone would be required to trade in their cars for the newest model. Since not everyone can afford this, there would still be a need for gasoline.\nAlso, ethonal engines do not get the same power as gasoline engines, which is a deterrent to many. And since ethonal is not currently available everywhere, few are willing to take that extra step on finding out where to buy ethonal fuel.\nCombined with this is the fact that many government officials have a financial interest in the oil economy, and would stand to lose a great deal of money if the country converted to an alternative fuel source.
1025413
Many organizations all chasing a pipe dream for the present for the sake of political correctness. They are developing vehicles which will have no pratical source of fuel or an infrastructure to store and deliver it. The only practical source of hydrogen is electrolosis which consume electric power. Given the existing emisions profile of US generating plants, producing the hydrogen will emit more pollutants than are saved with hydrogen fueld cars. How will we store and deliver it? The cart is being put before the horse!
415613
Yes, I am a 4-E independent representative. The company began pre-launch enrollment in late March. Now the Official launch has occurred with the product roll-out. During the past month I have acquired 430 reps in my team. The product Ethos FR fuel additive was patented about 10 years ago. Sales so far have been mostly on a commercial basis in other countries (like China). This is because the US government is so slow to approve the product for certain commercial uses in the US. Now that the product is made available to the public, sales will go through the roof. This is because the product really works. You and every one of your customers will see an increase in gas mileage of between 7% and 19%. Anything over 4% will result in a net cash gain for the user. The reason that this will be such a hot item in the market is because the subject of gasoline prices is the hottest subject in the US right now. If you want to join an active team, welcome aboard. Send me an email with your name so I can communicate back with some great marketing ideas. You can make a lot of money with this product until gas prices fall down below $1.50 (Yeah right!) See more about 4-E at http://saveongasoline.com/viabruce\nWrite to me at bruce@getvia.com for more details.
379324
Oil profits are part of the reason for the wars AND the limited capacity of refineries. I wonder what progress could have been made in the development of alternative energy supplies with the billions that have gone down the drain in those wars.
505180
I attended a very interesting lecture by the Governor of Montana.  He was talking about the development of oil shales (which Montana has an enormous amount of).  He said that the development of oil shales became economically feasible when the price of oil exceed $40/barrel.\n\nThe advantages to fuel refined from oil shales are the cleanliness of the product.  The process (developed by the Germans during WW-II) not only refines the oil products, but it also strips out the mercury, sulfides, and arsenide's from the final product.  This would vastly reduce water and air pollution.\n\nLast I heard, the state of Montana is in the process of building their own refinery at this time.\n\nEstimates of the reserves available in the northwest US and western Canada are factors of magnitude greater than the amount of oil in all of the middle east.  It would be great to develop this asset and be able to tell the Saudis and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela to go pound sand.
405860
Actually high quantity isnt true.  There is less and less every year, its a finite resource, once its gone, its gone.\n\nPositive things are that its very stable, safe fuel relitive compared to other things such as natural gas, there is a fire risk but not as great a risk of explosion.\n\nIt can be used for multiple things, from unleaded gas, to deisel fuel, to petrolium jelly, to motor oil.
434376
Economic development doesnt preclude, infact it may very soon require, technological forrays into alternative energy production.  A current trend in the commercial sector is that consumers and investors are favoring environmentally friendly corporations.  Therefore, by the economic law of supply and demand, those corporations that avoid environmentally deleterious policies, such as relying on crude oil, will prosper, since they are 'supplying' environmental responsibility, for which demand is currently soaring.  It is shortsightedly immature of us to not move off crude oil quicker, infact.  We underestimate the damage oil does to the health of the worldwide human population, in terms of military repurcussions, adverse health effects, and of course, the environmental consequences.
894879
Pretty much any oil can be burned efficiently if placed in an engine that is designed for it.  Bio-diesels and such are on the front line of chem eng research into alternative oil fuels; however, the sheer amount of farm land required to meet the world's demand for fuel makes this idea infeasible.  However, by studying these fuels, scientists can synthesize them, or create them using SCIENCE!  See the link.  \n\nSo, in short:\n\nYour friend is probably right in some manner.  However, he's only right when talking about generating power for people who live near palm groves and have small population densities.  \n\nFor the global need, machinery and artificial fossil fuel production take the forefront over good, old-fashioned palm squeezing.\n\nCheers.
82643
If things keep going as they are we wont be driving cars that run on gas. There are electric cars in development and other forms of fuel being developed.
355639
yes, and we are far behind other countries in mass transit. I used 10 percent Ethanol 10 years ago. Paid less for it than Gas. The oil companies took it off the market. If HisBushyness had any clue what was going on in America he could fix the problem with one executive order. That will not happen. He will not cut off the hand that feeds him. If he puts price caps in place and the supply goes up then the price will go down and that would stop his cash flow from the wealthy oil corporations who own Congress.
1056073
It is a real concern, but whenever someone makes a prediction about when a country of the world will reach peak oil output, they do so with what then is considered a researve.  As the cost of a barrel of oil increases, sources for oil that were once not considered a researve then become on because at that cost it is economically viable to recover it.  With the recent spike in oil prices, North America can now clasify the tar sands in Canada and the oil shales in Colorado oil researves, and that being the case, it is estimated that in the US alone, we now have more economically recoverable oil then Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest exporter.  As the price continues to increase, other marginal sources will become economically viable.  Sooner or later, we will reach a point where there simply isn't enough oil available for any price, but that is still a ways off yet.  I believe that before we reach that point, oil will be more expensive then alternate fuel sources.  Through simple economics, I believe that people will begin using these alternate fuels simply because they are less expensive.  I believe that the high cost of oil will spawn invention and inovation into the energy sector, and I believe that has already begun.  We are working on increasing production of biodiesels and ethenol, and there is increased research into fuel cells and electric autos.  I think the future lies in hydrogen burning technology personally.  We already have engines that burn Hydrogen, but we're still working on the fuel tank dilema.  So, for a long answer, I believe that there is and will be time. I'm looking foward to being put out of buisiness.
589485
There has simply been a ban on building new refineries for 25 years, and the capacity to refine crude oil has not kept up with demand for gasoline. The supply of crude oil, and crude oil inventories are ample. But the ability for the refineries to produce gasoline from the crude oil is at a maximum, and this time of year some of them shut down for maintenance (30-60 days), so gasoline supplies are even tighter.\n\nIn a free market, no matter the commodity, when Demand is greater than the Supply, the price goes up.
70596
Society and the economy demand a steady supply of oil.  I know on no one who has pulled the main circuit breaker of their home or thrown away the keys to their car(s), especially gas guzzlers whether they are liberal or conservative.  It is our problem.  Whoever owns the oil should profit by its sale, but oil need not become a geopolitical football.\n\nThe real question is whether oil will be used to fuel the world or to fuel terrorism.  The fuel problem is only temporary.  We need to capture perhaps 1% of 1% of the sun's solar energy to meet all our needs.  Technology is rapidly improving.  Soon there will be available relatively cheap plastic foil photovoltaic cells to convert solar energy to electrical energy.  The technology already exists.  The roofs of most buildings will be covered with them.  Then we will still need a little oil to lubricate our bikes and hedge clippers.  The problem is to obtain and maintain world peace until then.  And that may be a decade or two.
53672
This is a very complex question.  \n\nThe crude oil reserves in the world are a semi-finite resource.  It takes many millions of years to create the oil that is in the earth. So it is possible to run out.\n\nCurrently there are no plans in place by any nation that could compenate for the depletion of this valuable natural resource.\n\nSome alternatives are being developed. Solar - greatly available but unfortunatly at this time the efficiency of the solar cells is not up to the task of replacing oil.\n\nWind energy - another good option but the size of a wind farm to generate suffient amounts of energy is restrictive. There is not enough land available.\n\nThermal currents on the ocean - Another way to harness solar energy but again VERY inefficient.\n\nNuclear Fission - Already in use on a large scale.  drawbacks are the waste that it produces. EXTREMELY Dangerous radiation that lasts for thousands of years.\n\nNuclear Fussion - This is the power that drives the sun. Couple different versions are being developed but at this time there are not any viable solutions. Possible in the future but currently take a lot of energy to create this engery.\n\nBio Fuels - a great alternative that is already widely in use. again the main drawback here is the amount of land that would be needed to supply the amount of fuel that we use.  We do not have enough at the current time.  We would need almost all of our current farm land to supply the energy need and not have any available for food needs.\n\nFuel Call technology - A very good source of fuel and very clean as well. however the main type of fuel cell is currently the Hydrogen Fuel cell. This is relatively expensive to make and uses some elements that could be also be depleted in the future. also Raw hydrogen is expensive to make. Even though it is thought to be the most abundant element in the universe, most of it is bound up in other compounds. (ie. water, other fuels)\n\nCoal - another very abundant fuel source. Drawback - burns with more polution.\n\nSo overall, the world would definitly change if/when we run out of crude oil.  Things will become more expensive. Polution could get worse unless other fuels can be found that are more enviormentally friendly.  \n\nNo one knows for sure if or when it will run out but there are options. Just be prepared for many different products to come to market that will replace the ones that contain crude oil and its byproducts.
738995
Not just no, but Hell No!!!   There isn't all  that much oil there to begin with and after all that digging to install pipelines and so on think what that will do to the environment.  And hopefully, within 10 years, now that we have a Democratic Congress which isn't in the pocket of Big Oil, maybe we can find some alternative fuel sources - this is one of the goals of the Democrats.....to encourage and promote alternative sources of fuel.  Allowing the drilling there was just for Bush and Cheney's buddies so they could make more money - like the oil companies don't make enough money.
636691
I think it woudl sure be a wake up call for the Middle East if suddenly they had a product that wasn't in so much demand! Consdering their whole economy is based on oil sales, they would be in deep.... I think it would be cool to go fuel up with a tank of Jim Beam! Even south of the border could start making more money, how much for a tank of Tequila? I know of several people that use bio-diesel, and just love being able to bypass fueling stations.
576619
Won't work, the refinery that sell to the big boys also sell to the mom and pop store.\n\nThe key is to get more fuel effecient vehicles or ones that run on fuels other than gasoline.  We already have natural gas vehicle and hybird gas / electric cars which is probable the way to go.