Alternate fuel sources

[Kenyth]

I wouldn't worry about it. Mankind is smart enough to figure it out. If anything we will just move somewhere else.

There are even theories that say fossil fuels are renewable. It makes sense, because its not like stuff stopped dying 50 million years ago.

Yeah, but we are using it a hell of a lot quicker than it's being created. On the bright side for fossil energy, (and the dark side for evironmentalists) there's still a shitload of coal left.

I'm confident that we will figure out an alternative. It's not like we are going to die out. People were around a long time before gasoline. I just think the solution is going to alter our lives signifiantly. You can synthesize hydrocarbons using water, carbon, and electricity. Just like you can make Browns gas (hydrogen and oxygen) using electricity. It's just very expensive to do so. As you can probably see, generating energy isn't as much of a problem as storing it stably and safely.

[FlowerBasketExpress2005]

Imagine if we could harness the power of our own farts for fuel. I would never have to pay gasoline for the rest of my life!!

[jaewing]

Imagine if we could harness the power of our own farts for fuel. I would never have to pay gasoline for the rest of my life!!

And some could power small metropolitan power grids all on their own.

[BigMacFU]

Alternative plastics. I forget which university did it, but an experiment trying to derive the carbonic acids that all plastics are based off of was successful being done from plants. Essentially, given some time, this means that soy and corn will be the primary sources of all plastics, and since the US alone creates enough food each year to feed 10 Billion people, I'm sure we'll be able to spare some corn and soy.

Another research project at the University of Oregon has made bio-diesel very easy too produce. Before, it was not difficult, but inefficient in its cost. Now, with the new process, biodiesel will become very inexpensive to produce, and again, with Illinois leading the country in soy production, there'd be enough extra to go around for pure gas reasons. As I said in the truck threads, buy Diesel. All diesel engines made after 2000 or so can handle any future diesel engine. Heck, that's the point of diesel which was originally created to run on peanut oil.

Sweet, sweet candy folks, there is hope out there. Electricity as an alternative is stupid unless we develop cold fusion. Why? Because unless your power is from a nuclear power plant (environmentally problematic for other reasons), your power is most likely being produced by fossil fuels being burned.

[WhiteWidow]

Bio-diesel is not that good because right now it has a pretty high gel-temperature of about 40 degrees.

[BigMacFU]

block heaters

[MCsommerreid]

Hybrids. Those will be the stop gap between the next big energy source. Not just gas-electric hybrids, but diesel-biodiesel, gas/propane-ethanol, electric-biodiesel, gasification, electric-hydrogen, etc and etc.

Ethanol is very economically viable so long as you dont use corn. Corn doesnt have nearly enough sugar, so sugar beets and sugar cane would work so much better instead. That and you need to capture every last byproduct that isnt lost to thermodynamics.

Far as non-hydrocarbon power goes I put my vote for electric. Unfortunately the fearmongering about anything with the words "nuclear" or "atomic" in them basically kills that, because that just leaves us with hydrocarbons are super high output sources.

Hydro, geo, wave, solar, wind, and any other non-poluting environmental based power source arent really good enough. They're high loss systems, especially solar, and enviro-nuts kinda kill anything good.

[cigar no baka]

I have high hopes for fuel cell technology so we can run electric cars, and then hope for fusion power plants so we have plenty of electricity to power them up.