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If the 18 wheelers go to natural gas, the cost of oil would plummet.
Unlikely, any idea the size of the tank you would need for that? Besides that there is a reason trucks use diesel and not gasoline which is similar to NG engine. It's not a horse race, diesel motors have a huge amount of torque which is what you need for pulling heavy loads and getting a million miles or more out a engine being the other.
NG will be used for small vehicles and smaller local trucks.
Really? Because my family are all farmers and farm thousands of acres so I think I probably know what I'm talking about.
Maybe so, but I am not seeing it.
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Our family is old school
Sure. I get old school.
We have some Olde Order Amish about. They still use draft horses.
Your folks may turn out late to the electric party -- or not at all.
No biggie either way
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compared to these "modern" farms that probably use twice the oil based products we use. Fertilizers, weed killers, insecticides--all based on petroleum products.
Even going electric and renewables in that regard.
It is just Cheaper, Faster and Better.
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Those little electric boutique farms you are referring to make great magazine stories, but they don't produce much food.
Sorry, dunno what you are referring to?
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Believe me, most of your food is produced by oil based products, planted by diesel fuel driven tractors, sprayed with oil based chemicals. And the meat? All those cattle eat all that corn we grow with oil.
Sorry, no meat here.
And most the veggies are various organic.
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Round up ready corn that is genetically modified to actually thrive on round up spray when 20 years ago with would have died.
And this is a good thing? Or just a thing?
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And you tell me how we are going to feed 7+ billion souls when oil is $200 a barrel which is coming. You have no clue. Alternative energies are a joke compared to oil.
It's annoying to hear right-wing commentators who aren't geologists...
Soo...... you're a geologist?
Pot, meet kettle.
BTW, there's more to oil production than geology. There are probably as many chemists (if not more) than geologists on the payroll of any major oil company. You ranted a lot about the differences between the various materials being extracted (shale, tar sands, etc.), but none of of that is particularly relevant if we can still process and use it.
So just how much Abiotic Oil do you think is created a year?
How the heck would any one know,its only a theory.
Not sure of the point of your inference that any one who thinks about a theory is to be ridiculed with snide comments.
I don't think it will be as easy as you think to switch to "alternatives".
This entire society is built on cheap oil. It's like a giant ponzi scheme. 7 billion people on the planet when it had been around 1 billion for a thousand years. The advent of oil and the population jumped to 7 billion in 100 years. One barrel of oil contains the energy of 14 men working 8 hours a day for a year. Oil is unmatched in efficiency and abundance of any energy. There will be pain when it becomes scarce and there will be starvation on a massive scale.
I don't think it will be as easy as you think to switch to "alternatives".
This entire society is built on cheap oil. It's like a giant ponzi scheme. 7 billion people on the planet when it had been around 1 billion for a thousand years. The advent of oil and the population jumped to 7 billion in 100 years. One barrel of oil contains the energy of 14 men working 8 hours a day for a year. Oil is unmatched in efficiency and abundance of any energy. There will be pain when it becomes scarce and there will be starvation on a massive scale.
Maybe we should start doing something about our addiction to oil now rather than wait till crunch time , moving closer to work, using more fuel efficient cars, not driving so much. using less plastic based products etc.. because if or when the gas runs out or gets near that stage and gas starts costing $20 a gal its gonna get ugly.When it starts costing $500 to fill up your big SUV or pickup, then that little fuel efficient econobox may not look so bad..
By the time gas gets to $20 a gallon half the country will have died from freezing in the winter after not being able to pay their electric bill. Globals will be ecstatic I'm sure.
The cost of gas is what it is. getting angry about it is not going to bring the cost down because its price is governed by a world wide market and a cartel of producers.
The best way individuals can reduce the cost to themselves is to buy more efficient vehicles. For example, the car we bought in 2008 .... same make and model (but later model) as the one we bought in 2002 ..... gets 30% better gas mileage than the old car. Auto manufacturers have already got the message. But they can do even better if consumers push them.
The best way government can help us is by developing public transport (and, yes, that does include rail). Where I used to live in White Plains, NY, it was a gallon of gas into NYC and a gallon back. Plus tolls, plus parking and you are looking at $35+. The train was $17 round trip plus $5 for parking. I like my car as much as the next guy but spending a couple of hours in commuter traffic is not my idea of fun.
As individuals, we can make smart choices and those choices will have an impact on the market. But we need to take ideology out of it. The gas guzzler era is over and it ain't coming back.
Good idea. Oddly, in many rural areas, people cannot tolerate the idea of "public transportation" bcs they may have to pay 10.00 a year in city tax.
I actually saw posts on Tennessee forum complaining about buses for students. People need to re-think, but this is a lofty goal for some stuck in the 1970's "american ideal" and still want to drive hummers and gas guzzlers bcs it is "their right as americans".
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