Alternative Energies: Different kinds and a few thoughts

[kronus]

Nuclear cars ftw. Can you imagine how much torque?!

They can measure it in Chernobyl-pounds.

[s0urce]

Nuclear cars ftw. Can you imagine how much torque?!

[uofom3]

Cannabis is very good for a lot of things. Rope, fibers, and natural oils. And it grows quick, requires little upkeep and has a high yield rate. But many people still associate it with marijuana and think that you can use it to get high. Ever tried smoking a hemp shirt? yeah, it doesn't work that way.

I doubt the US (or any country for that matter) is ready to make hemp a mainstream crop. There's just too much stigmatism over it.

Yeah I agree. The stigma isn't really valid, but unfortunately I don't think it's going to change.

Oregon is trying to sell marijuana in liquor stores, however.

[Aptyp]

Fine you people, I am going to walk tot he next e30 meet to help out a little.

[CorvallisBMW]

One thing that was mentioned in one of my college classes right before the first Gulf War was oil from hemp seeds as another source of combustable fuel. I don't know if you can get a contact high from inhaling the exhaust but Cannabis grows relatively quickly and it can grow in most climates/conditions. The plant can supposedly yield its "fruit" and can be re planted at least 3 to 4 times in a growing season.

Cannabis is very good for a lot of things. Rope, fibers, and natural oils. And it grows quick, requires little upkeep and has a high yield rate. But many people still associate it with marijuana and think that you can use it to get high. Ever tried smoking a hemp shirt? yeah, it doesn't work that way.

I doubt the US (or any country for that matter) is ready to make hemp a mainstream crop. There's just too much stigmatism over it.

[uofom3]

One thing that was mentioned in one of my college classes right before the first Gulf War was oil from hemp seeds as another source of combustable fuel. I don't know if you can get a contact high from inhaling the exhaust but Cannabis grows relatively quickly and it can grow in most climates/conditions. The plant can supposedly yield its "fruit" and can be re planted at least 3 to 4 times in a growing season.

I've heard of that too. Maybe someone can tell us more about this as well.

[uofom3]

Just remember, it doesn't have to be sunny to run solar panels. Even on the darkest PNW January day, you can still get about 50% of the energy you would in July.

Interesting, I haven't gone that far into solar panels but if that's true then very good.

But where does the other 50% come from if in January I can't get 100% of the power? That's why it's secondary for us... I still maintain it's a good idea, but it doesn't solve the entire problem. No one single solution does, that's why things have to be done in conjunction with one another.

I heard the other day that congress actually wants to tack on 10cents a gallon to the federal gas tax. Funny thing about that is, it would actually probably further reduce the demand for oil and drive the price down (offsetting the tax). But, with decreased demand the tax revenue would actually go down (you don't gain tax revenue when you raise taxes... generally). So then you'd get hit somewhere else, and people would just be worse off than some of them already are.

I'm trying to figure out through all of this who benefits from us not drilling for our own oil; certainly not the general population of this country and particularly people with lower income levels.

[2Big4a3Series]

So the question then starts to become - what kind of oils are available? There are several types of unconventional oils (not sweet crude):

Biofuels:
- less pollution created than traditional gasoline.
- very expensive (biodiesel)
- unintended consequences (fuel system damage, corn shortage with ethanol, etc.)
- to run our current US population on ethanol or other biofuel, we would need more land to grow the corn on than is available in the US.

One thing that was mentioned in one of my college classes right before the first Gulf War was oil from hemp seeds as another source of combustable fuel. I don't know if you can get a contact high from inhaling the exhaust but Cannabis grows relatively quickly and it can grow in most climates/conditions. The plant can supposedly yield its "fruit" and can be re planted at least 3 to 4 times in a growing season.

[CorvallisBMW]

Devon, that's a sweet little car there. it's honestly very cool and in no way am I saying it's a bad idea - and I think it's the future.

BUT... $36,000.00? (Actually 46k - it's only 36k after a 10k bailout from the CA state government).

It fits two people at most, and costs 36k. This isn't a solution for most families of 3 or more at that price with the limited functionality.

Also, what happens if I live north of the 45th parallel? The sun doesn't shine much up here, so how am I supposed to make my car go?

I'm not a naysayer of alternatives. However, this kind of thing is cost-prohibitive to most people and in this case utlizes a resource that we don't all get to see all the time. Futuristic ideas are totally necessary at this point in time, but TODAY it will make only a small difference.

Solar and wind are secondary sources of energy, for reasons that should be pretty obvious. I wouldn't want to base my ability to travel on a weather report. Now a battery powered car that is getting juice from a nuclear facility that is backed up by solar, wind, and hydro - that I would bet my commute on.

Just remember, it doesn't have to be sunny to run solar panels. Even on the darkest PNW January day, you can still get about 50% of the energy you would in July.

[uofom3]

Devon, that's a sweet little car there. it's honestly very cool and in no way am I saying it's a bad idea - and I think it's the future.

BUT... $36,000.00? (Actually 46k - it's only 36k after a 10k bailout from the CA state government).

It fits two people at most, and costs 36k. This isn't a solution for most families of 3 or more at that price with the limited functionality.

Also, what happens if I live north of the 45th parallel? The sun doesn't shine much up here, so how am I supposed to make my car go?

I'm not a naysayer of alternatives. However, this kind of thing is cost-prohibitive to most people and in this case utlizes a resource that we don't all get to see all the time. Futuristic ideas are totally necessary at this point in time, but TODAY it will make only a small difference.

Solar and wind are secondary sources of energy, for reasons that should be pretty obvious. I wouldn't want to base my ability to travel on a weather report. Now a battery powered car that is getting juice from a nuclear facility that is backed up by solar, wind, and hydro - that I would bet my commute on.

[uofom3]

But yeah, I do think we have a supply problem. Just because something may become more scarce, does not mean people will just stop using it cold turkey.

Right, so how do we fix the supply problem? We explore for more. We only have this supply problem if we continue to ban the exploration for more oil domestically and stop nuke/wind/wave/solar/etc. from being implemented.

Of course airplanes will continue to sell; people still need to fly. It doesn't matter if there is a supply problem or not because airlines will adjust their prices to match the cost of jet fuel.

That is 100% correct. So then you are OK with making flying more expensive, as well as everything else?

There is also a shortage of copper in the world (demand>supply) but you don't see people abandoning the use of copper altogether. So I'm not really following the aircraft logic....

Thank you for clarifying shortage for me, I couldn't have figured that one out ;). The aircraft logic is that why would you be adding planes to a fleet for five years in the future if you think oil is going to be so expensive by then that you can't operate aircraft (like is happening now with several major airlines)? Your logic is correct that people will just charge more for goods, but if you price yourself out of the marketplace you won't be in business any longer and no one wins because those jobs are cut, etc. Then you get more government involvement and we run into even more problems.

I'm not saying that our long-term solution is to live off of gasoline forever. I am saying that in the short term is not worth damaging our economy further than we already have.

The sad thing is, it hurts lower income people more... those are the people who should be screaming to drill now and as fast as possible; do anything and everything to lower prices.

[Pinepig]

True. The approval process is also very lengthy and complicated; Lots of red tape. That and all those fuckers in Nevada won't let us dump our waste in their back yard ;)

Breeder reactors.:)

[uofom3]

True. The approval process is also very lengthy and complicated; Lots of red tape. That and all those fuckers in Nevada won't let us dump our waste in their back yard ;)

ha and ours! we have some nasty shit hanging out over in eastern oregon.

[CorvallisBMW]

You can bet your ass that nuclear power is ramping up. Its about to be a repeat of the 70s.

It will be a lot more helpful if people would know that Three Mile Island was a large SUCCESS for the nuclear industry in showing how safe the reactors are, and that what happened in Chernobyl is IMPOSSIBLE with the combination of our reactors and the NRC's procedures.

The only problem I can is that we wont be able to build them fast enough. There is not enough of the people that are needed to churn out 25 plants in the next 15 years. Hell, we're having a hard enough time at the moment.

True. The approval process is also very lengthy and complicated; Lots of red tape. That and all those fuckers in Nevada won't let us dump our waste in their back yard ;)

[netcsk]

You can bet your ass that nuclear power is ramping up. Its about to be a repeat of the 70s.

It will be a lot more helpful if people would know that Three Mile Island was a large SUCCESS for the nuclear industry in showing how safe the reactors are, and that what happened in Chernobyl is IMPOSSIBLE with the combination of our reactors and the NRC's procedures.

The only problem I can is that we wont be able to build them fast enough. There is not enough of the people that are needed to churn out 25 plants in the next 15 years. Hell, we're having a hard enough time at the moment.