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Sunday, November 04, 2007

HOW TO: 6 Months to Oil Independance

Let me be clear. The oil shortage is not about oil, it’s about liquid fuels that we use every day to keep our economic engine running for transportation and heating. We don’t have a fuel shortage, we have a liquid fuel shortage. Here are immediate remedies that we could and should implement at once to roll back our foolish usage. The USA is the biggest user of oil by a long shot. That means you we can make a huge impact with little change. It’s time to see what can be done about all that without the blinders put on by global warming eco-nazis and the sycophantic politicians that bow to them. IF I were King:



Use ONE only year round formulation for gasoline and diesel. Only ONE. Allow the refiners to gear up and produce this in spades. The more they produce of one formulation the more efficient they will get recovering more and more from narrow cracking procedures.


Abolish public education under the age of 13—Full Stop. Home, church and chartered coop neighborhood schools do so much better than all the teacher union driven messes called schools do now. Oh, it would be publicly funded, but privately run. Think of the fuel just closing those big drafty buildings would save. PLUS, think of the savings from all the wasted money on school busing little kids. Then, if a child graduates from elementary school (8th grade) they can go on to “Prep” school or another route like a technical school for a couple years. That would use SOME of the buildings and we could bus some of those kids but some of those kids would stay in dorms on campuses. The better buildings could be used for Prep schools, the poorer ones in a city converted to living quarters. Public education has failed horribly in the USA, let’s put a fork in it and save fuel we waste doing nothing.


Recognize that Kyoto, carbon dioxide reduction and all related is inconsequential to the natural cycle of climate change. Pollution in sparse population centers is not an issue. If a coal plant somewhere in the Dakotas or Wyoming is located a hundred miles from any Major population areas then let her rip. Take off all restraints, scrubbing, all the other foolishness. Burn all the coal you can an generate electricity. Some of that electricity can be used to create liquid fuels from coal.


Quit creating ethanol at a net BTU loss. It wastes fuel, unless we can do it burning other lost resources such as used tires. Tires should be used as a fuel source in coal plants and these ethanol plants to capture the liquid oil sluffed off for refining. You get a lot of liquid oil from a single tire when you burn it.


Make backhaul trucking a reality again. There are too many trucks making too many empty trips because they can charge consumers for the whole turn. Trucking has become an inefficient transportation system. Mandate a load both ways. Use the ICC to influence truckers to maximize the use of the fuel they are buying. Finding a back haul is a lost art for many truckers. Too many trucks are dead heading home wasting fuel.


Limit the amount of police do patrolling in vehicles (read that just driving around wasting gasoline). Put cops on the beat on feet. Use technology to dispatch for emergencies. There are too many cops on the road and not enough ready to respond. In the 50’s the amount of driving around was unthinkable. And, some of that neighborhood patrolling can be done in very high mileage automobiles or on Segways, Bikes or electric vehicles. In Germany all the patrol cars are little tiny Volkswagens or Bicycles. Not the big gas guzzlers we use in the USA.


OFF ROAD. Agriculture should pay the same price for fuel as everyone else, tax included, as should construction. Fuel is fuel and the advantage causes uses that are not worthwhile. It’s false competition for resources.


Burn wood instead of Heating oil in centralized outdoor boilers. Use high smoke stacks to shunt the smoke high into the air and avoid local pollution. If every freestanding community under 5000 population in America allowed this for homes heated currently using oil to heat hot water boilers it would save huge amounts of fuel for other purposes, not provide any serious pollution since it’s only in very small towns and it has a zero net effect on CO2 generation if that’s a concern for you. One wood boiler per block would heat all the homes on that block for far less money than we are spending now. Plus it would use surplus wood for fuel saving landfill space and cleaning up the underbrush in forests. Most of these big boilers only need to be stoked once per day. They are sophisticated operations. People would only pay based on the heat they use.


Make it legal with incentives to burn used engine oil, waste oil, lard, cooking oils, industrial oils, any oils for energy production. This could be implemented thru adaptive technologies for commercial businesses. Recovery of these oils adds back to liquid fuels. The fact that we waste ANY liquid oil in any form whatsoever in any way is a crime. It should all be burned.


For anyone who currently own an automobile older than 1987 can turn it in for a subsidized purchase of an automobile that gets 27 MPH highway. These transactions would have far more incentive and effect than the current foolish incentives to buy a hybrid car. The net effect would be getting a large number of 15 MPH vehicles off the road in favor of those that get 27 MPH. This is a financing tax incentive program and would have the most impact on the fuel use. It is a zero cost impact on the government.


All of these things could be done in 6 months and would have an impact on oil usage.



Other areas of examination shortly after that:



Commercial and municipal buildings heated by oil to be converted to Natural Gas, coal or some other form. Remember, the shortage is LIQUID fuel. Not gas.

Airlines should do ride consolidations. Some flights shouldn’t be made. Before deregulation you could in fact fly any flight with any flight coupon. That saved fuel.

Get all permits for state of the art refining systems on line now. Same for all permits for Nuclear. If we are going to become energy independent we are going to need alternatives.


The conversion of poly and tires and any other organic materials to liquid oil and gas is very exciting. The technology exists.

The apparent practicality to take 10 million acres of the poorest desert (about 1/6th the size of Nevada) and waste land in areas near the ocean to produce algae that is 50% oil is an expensive undertaking but very practical. 10 million acres replaces all the oil we use now. It could be distributed into 250 acre farms. This is something needing to be done quickly.

Human and animal waste streams should be bioreduced to produce methane (natural gas). It is a crime to sluff off these gasses without making use of them.

We can and should be smarter in freeing up liquid fuels for transportation and use the easier to find gas and alternative fuels quickly. The technology exists to do all this.

I didn’t mention wind and photo voltaic power. Frankly it’s a long way off and still a pipe dream. IF there were a power shortage after we crank up more coal and nuclear plants in more places and let em rip. Supplement if you want the wind and solar but it’s peanuts.

Anyone have any other ideas? I know there is stupid waste in the system I know someone can put their finger on and we can put our finger in the leaky liquid fuels dike.

Comments

Unfortunately, Gene, most of your “remedies” involve big govt coercion.  Not good, and it won’t be successful.  If we reduce govt coercion(in the form of so-called environmental regulation and agendized taxation), the market will take care of the rest.


Save America; boycott the MSM.

robert108 on November 4, 2007 at 09:54 am
Avatar for wasted days, wasted nights

Wow, I can’t believe I wasted almost two minutes reading the incoherent rambling of a total ignoramus and 3 minutes writing this comment.
I should go to sleep now.

wasted days, wasted nights on November 4, 2007 at 12:47 pm

Wasted,

You are a dope without a creative thinking bone in your body.

I have never read any of your other comments or posts (if you could actually compose one). If you had any guts you’d be out in the open like the rest of us.  You’re a putz.

You are a liberal idiot.  I must have tipped one of your liberal sacred cows. 

Go back to your little hole and fire up a joint.  This is your brain on drugs............fried


[b]Old Tigers are more dangerous when they believe this could be their last hunt.

From , “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”
Old tigers, sensing the end,
they’re at their most fierce. 
And they go down fighting.

Gene on November 4, 2007 at 09:15 pm
Avatar for Dakota Lifestyle:  Beyond the Weather

For what it’s worth, I’m intrigued by your ‘abolishing school’ idea.

In my exerience, young children learn best in creative one-on-one situations or in small groups where they can memorize basic facts.  They often aren’t emotionally or even intellectually ready to deal with learning in large groups that can occur in public schools.

Learning should take place no matter what.  Parents, traveling tutors and charter schools could well-equipped to teach young children.  I wonder what would happen if primary schools were de-regulated and run as free-market enterprises?  I think test scores would go up and people would generally take education more seriously because they would be able to choose from competing markets.

All that in addition to saving liquid fuels!

Avatar for Anthony

It is not the Shortage of Liquid fuels that concerns most people.  After all the fuels are there to be pumped into your car, heater, ect.  It is the cost we should be looking at, and passing the cost from our gas bills, or from what we pay at the pump to new taxes to pay for new ways of getting it helps no one.

First of all I will give awholehearted endorsement to using one formulation for gas and diesel.  the system we have now is wasteful.  As for how much recovery you will get from narrow cracking “?”

Your idea of abolishing school will likely be close to a wash as far as fuels go.  Children still need to learn and not many parents have the time, ability, and inclination to home school children.  Likely those children would go to some charter or private school, and they would still need to be transported there.

Kyoto treaty isn’t worth the paper its printed on, let alone anything else.  Carbon is a natural part o the environment.  But coal has more in it than carbon, things like sulfur.  If you don’t scrub it you can end up with acid rains hundreds of miles away, maybe in a city near you.  Unscrubbed coal plant smoke is the main reason why China creates more air polutants than the US.  That idea doesn’t work.

No creating alt fuels at a net loss is obvious.  If government didn’t stick its wallet in there it wouldn’t exist.  Using tires for power is a descent idea, as long as it can pay for itself.  I haven’t seen anyone trying to use that business model yet.

Backhual trucking is another good idea, as long as the truckers and companies are willing to do it.  I see no reason why a company should pay for dead heading, unless they hire a driver to go pick something up.

The whole police argument is a very sticky question.  More cops patroling the streets is a good thing, but you’re idea would likely put them on a bike or on foort (read slow form of transport) when an emergency takes place at the complete other end of their patrol area.  without a vehicle we won’t have the three (hopefully) minute response time.  Another Idea is to create quick response stations at strategic locations (kind of like fire departments are at strategic locations), and kkep those staffed with several officers, and a couple of patrol cars.  That way they won’t be driving around (wasting fuel) but they will still be able to respond quickly.  But we will still need Cops Patrolling in cars, after all the cities in the US are much more spread out than those in Europe.

Same price for gas for everyone.  I like it.  Those farm people will just have to pay for it, can I get the tax money that pays for their subsidy back?

Wood instead of heating oil?  If it were cheaper then they would do it already.  Well if it was enough cheaper enough of the time they would do it.  significant political hurddles exist with anything that involves chopping down trees.  If those can be overcome I might want to take another look at the idea.  As for less pollution, not so sure about that.

I am all for recycling oils as long as it is cheaper than producing it.

Incentives to replace old cars is another tricky question.  As long as strict rules are adhered to, and that the person realing is replacing an older gas guzzling car with a newer (even used) car that gets 25+ mpg it might accomplish something.  Problem is you say incentive,and some people will hear “new car.” I don’t want to be paying for anyone’s new car.

Converting a building to natural gas could be extremely expensive.  Cost analysis would have to be run for each building with a decided upon cut off point.  No point in converting a building if you are going to tear it down before the conversion pays for itself.  That would just shift the cost from your gas bill, to your taxes.

Definetly should be using nuclear more.  And with some of the refining technology and spent fuel recycling we could stretch nuclear power further than ever.  Dangers do exist with recycling spent nuclear fuel.  as do political hurdles that must be overcome.

Conversion of fuels offers an interesting possibility, at this point we don’t know that it can sustain a production cylce that can pay for itself.

First time I’ve heard of algea farms.  Hope the tech works out for them, and they could grow some of it in the Sonaran dessert, I won’t mind.  But like I said, cost matters, not the availability of fuel, and it is currently an unproven tech.

Bioreduction of fuels is new.  same as fuel conversions for paying for itself.

Technology existing doesn’t mean it is more efficient or cheaper than the technology being used.  The end cost is what will matter.

In the end the US could do a lot to ease gas prices by investing in known technologies that work, and in drilling and pumping its own oil resources.

Anthony on November 6, 2007 at 02:13 am
Avatar for not that kind of wasted

I stumbled across the link to this article again and remembered I posted something. I was shocked to see you actually responded and amazed that you could tell so much about me from one minuscule missive.
I lol’d.
p.s. Don’t worry, I won’t be back. These aren’t the types of intertubes I typically trod.

not that kind of wasted on November 6, 2007 at 04:43 am

gene
i think you might do some more research buddy. while i am not an environmental freak, the thought of everyone burning wood and used oil is assinine. i this were 1802, I would commend you on your insights. it ain’t. i grew up in a house heated with wood. its hard goddamn work. no city folk are about to lift a finger, i suspect you included. furthermore, burning used engine oil is fun when you are young and you’re making torches to go exploring at night or to harass the wildlife, but not for heating your house or running an elec. turbine. c’mon.


Yun Chu said, “You must strictly not express in words what is very significant. Both dragon and snake are killed in one blow.”

Sparkie Arbuckle on November 6, 2007 at 08:08 am
Avatar for American TESOL Institute

American TESOL Institute launches two Websites http://www.tesolabroad.com/ and http://www.tesol-jobs.com/ .

American TESOL Institute on November 6, 2007 at 11:30 am
Avatar for Quantumfreeze

I came from Brazil and over there they are oil independent we use alcohol for our cars instead of gas, and they make alcohol out of multiple vegetables such as sugar cane.
There is no reason that the US cannot produce and alcohol as fuel for cars as well we do it in may parts of the worlds and it is much cheaper and safer than gas and best of all oil free.
In Brazil most people use alcohol but we still have the choice to use gas if we wanted but nobody uses it because it costs so much more than alcohol, just an example if alcohol cost $1 per gallon gas would cost like $3 bucks, so everyone just buys cars that are made to run on alcohol or cars that run on multiple types of fuel.
The real problem is the people that profits from oil doesn’t want things to change, and it will never change unless we change how politics are run in this country, too many companies paying off government officials, thats the real problem

Quantumfreeze on November 22, 2007 at 03:10 am
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