(04-13-2017 07:18 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(04-12-2017 11:08 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(04-12-2017 07:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  The beauty of what Brazil did is that they focused entirely on vile options with presently available technology, and in so doing managed to get 44% of their vehicle fuel from biofuels. That's the kind of approach that I favor:

Freudian slip? (wink)

Quote:Things that are doable now:
1) More nuclear generated electricity. There are risks, for sure, but right now the risk calculus favors nuclear over coal, and things like solar and wind really are not capable of meeting base load needs.
2) Converting trains to electric power. Trains are much easier than cars, because they run on fixed tracks so they don't need to carry their power source with them, but can take it from fixed supply lines.
3) Converting delivery fleets that can easily fuel at a single point to natural gas. We don't have the infrastructure in place to use CNG for everything, but we can certainly use it where the number of required distribution points can be limited.
4) Using sugar cane ethanol, as much as we can produce here and as much as we can import from places like Brazil and Cuba. We could revive the collapsed Cuban sugar cane industry and achieve a significant reduction in oil usage. Doing the same thing throughout Mexico and Central and South America--and possibly West Africa--could also facilitate considerable reductions in our drug and illegal immigration issues by providing viable alternative employment for people in those areas.

Wow. Are you my doppleganger?

You forgot one thing. Eliminate the cellulostic ethanol programs we have now. Most people don't realize that the corn ethanol program is a net energy sink. The process requires more BTUs (typically from hydrocarbons) than it gives up. I really dont understand (when you take the politics away) why this is an ongoing concern. It's literally like having a negative interest bank account.

Because of special interests and the fact that we often don't make wholesale energy policy change based off of the scientific data, and rather off what we can sell best to voters.

It's a stupid use of corn. Switchgrass was poised to be a great form of cellulosic ethanol, but I'm not sure whatever happened to the R&D around that.

There must be rip in the fabric of the universe. Something that three of us agree on....