Solving the Problem of Liquid Fuels
Posted: Sun 23 Nov 2014, 01:56:00
Solving the Problem of Liquid Fuels
With the entire media abuzz about renewable energy and climate change, it appears to be masking the major energy issue, which is a declining amount of cheap and readily available liquid fuel. We know this to be a serious issue, as we already feed 40% of the US corn crop to our machines, via a 10% blend of ethanol in our gasoline. 13% of our soybean crop goes to a 5% blend of biodiesel in our diesel fuel.
While renewable energies in the form of wind/solar/geothermal, etc, help to address our electrical power demand, they offer little in the way of alleviating our liquid fuel dilemma.
Or do they?
Will renewables be used on an ever increasing scale to generate hydrogen to replace gasoline or to extract uneconomical oil, or oil that has an EROEI<1? Or, will we subsidize uneconomical oil extraction?
Look at the countries that already subsidize gasoline. Prices range from $9.79/gallon in Norway to $.04/gallon in Venezuela.
The 1.2 billion fleet of ICE powered vehicles on the road isn’t going to be replaced anytime soon with electric vehicles. There are just too many and more coming---2 billion by 2035. Not to mention, that starting in 2011, we produce 200 million ICE engines every year to power everything from weed wackers and chainsaws, to power plants and ships at sea.
In my mind, the utility of liquid fuels is just too great and too necessary, for our complex system to function without them.
With the entire media abuzz about renewable energy and climate change, it appears to be masking the major energy issue, which is a declining amount of cheap and readily available liquid fuel. We know this to be a serious issue, as we already feed 40% of the US corn crop to our machines, via a 10% blend of ethanol in our gasoline. 13% of our soybean crop goes to a 5% blend of biodiesel in our diesel fuel.
While renewable energies in the form of wind/solar/geothermal, etc, help to address our electrical power demand, they offer little in the way of alleviating our liquid fuel dilemma.
Or do they?
Will renewables be used on an ever increasing scale to generate hydrogen to replace gasoline or to extract uneconomical oil, or oil that has an EROEI<1? Or, will we subsidize uneconomical oil extraction?
Look at the countries that already subsidize gasoline. Prices range from $9.79/gallon in Norway to $.04/gallon in Venezuela.
The 1.2 billion fleet of ICE powered vehicles on the road isn’t going to be replaced anytime soon with electric vehicles. There are just too many and more coming---2 billion by 2035. Not to mention, that starting in 2011, we produce 200 million ICE engines every year to power everything from weed wackers and chainsaws, to power plants and ships at sea.
In my mind, the utility of liquid fuels is just too great and too necessary, for our complex system to function without them.