What will you be filling your tank with in 20 years?

by **Bas** » Sat 14 May 2005, 20:26:16

I had a vision today of going to the gasstation in 20 years and the main "menu" would consist of:

Alcohol
Bio-diesel
Hydrogen

traditional gas and diesel would still be available, with it's price slowly dropping but still more expensive then the new alternatives.

by **Ludi** » Sat 14 May 2005, 20:33:03

Better do a little more research on hydrogen, you'll probably revise your list...

by **Bas** » Sat 14 May 2005, 20:47:29

well, you can make hydrogen using electricity. Maybe biodiesel and alcohol are cheaper but you'd need alot of land to be able to substitute a significant amount of oilconsumption. The more land goes to producing biodiesel and alcohol, the higher foodprices will get and in turn this will make biodiesel and alcohol more expensive, this way hydrogen will become economically competative for sure. I don't know what the marketshares of these new fuels will be and I don't know if alcohol is more efficient than biodiesel or vice versa. Possibly one of the two fuels will be pushed out of the market by the other but hydrogen will be there anyway. You don't need enormous areas of land to produce it, a nuclear power station will suffice.

by **Licho** » Sat 14 May 2005, 20:53:51

I hope I will own hydrogen one, but I think that there will still be many ordinary oil gasoline and diesel/bio-diesel running cars..

by **ArimoDave** » Sat 14 May 2005, 21:12:26

bas wrote:well, you can make hydrogen using electricity. Maybe biodiesel and alcohol are cheaper but you'd need alot of land to be able to substitute a significant amount of oilconsumption. The more land goes to producing biodiesel and alcohol, the higher foodprices will get and in turn this will make biodiesel and alcohol more expensive, this way hydrogen will become economically competative for sure. I don't know what the marketshares of these new fuels will be and I don't know if alcohol is more efficient than biodiesel or vice versa. Possibly one of the two fuels will be pushed out of the market by the other but hydrogen will be there anyway. You don't need enormous areas of land to produce it, a nuclear power station will suffice.

Distribution of hydrogen, however, will be a problem. You either have to make it on the spot, which will entail an expanded electrical distribution grid, or you have to transport the H2 across land. If you are going to run nukes perhaps we may synthesize propane. Its more transportable than H2 or methane; it compresses into a liquid under moderate pressure.

I think, though, many of us will be filling up on power-bars and energy drinks. Use the sugar to power us instead of making something like ethanol, etc.

Just my thoughts.

ArimoDave

by **0mar** » Sat 14 May 2005, 22:04:08

Best case scenario --> biodiesal

Worst case scenario --> blood/skulls.

by **DriveElectric** » Sat 14 May 2005, 22:18:02

Cellulose ethanol or Biodiesel in my Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) which recharges from the electric grid every night.

Or I will just be riding my Vectrix scooter (all electric) when the weather is nice.

by **smallpoxgirl** » Sat 14 May 2005, 22:34:55

What will you be filling your tank with in 20 years?

Answer: bullets

Gonna be a lot of fun using my old truck for target practice.

by **frankthetank** » Sat 14 May 2005, 22:50:15

electricity...

or what Omar said

by **Geology_Guy** » Sat 14 May 2005, 23:04:28

I already own a flex fuel Ford Taurus which I can power with white lightning. After watching many episodes of Beverly Hillbillies I have come up with a plan. Build an alcohol still and plant the front yard to corn. I wish I had the Clampett's oil field though.

by **arretium** » Sat 14 May 2005, 23:14:34

Kunstler is right. We westerners just can not conceptualize the end of our civilization. I can't do it and I've been trying. It just seems too ludicrious to imagine.

Despite that, in twenty years, I imagine the following:

Fill up on Electricity; or
Biodiesel (in extremely ltd supplies)

Few gasoline drivers.

Maybe we'll see an h2 economy. I'll hopeful but not optimistic, if that makes any sense. Ludi and other are right about transportation issues for this product. I imagine if you could build a highly pressurized and extremely cold distribution system you could acheive some economies of scale thus making the system doable. But at this point, barring an unforeseen technology leap, it's just not going to happen.

by **Omnitir** » Sun 15 May 2005, 02:32:18

Well, I think WE won’t be filling up our cars with anything, as I think only a select few “authorised” cars will be capable of wasting fuel for transport. We’ll probably be fuelling ourselves up with carbs and jumping of the bicycle, or if we are lucky, the train. Or hey, maybe we'll just have to walk!

Either that, or we’ll all be flying around in hover cars with their own fusion reactors, Jetson’s style! :-D

…Or we’ll all be dead. :cry:

by **bentstrider** » Sun 15 May 2005, 02:39:19

Me, a few acres worth of hemp plants will do ME good at least.
I'll burn all my carbs at home hand-cranking the oil out of the seeds.
I'll think of making my fuel as that of "Labor for the Love".
Kind of like the tagline for those Country Crock instant meals.

by **Licho** » Sun 15 May 2005, 05:28:13

Well, 20 years from now, there will still be higher oil supply than in 1960's ..

So signifact ammount of cars is likely to still use ordinary gasoline..

by **Devil** » Sun 15 May 2005, 06:35:13

In 20 years from now, I'll probably very dead, as I'm already older than any man has survived in my family, so you may be filling up from my body :lol:

by **aahala** » Sun 15 May 2005, 10:10:10

It's possible in twenty years you will be filling the tank with nothing,
as you won't have a tank to fill. Whether the age of personal transportion
is over in this generation or a few later, that's the future. Energy
resources simply do not permit the auto age to continue indefinately.
We will return to the "age of the feet."

by **Sunspot** » Sun 15 May 2005, 10:24:26

Within six months the world oil supply will no longer meet demand. Prices will soar, and economy(s) will fail. We are at the tail end of the last period of economic growth the world will ever see. 20 years from now??? Who the hell knows.........

by **Bas** » Sun 15 May 2005, 12:23:21

Well sure we'll have a serious economic crisis within 1-3 years, but crises always spark change too, alcohol biodiesel and hydrogen might be here sooner than you think.

by **Bas** » Sun 15 May 2005, 12:24:22

thanks for the replies people

by **RiverRat** » Mon 16 May 2005, 11:15:31

$100 bills

:-D

What will you be filling your tank with in 20 years?

What will you be filling your tank with in 20 years?

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