A Global Conundrum
Ironically, the conundrum of humanity's dependence on foreign oil is an unsurmountable obstacle to world peace among nations. Because of the need for oil, India, one of the most populous nations of the world, is aligned with Russia, while at the same time we in the U.S. virtually depend on them for our system of medicine (not to mention convenience stores)! Our dependence on energy threatens the very existence of the planet, nevertheless, nobody wants to hear about alternative energy sources.We seem to think the only answer is more electric cars!
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I find it funny how this country has been exporting more fossil fuels than it consumes since 2017!!!
Yet our reserves are half of what they were pre 2001!!!
It is all about greed and subsidies for the massive fossil fuels corporations!!!
of-the-mountain
Level 9
Apr 9, 2023
0
India will only ever do what is good for India no matter what. They do not have morals or values when it comes to money, besides the problem is much deeper than dependency on oil.
Jolanta
Level 9
Apr 8, 2023
2
Isn't that pretty much standard OS for almost every nation and entity on Earth? If it's not good for Yo then Yo's not doing it. Unless a bad (usually) man threatens to kill us if we don't do X thing which enables them to commit unspeakable horror on others. Then we'll do it but we'll complain (if Hollywood teaches us things).
There is no doubt that our continued use of fossil fuels represents a moral failure of epic proportions. And we cannot put the blame solely on moneyed elites, (though they do, in my opinion, deserve the lion's share of responsibility for the mess we're in). The sun delivers on average about one kilowatt of energy per square meter per day to Earth's surface. That is a HUGE amount of energy compared to what we need to run our economies. And the technologies needed to harvest that energy already exist. We only need to make the investments. But the fossil fuel industry, through it's lobbyists, think tanks, and venal politicians (including elected judges) have a stranglehold on our economy. They only care about immediately lining their pockets; whatever climate catastrophe faces their grandchildren is not their concern. What matters to them is that they have the biggest yacht in the bay, the most luxurious villa with the most spectacular view, the hottest mistress, the most valuable old master paintings, the most expensive wines, etc; fuck the planet.
Flyingsaucesir
Level 8
Apr 8, 2023
0
Some day we may learn the secret of cold fusion until then I found this online not only are we the largest user of oil energy we produce most of it. We are not short of oil. When I pumped gas in the early 80s cost was 36 cents a gal, then Boston wouldn't allow any more oil tankers to unload because all the barrels were over full. My customers were shocked leaving. Boston by how many ships got stranded for weeks in the harbor waiting to up our prices. We went thru that make believe shortage to raise our price up to equal the other countries paying $3 a gal. It's a political snafu.
Does the US produce most of its own oil?
The United States is one of the largest crude oil producers
U.S. oil refineries obtain crude oil produced in the United States and in other countries. Different types of companies supply crude oil to the world market.
A coordinated, forward-looking energy policy over the last few decades would have targeted that issue through subsidies and incentives. That money has been paid out anyway: it wouldn’t have been hard to use it to make America truly energy independent. However, politicians, it seems, would rather keep a situation where periodic energy crises give them a cudgel with which to beat an incumbent.
[nasdaq.com]
K9JetLee999
Level 5
Apr 8, 2023
1
But it would just further stall the initiative to develop clean energy sources.
Just moved to a new and improved way of pollution ans slavery
Castlepaloma
Level 8
Apr 8, 2023
0
??
The biggest problems is the law...
The law could make oil a shared resource that no one can own..
Where's the oil mostly with the easiest access it's on the land
We could have 10 cent or less a gallon gas if it wasn't for the scum who think they deserve wealth from owning a piece of land with resources that belong to us all
laidback1
Level 6
Apr 8, 2023
0
Unfortunately, each country has its own system of law.
The problems of electric cars will be worked out including the expensive batteries and disposal of them. What everyone misses is how to generate that electricity to charge the cars. It will not be done by wind or water power and I do support both of those. Are they going to burn coal to generate electricity? What problem is solved here?
DenoPenno
Level 9
Apr 8, 2023
0
Nuclear plants seem to be the only answer.
Few know about the real cost of electric cars. And I think "fusion" energy is a chimera.
@Alienbeing I'm from Harrisburg, PA, and 40 years ago I wouldn't have agreed with you, but today, I'm not so sure. The planet is going to die in any case, and nobody is willing or able to stop it. Maybe nukes would buy us a little more time and the death might be a little more tolerable. On second thought............
@Alienbeing Maybe we should breed "nuclear families". Would that require "breeder reactors"?
Civilisations have always been based on harnessing energy. The ox, the horse, the slave, the female, ....
Man must dedicate himself to harnessing nuclear fusion.
Petter
Level 9
Apr 8, 2023
2
I am certainly not a scientist, but after many years of trying, including several a de-bunked claims of success, we seem to be no closer to solving this "chimera". I think it's like trying to solve "perpetual motion" or creating something from nothing. I believe that, according to science, energy can't be created, nor destroyed, but simply changed from one form to another.
@fishline79 Precisely. Mass is a form of energy. (Hence e=mc² )
Nuclear fusion, whereby hydrogen is fused into helium, creates a loss of mass, in the form of energy.
The problem is that a lot of energy has to be put in, before the reaction can start, and the best returns to date have only been in the region of 8% more energy than what was put in. Hardly a commercially viable result. It is possible to get a far higher return, of course, if the reaction is uncontrolled.
The output of an uncontrolled reaction is most dramatically observed in the H-bomb, where the energy input device is an A-bomb.
@Petter I think the recent breakthrough is only only the beginning. Fusion energy looks very promising, though
it will be a while before we have commercial production.
@Petter So, it sounds like you are just reinforcing my statement. You can't make energy without using more energy.
@fishline79 The important thing about the recent breakthrough in fusion technology is that they got more energy out than they put in. And that is, essentially, the whole ballgame. Now in this case, apparently, they got 8% more energy out than went in. That may not sound like a lot, but in reality it is phenomenal. The question is, is it scalable? I bet it is. And based on what we know about the improvement of technologies with time, I bet the net output energy will increase too.
@fishline79 That is not what I wrote. I wrote that the "profit" (to use a term that people understand) is at present not worth the effort.
Consider the situation where it costs you $10 in fuel to go somewhere for an hour's work, at the end of which you receive $20.
The outcome is positive, but not worth it, especially if you factor in driving time.
However, if the price of fuel drops and the pay increases five-fold, then the task becomes sufficiently profitable to be considered.
Nuclear fusion "profit" is currently positive, but not enough.
@Petter OK I get your point but in fairness you said "returns" and I understood that to mean net energy return.
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