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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Energy, etc.

"Unlike conventional crude oil, after all, much alternative fuel production requires very large energy inputs, and nearly all of this comes from existing fossil fuels. It takes a great deal of diesel fuel to grow corn for ethanol production, for example, and a fair amount of natural gas or electricity (the latter mostly generated by coal or natural gas) to run the plants that turn the corn into ethanol. Oilseed production and refining for biodiesel is subject to similar constraints, while the Canadian tar sands that have received so much attention in recent years yield a usable crude substitute only with the help of prodigious amounts of natural gas. A meaningful measure of liquid fuels production should at least subtract the total amount of liquid fuels that has to be cycled back in to the process of producing more liquid fuels, and might reasonably subtract the value of nonliquid fuel energy consumed in the process of production, for much the same reason that a company’s balance sheet has to subtract expenses from income when it comes time to figure profits." More

9 comments:

Oldfool said...

I ain't worried.

Gunnar Berg said...

I am.

Oldfool said...

Why? Can't do much about it. Might as well worry about the tide or sunset. Can't do much about them either.

Gunnar Berg said...

I worry for unborn grandchildren.

Anonymous said...

Nothing on energy will ever be resolved until the last possible moment, after much kicking & screaming. But it will be resolved. This is the nature of the human brain, wired by evolution for living in small groups, not massive societies. -Tony

Gunnar Berg said...

I agree to a point, but I think the end of the energy age will be far more drastic than most people realize. When the smoke clears I don't think there will be nearly as many of us left and we will be living smaller and more local. We've been through worse. DNA studies indicate that climate change took us from a stable, robust population down to about 200 individuals. We were an endangered species. We came out of it. Plagues, wars and pestilence have sometimes thinned us out... and we're still here.

Anonymous said...

When I said it's going to be resolved, I did'nt mean it wouldn't be ugly! -Tony

Silk Hope said...

From this conservative Repulican:

First: I am very worried.

Second here are some facts:

700 Bil exit the country every year because of foreign oil. The US has %80 of all the worlds know Nat. Gas reserves. Right now the conversion for $5 USD a gallon of Gasoline is $1.70 in CNG.

We as a country right now are Pure D stupid.

I am currently selling a car for 18k. that is CNG. If the Pickens law passes the car will cost 9k and they will give you subsidies to put a home filling station.
(this was the article Gunnar posted about my cousin).

This is alot of jack and a pile of savings and nobody is moving on this. We'd better get on the stick or you can turn out the lights and shut door on your way out.

Mr. Hope

Anonymous said...

It's hard to get moving on anything when you can't stop long enough to pry your eyes off of a stupid "smart" phone and see what's going on around you in the real world! (Maybe they'll get interested when the grid shuts down and they loose service) -Tony