Developments in four countries are pointing the way toward energy independence using basic technologies already on the shelf. All the United States needs to achieve freedom from its addiction and vulnerability to foreign oil is the will to act. Dr. Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, points the way in an article titled "We Can Do It." You can go to this
reference for more on the source.
When the USA wants to act, it can. After the first oil embargoes of the 1970s President Jimmy Carter led the country to break its dependence on oil for electricity generation. Today only 2% of American eletricity comes from burning oil. We can do the same for our transportation sector by following any of four examples other countries are using. If they can do it, so can we.
The first example is Iran, which has lots of oil but no refineries. Ironically, it therefore has to import virtually all its gasoline. That would make Iran completely vulnerable to international sanctions if they included gas. The Islamic Republic has consequently embarked on a crash program to require all cars to become "dual-fuel" capable for gasoline and natural gas, which Iran has plenty of. More than 100 gas stations have already been converted to supply both, with the rest on the way. All a motorist has to do is drive in to a service center, pay a subsidized fee equivalent to $50 U.S. and return a few hours later to pick up the car. Within five years Iran will not need to rely on gasoline. At all.
Brazil is well along the way to completing the transiton to ethanol from sugar cane, a far more efficient source than corn. Its "flexible-fuel" cars cost only an extra $100 to make. All that's needed is a fuel sensor and a corrosion-resistant fuel line, and the process even works on new cars made by G.M. and Ford. Luft writes, "Gasoline prices have almost doubled elsewhere since 2005, but in Brazil they have been almost frozen."
China is doing the same thing, but with methanol, a form of alcohol, rather than ethanol. It can be "distilled" from natural gas, coal and most any vegetable waste, and "is cheaper and far easier to produce in bulk" than ethanol. It can even be made from "the carbon dioxide captured from power stations' smokestacks" as part of a program to "reduce greenhouse gas emissions." China has nearly 100 plants under construction.
Israel began replacing its gas-powered autos with battery-powered ones in 2007. "Hundreds of thousands" of recharging stations will be created all over the country. Israel plans to have an oil-free economy within a few years.
Special intererst politics are a major impediment to adopting any of these sensible ideas in the United States. Congressmen from corn states have passed a 54-cent a gallon tariff on imported sugar-cane ethanol, and have mandated that flex-fuel cars can only run on ethanol rather than methanol or other biofuels. And General Motors bought up and destroyed the EV-1 electric cars it once pioneered.
American leaders in both parties are doing a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing about oil and gasoline prices these days, but have offered little in the way of solutions that address the heart of the problem. The experience of these four countries shows that answers do exist if there is a will to act for the national rather than the special interest. The security and propserity of the American people depend on it.
6 comments:
I remember watching the Indy 500 as a kid and hearing comments like, "What a waste of gasonline" or "What's the purpose of this besides going around in circles for 200 laps?" Not many people know, but many of the safety and technology advances that we have in our cars today are a result of the testing done during automobile races like the Indy 500.
Indy cars have been running on a type of Methanol for years following a disastrous accident on the first lap of the race back in 1964!!! And yet, over forty years later, we're still dependent upon gasoline for our main fuel. The racers have been using for years. It's time for us to do the same thing.
Excellent points. And if Indy racers are using it that should answer any questions people might have about whether methanol has enough power to give drivers the acceleration they want!
Have you seen the new television ads paid for and featuring oil magnate T. Boone Pickens in which he calls for ending America's dependence on foreign oil? What are your thoughts on that?
Yes, I've seen the Pickens ad. It really gets your attention, doesn't it? The word is he will be strongly pushing wind turbine power generation. As someone who lived in Kansas for two years, I know first hand the power of the wind on the plains. The state of Texas just approved $4.9 billion for wind farms and the power grid to get the juice from West Texas where it blows the hardest to East Texas where most of the people live. Three cheers for Pickens and Texas on this one!
What about Al Gore's challenge? I really liked what he said on Meet the Press Sunday night. Forget the interem carbon based baby steps... and go straight for an Electric economy!
A Gererational Challenge
So true, John. The sooner we get that underway the better. The main question Americans in the future will ask about this is, "What took them so long?" Such is the power of big money over our system.
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