posted on Jul, 24 2005 @ 02:14 PM
I do agree that the oil supply will come to an end sooner than people think. I think that the increase in oil prices is a way for the companies to
maximise profit before this end. On one hand we see prices rise and people complaining of the added expense. Yet....the sale of SUV's and big engined
cars still continues.
For years the technology for alternative portable energy sources such has been in existence...yet the development of these technologies have not
received substantial funding until recently.
Also, how many of you out there have heard of palm oil cars and ethnol based fuels???
Cars can be run on palm oil, as proven in experiments in Brazil and Malaysia, which is a renewable resource...but the major producers of palm oil
(termed rat oil by some US politicians) are in the developing or 3rd world. There is no western interests in this form of fuel as the potential
monetary loss is too great. It has been estimated that up to 5 million acres of plantation would be needed to fuel the current world's demands. With
the current level of plantation across the world, there would be no problems in meeting this demand.
What about ethanol-gasoline mixtures in 80-90%:10-20% mixtures? Ethanol can be cheaply produced by a variety of means. This fuel mixture has been
proven to be 30-40% less polluting than pure gasoline and release less in carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulphur emmisions. And there are cars
out there that do run on this mixture (eg: almost 2 million vehicles produced in Brazil since the 1970's)
I think that the oil companies see a future where alternative forms of fuel are going to replace good 'ol gasoline and they want to profit while
they can.