New Energy Sources Post Oil Spill

Now that people are waking up to the dangers of oil exploration and the follies of oil companies such as BP who have broken the Earth's crust in the drive for oil, maybe now is time to start looking at alternatives to oil as our main fuel resource. Sure the oil companies want to stay in business but csnt they reinvent themselves and become providers of alternative energies insted such as wind and solar power for example? Put their huge resources into that? That way they would survive as a company and also change our ways as well. of course we would have to throw away our gas cookers but maybe in the light of events petrol cars and use of environmentally damaging fuels would be seen as socially unacceptable like smoking, drink driving etc is now.

Can we not all petition our leaders to legislate for change. They can still be greedy as much as they like but instead invest in alternative fuel sources instead of oil. As to the Middle East, well given all the squabbling there, they have had over 50 years to sort themselves out and had so many billions invested in them. They can use solar energy as a new fuel commodity. After all it is desert land out there! They could build vast solar energy plants!

I'm all for a Green Revolution. Are you?

Good show. You're reaching for solutions.

While fuel isn't the only use we get from crude oil, it is a start:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Hemp can help impact some of those other uses, and should be a top priority along with the fuel 'prospects'.

The biggest problem we face in implementing things not typically economically viable, is actually having a say in where we as individuals allow our tax money to go. In this regard, I think I've helped to find an actual solution:
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

If we could slash the over-bloated "defense" budget, along with the rest of the things we each personally don't agree with, we'd have a budget to phase in energy projects that will lead to lower investments as time goes on.

Yes!

Forget about waiting for your government to change the way you use energy,do it yourself .The more people that can live without having to rely on other people to provide services the better ,in the end the government becomes irrelevant.Each to their own ,are you willing to give up your microwave oven or dishwasher?Probably not ,so carry on.Its not about saving the planet, its about living without doing to much damage to it.

If any good comes out of this whole clusterf***, its that we start looking for real alternatives to petroleum.

Here’s just a couple of my thoughts:

Push for alternative cleaner energy across the board, wind, solar, and nuclear
Require solar panels in the construction of new homes
Funnel the billions of dollars paid in subsidies to the oil industry into bio-fuels
Push for electric and hydrogen powered cars
Hope the government releases Tesla’s plans for capturing zero point energy

I think it's a good idea to look at the possible after effects of this disaster. Like you, I sense that this will combine with other influences in culture/society and stimulate many to make whatever changes they can in theiur lives to step away from oil/gas where possible.

However, I also see further things to consider, for instance, this event seems to me to change other issues about energy use/access globally, not just the USA. After the (initial) financial collapse, I sensed a change/swing in the balance of global power, not just power, but projected demand/consumption/markets. Also changes in the USAs ability to dominate and maintain effective control of oil/gas supply (increasingly sourced from overseas). Look at the problems BP is having in Russia, and how China is securing supply from all over the place, how Russia is chasing polar oil and the ME, Afghanistan and South America are chosing China not the USA increasingly as their key partner for oil/gas export.

There's the rub, I don't think the M.E./African/South American/Russian oil exporters neccessarily will place the USA or solving it's oil/gas supply chain needs at the top of their priority list at the moment, partly due to cold economic supply/demand and partly down to historic and political relations. Indeed I think in many ways they would welcome the USA losing it's influence and ability to interfere or compete in their global activities.

Whilst I believe that Peak Oil is a global issue, perhaps more pressingly, particularly in light of this event, the USA may be first to suffer as it now depends so heavily on imports and so many other forces are chasing/securing the same supplies for their own, and strategic partners demands.

The USA may not be alone here, Europe too could be caught up, but the USA is perhaps disadvantaged in that it's military reach/activities may be seen as a higher threat that could do with being diminished to expedite their own plans/needs?

This year, there have already been threads suggesting that the USAs income from the $ being the main oil trading currency may be under threat and challenged by other players, including China and Russia. Were this Gulf event to be followed by further weakening of the USA import/supply chain, I'd imagine that it would come under more pressure.

As another post by IgnoranceIsntBlisss "Dear Oil SCREAMongers: REALITY CHECK!" link to thread outlines, oil is used for far more things than just heat and transport, so a redirecting of oil from the USA towards other countries could have far broader implications I suspect?

What about alternatives for all those other chemicals/derivatives (fertiilizer etc... included)?

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Originally posted by IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Good show. You're reaching for solutions.

While fuel isn't the only use we get from crude oil, it is a start:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Hemp can help impact some of those other uses, and should be a top priority along with the fuel 'prospects'.

There are some alternatives to plastics and other petroleum based products:

www.msnbc.msn.com...

www.foodproductiondaily.com...

www.p2pays.org...

reply to post by IgnoranceIsntBlisss


Really like that idea of transfering defence budgets to alternative energy, that may be a model other places could follow, (Europe). It makes much sense, rather than sustaining or expanding a military to chase dwindling oil all over the globe, invest in transforming your domestic consumption model to alternatives, seems like common sense really.

Some would say it looks naive, but the alternative seems worse to me...

Also, couldn't a globally stretched military without a secure supply chain of energy be highly vulnerable, and rapidly switch from asset to liability?