Monday, June 23, 2008

We Need Pragmatism to Solve Oiil Problem

We Need Pragmatism to Solve Oil Problem

It seems we still have an impasse on the oil problem. The Republicans want to develop a field in Alaska and others along the shoreline of the United States as well as build more than 100 new nuclear reactors in America. . The Democrats are taking a holier than thou position not to develop any new wells and especially ones in Alaska and along the American coast and they are not for building new nuclear reactors. Except for some price sensitivity, there is almost no conservation.

There are many small scale solution niches of the oil problem but none seem to be on the horizon for meaningful impact for at least 3 to 5 years from now. Bacteria are converting wood waste into oil in a lab. Electric cars are improving distance between charges, charging of the battery times, and speed but production is still low. Producing electric from wind and solar power is increasing slowly. Thermal energy is being looked at more frequently. Many people are increasing the amount of insulation for their homes as well as replacing their windows with modern efficient ones. Much of the corn crop is converted to ethanol. Synthetic oil from coal has been successfully tested for military jets, but production will be minuscule for several years until plants are built. People are buying energy efficient light bulbs and appliances.

Altogether the efforts to date on alternatives for oil is barely 1% savings and it can be suggested that demand for additional energy over the same time periods has exceeded the availability for new alternatives.

America imports 75% of its oil needs and that amount is projected to increase over the next 20 years, old oil wells are not producing as much oil as they have in the past, in America there is not much motivation to develop new wells, refineries, or pipelines, the price of oil has ratcheted up highly and is expected to rise higher, there is famine and America is converting food products to energy. There are no national goals or plan to solve the energy crises. Most of the world oil producers are not friends of the United States and are unstable.

The energy crises is pushing the American economy into recession with job loss and price inflation. The terrorists could not conceive a better effort than the energy crises to cause such misery for hundreds of millions of Americans. As the price of energy increases, the misery increases for more Americans. And the price of oil is expected to increase severely over time.

America must be self reliant on energy instead of dependant on foreign oil. An assessment of America's reserves of oil, gas, and coal should me made to determine future use. Can America draw several million of barrels of oil daily from oil shale areas? Do we have enough natural gas so that we can convert a million homes from fuel oil to natural gas in the next couple of years at a reduced price for homeowners? Can we produce a million barrels of synthetic oil from coal daily in the next three years? What infrastructure is needed for future energy production? America should not be afraid of developing new wells and mines, the first problem is to start eliminating dependence on foreign oil. Can we speed up the research and development of the oil producing bacteria?

American society should be examined. Self sufficient downtown areas should be encouraged. America's downtown areas have mostly declined since the 1960's and should be revitalized. Americans should be encouraged to work, shop, and live within walking distance of each other. The two and three car household of today should not be encouraged. Public transportation should be encouraged and be converted from oil to electric power whenever possible.

Solar power should be in use for all homes, government, and commercial buildings especially when used primarily during the day when sunlight is available. Applications for solar power should include building heating and cooling systems.

Government advantages given to promote the purchase of SUV's should be eliminated to start removing big, heavy vehicles for personal use off the road.

Without national goals and a national plan, America is a sitting duck for higher oil prices and bigger disruptions of America's economy. Contact your town, county, state, and national elected officials and demand to know what they are doing to get off of foreign dependence of oil, to reduce the prices of energy, and to encourage energy alternatives. If we do not raise a fuss with them, they will continue to stick their heads in the sand and America will suffer worse during the next 4 or 8 years.