MdmSzdWhtGuy said:
3. Not enough new drilling. There is still oil left in the U.S. There is a lot of oil off the coast of Florida, and who knows where else. But nobody wants to drill off the Fla. coast and nobody wants to drill in Anwar. Without new domestic sources of oil, we are going to continue to be at the mercy of foreign producers.
And finally, and frankly this one was too big to put on the list with the other 3. There have been no viable alternatives to fossil fuel invented to date. When the day comes that fossil fuels are too expensive to use, and we are forced to come up with some other means for fuel, then gas, and oil will cease to be the backbone of our economies that they are today.
B.
Point 3. Not enough new drilling.
Not enough, going by the price of oil. But you seem to forget that the more expensive oil becomes, the more viable it becomes to drill in places which were considered too costly previously.
With the price of oil rocketing, our North Sea Oil fields begining to show signs of running out, Oil will be looked for in places that are known to have oil, but where it has been too costly to drill it in the past.
There have been no viable alternatives to fossil fuel invented to date. When the day comes that fossil fuels are too expensive to use, and we are forced to come up with some other means for fuel, then gas, and oil will cease to be the backbone of our economies that they are today.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/15/nano_hydrogen_catflap/
Fuel-cell-powered cars moved another step closer yesterday with the announcement that a group of British scientists have developed a material that can safely store and release hydrogen.
Although fuel cell technology is reasonably well developed, scientists have struggled to find a way of storing enough hydrogen fuel to make them viable alternatives to petrol engines. However, the breakthrough that the Liverpool and Newcastle team has made could change that. It has developed a nanoporous material into which they can load highly pressurised hydrogen. However, once the gas is stored in the pores - nanometres across - its pressure is lowered considerably.
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Professor Matt Rosseinsky of the University of Liverpool's Department of Chemistry, described the material as "a molecular cat-flap". He explained: "After allowing the hydrogen molecule - the 'cat' - in, the structure closes shut behind it. The important point is that the hydrogen is loaded into the materials at high pressure but stored in them at a much lower pressure - a unique behaviour."
Professor Mark Thomas, of Newcastle University's Northern Carbon Research Laboratories said that the breakthrough, published in the journal
Science, was a proof of principle. He explained that although it will need further development to make it suitable for powering a car, it is an important step towards the reality of environmentally-friendly power. ®
http://www.sovereignty.org.uk/features/eco/hydrogen.html
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HYDROGEN POWERED BUSES IN LONDON[/size]
You may not have heard yet, but a possible alternative to petrol is already with us and it's called a hydrogen fuel cell. The hydrogen fuel cell dates back to 1839 when William Grove, a British (what else!) barrister and amateur physicist first discovered the principle that hydrogen and oxygen can be combined to produce an electric current.
In the past 5 years there has been a considerable advance in the technology of fuel cells and London will take delivery of its first hydrogen powered buses by Christmas 2003, with passenger services likely to begin in central London by early 2004.
General Motors in the USA is planning to build one million fuel-cell vehicles a year in the next decade, but it won't be until 2020 that the US-motor industry expects a full transition to be underway.
Does the hydrogen fuel cell represent an alternative to relying on perilous fossil fuel imports? Can what is being called "the hydrogen economy" contribute to a Sustainable Energy for National Self-Reliance Programme? And just how safe are hydrogen buses and cars, and how clean is hydrogen fuel? These and other questions will be examined by Sovereignty in the coming months and years.