Energy, now and in the future. (1 Viewer)

[Joe8915]

Here is a much better explanation of the Chevy Volt argument and it's misleading conclusions. If you go into a topic with proving a specific agenda, it's easy to twist words into "proving" what it is you are researching and the outcome you want.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/chevyvolt.asp

Well we all know how snopes is always right........................ not. Snopes is so connected with our current POU. So anything our POU would say it to be true, it would be so true by snopes standards. But of course that is my thought. We could go on for ever about snopes. But thats all differen't thread in itself.

 

[Adam Caramon]

But of course that is my thought.

Yes. Out of curiosity, what do you consider to be an unbiased source of news and information?

Most people seem to agree that Fox is biased to the right, and that MSNBC is biased to the left. However, I have also heard right-leaning individuals claim that ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN are all "the liberal media".

It seems like people in general are confusing bias with "they disagree with what I believe to be true". Thus, if there is a positive story about the POTUS on an article, a right-leaning individual will immediately wonder why the article sponsor choose this story, and did not highlight a negative story instead. They will then conclude that this story, and perhaps the story's sponsor is biased.

Even factcheck.org has been declared by right-leaning individuals to be liberally biased. It makes me wonder if that old joke is true: Reality has a liberal bias .

 

[Joe8915]

Adam, I try to read as many as I can from various sources on the internet. I come up with my personal conclusion. If I had to point to one it would be Fox. I think they are the most unbiased.

 

[Fifty2One]

I am just amazed how much of the old technology is being re-invented as the 'new technology'.
Hybred cars are an idea from the turn of the last century, to extend the range of electric cars which were getting 'old' as more people who could afford self propelled vehicles were opting for the petrol powered offerings.
Our big barn is still powered by the windmill (direct pumping of water and generation of electricity) which was upgraded post WWII with an army surplus gen set for the electrical portion, previously it was solely for lifting the water from the well.
We also have a handmade solar distiller from the 1970s to produce farm fuel. We do not run it anymore since we were informed that the government has not issued me a permit to operate my own production on my own land produced from my own crops with my own supplies.

 

[Joe8915]

I think what scares me the most, that my grand children will not see a real windmill in action or even see what a real farm life is. I hope I will be showing my grandson how to harvest wheat this summer. I will traveling back to Kansas this year. I will be taking him to alot of car shows for sure, to see what real american cars look like back in when real american cars where made, not these damn clown cars they have now.

 

[PNGBill]

.
We do not run it anymore since we were informed that the government has not issued me a permit to operate my own production on my own land produced from my own crops with my own supplies.

This could be a old law passed to ensure the Monopoly power provider gets as much business as it can but out dated for today.
Very sad.
Have you considered just using teh facility regardles ? Insurance may be an issue ?

 

[RossWindows]

Allow me to shift the subject away from electric cars for a moment.
I saw some graphs and data the other day which were pretty interesting. Of course I took them with a grain of salt because anybody can make a graph show whatever they want, but it was interesting nonetheless.

It basically showed the gross domestic product of corn from the last 50 years into 10-15 years in the future. There is a shift occurring of the amount of corn used as human consumption and feed stock vs. bio fuel/bio diesel & plastics. According to the estimates, the demand of corn for bio fuels will outpace the production of corn in the US between 2015 and 2018. It went on to say that due to the laws of supply and demand, the price of corn will increase until supply can catch up or reach a balance. The limit, of course, is the amount of land available for corn production which has a physical limit, unless advances in technology are made that allow more dense production.

That's a one paragraph summary of the 20 page report that I read. Wish I could find the link...
From what I could tell, the numbers seemed pretty realistic, but it's the potential consequences that are up in the air.

 

[Galaxiom]

I read a report which showed that corn as a biofuel leads to an increase in carbon emmissions. Firstly it takes quite a lot of energy to grow it including the farm equipment and fertilizer production. Secondly the displaced food crops require more land to be cleared.

Personally I believe it is ridiculous to burn food in an engine. Between the corn for ethanol and vegetable oil for biodiesel I would not want to be someone who lived on fried corn products.

The furure of biofuels is not with food products but the biological conversion of cellulose from agricultural waste. Genetic engineering of suitable microbes is continuing with considerable progress.

 

[PNGBill]

Very true and eveident already that while BioFuels are Sustainable and Renewable they are not always Plentiful and Low Cost.

I gues we have just become an Energy Hungry world and there doesn't appear to any One Silver Bullet.

In the Pacific Islands, Coconuts grow readily and were once a good source of income. The world price declined a lot since the 80's but now there is some renewed hope with BioFuel.
In Vanuatu and other places diesel vehicle run quite well on Coconut fuel mixes. Coconut oil remains a liquid in the tropics.

One shipping company ran a vessel on Coconut fuel.

In this region you have a low population and ready supply of crops.

Compare this to, say, Japan and the solution is a little harder to find.

Earth has a lot of spare land for agriculture. It just doesn't always have the right rainfall and or nutrients.
But then, in the case of Australia, cover a few 100 or 1,000 sq miles with PV panels and you do get a lot of enegry (most days)

 

[RossWindows]

I read a report which showed that corn as a biofuel leads to an increase in carbon emmissions.

I'll be the devil's advocate for a moment, for the sake of healthy debate:
You may be treading close to a logical fallacy; assuming that an increase in carbon emissions is a bad thing and/or causing some sort of consequence.

 

[Galaxiom]

You may be treading close to a logical fallacy; assuming that an increase in carbon emissions is a bad thing and/or causing some sort of consequence.

It is not an assumption nor a fallacy. All the evidence says increasing the CO2 content of the atmosphere is leading to Climate Change.

 

[Fifty2One]

Actually it was in production until I was advised that it was not permitted by federal taxation agents, aparently it was highlighted one time as an anomoly while they were surveying for marajuana hidden in neighbours corn fields. Our other neighbours who farm organically (not neccessarily growing narcotic plants) are also often visited by federal agents as they have troubles doing their infared surveys over organicly grown crpos because it lacks uniformity.

The laws against alcohol production are very closely guarded by the government as it is a form of control and revenue

This could be a old law passed to ensure the Monopoly power provider gets as much business as it can but out dated for today.
Very sad.
Have you considered just using teh facility regardles ? Insurance may be an issue ?

 

[Fifty2One]

Corporations seeding the world with GMO corn like Deklab, Pioneer and Monsanto would be proud to hear everyone instantly relating ethanol production to be directly linked to their biggest selling product. However, corn is way down the list for yeild of fuel per acre: Jerusalem artichoke is still king of production followed by sugar cane, sorghum cane and sugar beets. GMO corn has only just beaten potatoes for yeild, but that is only if you want to plant highest yeild with roundup ready corn which presents the added fuel consumption of having to turn the fields toxic with glyphosates so it excludes the growth of all life which has not been genetically modified.