Better yet, solar can use non-arable land.

Better yet, solar can use non-arable land.

Having read several of your posts, you strike me as almost ethanol-phobic. Why so? A little research on your part, beyond the myths and disinformation Big Oil propogates, would show you that it is the best, most immediate “bridge” fuel currently available.

It isn’t imply a question of “miles per gallon”, that is a short-sighted and somewhat selfish perspective. (Sorry, I don’t mean to be insulting.) It is also a question of national security and an environmental issue, as well. It’s unreasonable to think, or expect, the solution to out national energy crisis to be simple and/or painless.

We inflicted the current pain-at-the-pump on ourselves, as well as the ecological damage to our planet by putting all our energy “eggs” into the petroleum basket. We would be the dictionary definition of “fools” to repeat that same folly.

Nick is correct about ethanol burning engines. Nearly all automotive technology has it’s origins in racing. Drag racers have used alcohol blends for decades due to it’s superior horsepower potential when used in a purpose built engine. A couple years ago, the Indycar Racing League mandated the exclusive use of E85.

Those guys should know!

As far as burning coal goes, there are carbon plants that capture the carbons a coal plant gives off and compresses them into a liquid. This liquid is then injected at tremendous pressures into oil-bearing porous rock, causing the oil to lose it’s grip on the rock, making it soluble and therfore retrievable with existing technology. Canadian oil shale is a very good example of extending the servicable life of an oil field.

As Nick mentioned, this same captured carbon can be used to feed massive algea farms.

No, there is no such thing as “clean coal”, but there is such a thing as intelligent management of the waste products.

Obama pointedly excluded nuclear from his many campaign promises (but somewhat limited energy plan), so Mr. Chu’s apparent acceptance, if not outright support of it, doesn’t entirely mesh with Obama’s lack of vision in this area.

I have a “fantastic” (meaning fantasy-based) idea for a means of “getting rid” of nuclear waste…..

NASA should develop a program that has the soul mission of launching unmanned, moderate-sized payloads of nuclear waste directly at the Sun. We routinely launch satillites weighing tons. True, there have been mishaps, but if we had spent as much on advancing this technology as have on Spotted Owls, handout programs, war and illegal immigration, we already have safe reliable launch platforms capable of doing this.

Of course, that might take funds away from touchy-feely social programs and favorite political pork recipients, so it is unlikely that that will ever happen. It’s so much more politically correct to give illegal aliens free health care and driver’s licenses than it is to advance the technology that just might help save the planet, isn’t it?

Having read several of your posts, you strike me as almost ethanol-phobic. Why so? A little research on your part, beyond the myths and disinformation Big Oil propogates, would show you that it is the best, most immediate “bridge” fuel currently available.

It isn’t imply a question of “miles per gallon”, that is a short-sighted and somewhat selfish perspective. (Sorry, I don’t mean to be insulting.) It is also a question of national security and an environmental issue, as well. It’s unreasonable to think, or expect, the solution to out national energy crisis to be simple and/or painless.

We inflicted the current pain-at-the-pump on ourselves, as well as the ecological damage to our planet by putting all our energy “eggs” into the petroleum basket. We would be the dictionary definition of “fools” to repeat that same folly.

Nick is correct about ethanol burning engines. Nearly all automotive technology has it’s origins in racing. Drag racers have used alcohol blends for decades due to it’s superior horsepower potential when used in a purpose built engine. A couple years ago, the Indycar Racing League mandated the exclusive use of E85.

Those guys should know!

As far as burning coal goes, there are carbon plants that capture the carbons a coal plant gives off and compresses them into a liquid. This liquid is then injected at tremendous pressures into oil-bearing porous rock, causing the oil to lose it’s grip on the rock, making it soluble and therfore retrievable with existing technology. Canadian oil shale is a very good example of extending the servicable life of an oil field.

As Nick mentioned, this same captured carbon can be used to feed massive algea farms.

No, there is no such thing as “clean coal”, but there is such a thing as intelligent management of the waste products.

Obama pointedly excluded nuclear from his many campaign promises (but somewhat limited energy plan), so Mr. Chu’s apparent acceptance, if not outright support of it, doesn’t entirely mesh with Obama’s lack of vision in this area.

I have a “fantastic” (meaning fantasy-based) idea for a means of “getting rid” of nuclear waste…..

NASA should develop a program that has the soul mission of launching unmanned, moderate-sized payloads of nuclear waste directly at the Sun. We routinely launch satillites weighing tons. True, there have been mishaps, but if we had spent as much on advancing this technology as have on Spotted Owls, handout programs, war and illegal immigration, we already have safe reliable launch platforms capable of doing this.

Of course, that might take funds away from touchy-feely social programs and favorite political pork recipients, so it is unlikely that that will ever happen. It’s so much more politically correct to give illegal aliens free health care and driver’s licenses than it is to advance the technology that just might help save the planet, isn’t it?

I want us off of imported oil first and then eventually off of buring any kind of Fossil Fuel for transportaton. It will be many years before we can get off of it for electrcity generation especially if everyone starts buying plug in Hybrids. But I would like to see that to. As an engineer and realsit vs a dreamer, I think we can make the forst part of this doable, but it won’t be cheap or painless.

I want us off of imported oil first and then eventually off of buring any kind of Fossil Fuel for transportaton. It will be many years before we can get off of it for electrcity generation especially if everyone starts buying plug in Hybrids. But I would like to see that to. As an engineer and realsit vs a dreamer, I think we can make the forst part of this doable, but it won’t be cheap or painless.

Not true, those estimates take that into consideration. Even if you average all the studies that have been done on this subject into one, cellulosic ethanol and other second gen biofuels are net carbon sinks.

See:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-12/uoia-rcw120208.php