Regardless of your take on the state of the science and the report, we should all take to heart Aureon’s discussion of the REAL cost of imported oil vs. domestic oil. And, of course, he didn’t even mention the national security implications, etc., etc.

Regardless of your take on the state of the science and the report, we should all take to heart Aureon’s discussion of the REAL cost of imported oil vs. domestic oil. And, of course, he didn’t even mention the national security implications, etc., etc.

At worst, it is junk science.

I am disappointed to see that nobody else on this website appears to have reviewed this impartially. Instead, we have some hyped up claims looking through rose colored glasses.

At worst, it is junk science.

I am disappointed to see that nobody else on this website appears to have reviewed this impartially. Instead, we have some hyped up claims looking through rose colored glasses.

There’s one little thing missing from this study. That’s the ALGAE wild card. Algenol is producing ethanol from living algae. They don’t harvest the algae. Instead, they keep the algae alive, and the vapors given off are continuously distilled into ethanol. Algenal’s method makes 6,000 gallons of ethanol per acre per year. They are funded with $800 million and are building a large commercial project in Sonora Mexico. Algae is also being adapted to corn ethanol refineries by Green Plains and GreenShift, both funded. There’s another wild card. A 96% starch variety of algae is a perfect match for making more ethanol, from existing corn ethanol refinery waste products, CO2, waste heat, and waste effluent. Ethanol is not just going to come from cellulosic technology. Look to Algae to add another 50 Billion gallons a year or more within then next 20 years. That gives you 185 Billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2030.

Also consider that, in the same time frame, you will have emerging technologies such as these, effecting the demand for liquid fuels: (1) electric cars and plug-in electric hybrids (2) solar paint by 2015 which will cover entire vehicle bodies, truck trailers, trains, boats and planes. (3) Ricardo ethanol-optimized engine technology that gets more torque and better mileage on ethanol than gasoline (4) Other high efficiency engines emerging like the Scuderi split cycle engine and the Cyclone Green Revolution Engine (5) and also onboard ethanol-water reformed into hydrogen combined with non-precious-metal fuel cells, or the alternative direct ethanol fuel cells, at 2 to 3 times the efficiency of ICEs. And there will be numerous other domestic fuel technologies that significantly get more work out of the same amount of fuel. So the overall number of gallons of fuel required per vehicle will actually drop. There is also a movement converting existing vehicles to get better mileage.

There’s one little thing missing from this study. That’s the ALGAE wild card. Algenol is producing ethanol from living algae. They don’t harvest the algae. Instead, they keep the algae alive, and the vapors given off are continuously distilled into ethanol. Algenal’s method makes 6,000 gallons of ethanol per acre per year. They are funded with $800 million and are building a large commercial project in Sonora Mexico. Algae is also being adapted to corn ethanol refineries by Green Plains and GreenShift, both funded. There’s another wild card. A 96% starch variety of algae is a perfect match for making more ethanol, from existing corn ethanol refinery waste products, CO2, waste heat, and waste effluent. Ethanol is not just going to come from cellulosic technology. Look to Algae to add another 50 Billion gallons a year or more within then next 20 years. That gives you 185 Billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2030.

Also consider that, in the same time frame, you will have emerging technologies such as these, effecting the demand for liquid fuels: (1) electric cars and plug-in electric hybrids (2) solar paint by 2015 which will cover entire vehicle bodies, truck trailers, trains, boats and planes. (3) Ricardo ethanol-optimized engine technology that gets more torque and better mileage on ethanol than gasoline (4) Other high efficiency engines emerging like the Scuderi split cycle engine and the Cyclone Green Revolution Engine (5) and also onboard ethanol-water reformed into hydrogen combined with non-precious-metal fuel cells, or the alternative direct ethanol fuel cells, at 2 to 3 times the efficiency of ICEs. And there will be numerous other domestic fuel technologies that significantly get more work out of the same amount of fuel. So the overall number of gallons of fuel required per vehicle will actually drop. There is also a movement converting existing vehicles to get better mileage.

In a recent article called “Ethanol Innovator Driven to Replace Oil”, Thom Gabrukiewicz quoted Jeff Broin, head of Poet, the largest ethanol producer in the world: “In 2007, the (ethanol) tax incentive, that tax break, was $3.3 billion, but the ethanol industry returned $4.6 billion in tax revenue to the Treasury,” Broin says. “We saved $8 billion in farm payments because we eliminated farm payments for the first time in almost 40 years. We saved the consumer $40 to $60 billion in gas prices with extra supplies that kept prices down. We added $47 billion to the Gross Domestic Product.” (Jeff Broin – Poet Ethanol). Imported oil does not do all this.

A fair comparison: There are two categories for crude oil: (1) domestically produced crude oil and (2) Imported crude oil. The costs and the economic impact of these two sources of oil are different. Imported oil has a HIDDEN COST. As long as the U.S. has a Foreign Oil Trade Deficit, imported oil will be paid for with American stocks and bonds, American real estate, and American debt instruments, $500 billion a year is leaving the country.

The debt instruments used to buy foreign oil are created by the Federal Reserve and added to the National Debt. As long as the National Debt remains unpaid, it’s like a revolving credit card. Year after year Americans are paying interest on the fuel they bought years ago, derived from foreign oil. And after 15 years, if the debt continues to be unpaid and continues to accrue interest, you will pay twice for that fuel. This is debt consumption. The cost of that $42 barrel of oil will actually cost you $84 or more. By the way, you pay little or no floating interest on domestically made biofuel.

In a recent article called “Ethanol Innovator Driven to Replace Oil”, Thom Gabrukiewicz quoted Jeff Broin, head of Poet, the largest ethanol producer in the world: “In 2007, the (ethanol) tax incentive, that tax break, was $3.3 billion, but the ethanol industry returned $4.6 billion in tax revenue to the Treasury,” Broin says. “We saved $8 billion in farm payments because we eliminated farm payments for the first time in almost 40 years. We saved the consumer $40 to $60 billion in gas prices with extra supplies that kept prices down. We added $47 billion to the Gross Domestic Product.” (Jeff Broin – Poet Ethanol). Imported oil does not do all this.

A fair comparison: There are two categories for crude oil: (1) domestically produced crude oil and (2) Imported crude oil. The costs and the economic impact of these two sources of oil are different. Imported oil has a HIDDEN COST. As long as the U.S. has a Foreign Oil Trade Deficit, imported oil will be paid for with American stocks and bonds, American real estate, and American debt instruments, $500 billion a year is leaving the country.

The debt instruments used to buy foreign oil are created by the Federal Reserve and added to the National Debt. As long as the National Debt remains unpaid, it’s like a revolving credit card. Year after year Americans are paying interest on the fuel they bought years ago, derived from foreign oil. And after 15 years, if the debt continues to be unpaid and continues to accrue interest, you will pay twice for that fuel. This is debt consumption. The cost of that $42 barrel of oil will actually cost you $84 or more. By the way, you pay little or no floating interest on domestically made biofuel.