Alternative Fuels/Oil Drilling

[Dark]

So, it was the third day of school and our US history teacher had us debate about this topic. So, what do you think? Should we continue drilling for oil, and hopefully continue our lives, destroying the ozone layer? Or should we not drill for oil, use up our reserves in Alaska and start working on alternative fuels? There are many different ideas on this. Most people cannot afford high gas prices anymore (although in 3 weeks they went from $3.76 to $3.53). And if we use our Alaska reserves, we HAVE to find alternative fuels. But in that time we are looking, gas prices will skyrocket. Once we find alternative fuels, we will live a better, cleaner life. If we continue drilling for oil, we will never have a cleaner air. And if we don't find any oil, we won't be able to find an alternative fuel quick enough. And what alternative fuels are we supposed to use? Electric cars? Water-powered cars? Sugarcane powered cars? If we cannot find an alternative fuel, we will continue living a dirty life and gas prices will still be sky high. So, my question to you is, should we continue drilling or use our Alaska reserves in hope of finding an alternative fuel?

[Dark]

BUMP

[Willieh]

Why not both?

 

Drill for oil and search for an alternative fuel at the same time.

 

Realisticly, drilling for oil is more ideal. But alternative fuel wouldn't be bad either.

 

I say a combonation of the two is our best option.

[Guest]

Realistically, the only way America is going to reduce its addiction to oil is if petrol prices get even higher than they already are. The higher the prices, the greater the demand for hybrids and the like, and therefore the greater the progress away from oil.

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Realistically' date=' the only way America is going to reduce its addiction to oil is if petrol prices get even higher than they already are. The higher the prices, the greater the demand for hybrids and the like, and therefore the greater the progress away from oil.

[/quote']

 

Q4ET.

 

Building on that, they're building hydrogen stations around the US already, so it's not going to be a long wait.

[Catman25]

Realistically' date=' the only way America is going to reduce its addiction to oil is if petrol prices get even higher than they already are. The higher the prices, the greater the demand for hybrids and the like, and therefore the greater the progress away from oil.

[/quote']

 

Q4ET.

 

Building on that, they're building hydrogen stations around the US already, so it's not going to be a long wait.

 

They have to make A LOT of hydrogen stations though. But after it's complete, we won't need gas. If it fails, electric cars.

[Dark]

I get what you guys are saying, but if we CONTINUE drilling for oil, and we find oil, no one is going to give a care about finding a different fuel. So I think they should stop drilling and let gas prices go up again.

[Pikachu]

Solar power, hydroelectricity, tidal etc. are all types....the government just doesn't reinforce it that much

soon in the future, we will have no choice...

let's use the last 20 or so years of normal life....

~Pikachu

[Cin]

Hybrids are only good if the electricity used in them is made from renewable sources (I remember Clarkson blowing up about it). The issue is the other car fuels have negative affects in productions, such as food shortage and high cost in production. Hydrogen is clean, after its production is very costly....

 

We'd have search for renewable but get our asses in gear with them and phasing out non-renewable.

[2sick4u]

I get what you guys are saying' date=' but if we CONTINUE drilling for oil, and we find oil, no one is going to give a care about finding a different fuel. So I think they should stop drilling and let gas prices go up again.

[/quote']

 

Drilling for Oil has proved to be far more profitable than giving society Hydrogen stations everywhere.

 

Production of one idea like that would need excessive funding, and we know America won't take it out of their Defense force budget, which only leaves public services to be subsidized. Education and health are far more important than switching fuel sources.

 

 

Solar power' date=' hydroelectricity, tidal etc. are all types....the government just doesn't reinforce it that much

soon in the future, we will have no choice...

let's use the last 20 or so years of normal life....

~Pikachu

[/quote']

 

Solar Power pollutes, you know. Hydroelectricity requires oil to produce, you know.

 

Society is capitalistic. It's run on money. Campaigning energy saving methods takes money. Forcing the switch takes money. Loosing Oil investors takes away money.

 

Switching fuel sources is anti-capitalistic. The government won't exactly spring for it.

 

When Oil does run dry, we'll just drill for more. Once we've mined it out, all Oil investors will have sold off, and then we'd finally be prone to switching sources.

 

Since honestly. The production of alternate fuel sources and/or items is using more energy then it's saving. The only way we can become more energy efficient is by having a world-wide commerce in the fact, and change as one. <-- That won't happen until the more efficient fuel source has been exhausted.

 

Let oil run out.

 

It'd be better afterwards.

 

Hybrids are only good if the electricity used in them is made from renewable sources (I remember Clarkson blowing up about it). The issue is the other car fuels have negative affects in productions' date=' such as food shortage and high cost in production. Hydrogen is clean, after its production is very costly....

 

We'd have search for renewable but get our asses in gear with them and phasing out non-renewable. [/s'] I don't know sh*t beyond Al Gore.

 

Fixed for my liking.

 

Hydrogen WILL take to much money to launch, whilst Oil is still some sort of profitable business.

 

Whining about it now doesn't solve it later.

 

Also. To all who have mentioned Electric cars:

 

1) Electricity uses oil.

 

2) The car uses Electricity, therefore, it's using oil.

 

3) It's handy Lithium battery does something fun when it comes into contact with water. It explodes. Imagine if a coastal-city that fully supports electric cars, by which I mean nearly all have one, floods? I believe you get pretty boned.

 

4) In order to stop a minature-explosion, the caring Electric car manufacturers put a thin water proof seal over the battery. This great protection device cracks when you drop it from more than 3 ft. in the air.

 

Car crashes happen in the rain, you know.

 

More boom for the Electric Car.

 

=/.

 

I'll finish with it again:

 

"ALTERNATE FUELS FAIL UNTIL NECESSARY."

 

Geez. =/.

[PrometheusMFD]

If we did stop using oil and switched to electric cars (oh god I hope not), then the only power plant I can commend is Nuclear power. It is the only option that is safer (coal mines are dangerous, at least 3 people fell off of a windmill last year*, hydro elec. has the risk of the dam breaking, tidal washes into the city during hurricanes, geothermal requires just as much drilling as oil, oil rigs are dangerous to the workers, and fusion can't be controled yet, whereas nuclear-cancer link has too many holes to hold water), more efficient (uses its own waste to fuel itself), and easier to obtain. Solar power is both a redundant name (all energy on earth comes from the sun) and horribly inefficiant, plus it heats up the surrounding area more than global warming ever will.

 

*shut up, it's happened.

[MasterOfMagicians]

We already have alternative fuels. Did you know there are vehicles that can run on Vegetable Oil? Vegetable Oil is a renewable resource that we have in abundance!

Corn Oil is another fuel we can use, as well as artificial Lubricants so we don't have to keep depending on motor oil.

The only problem we have not switched over is because it is not cost efficient. Right now it is very expensive to produce cars that can do that (because nobody is buying them on a cyclic rate. When EVERYBODY starts buying these kinds of cars, they can mass produce them (like they are producing fossil fuel cars right now) then that will drop the price of the new cars, making them even more affordable for us to purchase and now we have cleaner burning cars and we are no longer dependent on foreign oils or fossil fuels.

 

As for electric cars, Businesses already produce a great deal of energy off the machines that they run. You can drive to work, plug your car in, let it charge while you are there, drive home, and plug it in at home. We would have to construct more power plants and more pathways for the power to run in the larger areas (New York, California, Texas, suburbs, etc), but the only problem is you are going from 1 car battery every 6 years to about 20 car batteries every 6 years. Landfills would fill up at a cyclic rate and we would be poisoning oursleves that way.

 

We also have cars that run off of hydrogen, and their exhaust is pure water. The only problem is they are VERY expensive to make, so no one wants them.

 

We have the technology, its just it is not cost effective for us right now.

[Static]

1. Hybrids are not the way to go. Hybrids emit an electromagnetic field around them when the electric engine is on (go figure, right?), and do you know what prolonged exposure to electromagnetic fields exposes you to? That's right, EM Radiation, which, if you're spending time in every day, you're sure to get Lymphoma!

 

Hybrids = Inherent bad for health.

 

2. Corn is better burned than eaten. It is essentially the basis of everything in our diets, all pre-made sweetened drinks, sodas, any sweetened Iced Tea (other than, oddly enough, Arizona SWEET TEA, which is just amassed with processed sugar), and even some of those vitamin drinks (the ones like vitamin water but aren't as delicious)

 

Corn = Bad for health if you drink soda, might as well make more of it into Oil.

 

3. I lol'd at the Lithium - water reaction think Justin posted.

 

4. Capitalism is bad, though it is relevant.

 

5. I say boycott oil/driving or use public transportation as much as possible. Carpool, whatever it takes to expend less resources. Plus, I've walked places for most of my life, being the bum who never got his permit at 16 and still hasn't at 17, and it honestly isn't all that much to whine about. Work? Train or bus if its that far away. Social Life? Its not going to kill you to walk to a friends house that's within two miles of your home. Court? Who needs to go to that anyway, might as well not even turn the car on.[/sar]

[~Shore]

While there may be an argument about how alternative fuel should work and how we should find it, I think its important to recognize that sooner or later we're going to need it, and instead of destroying a beautiful environment to get more oil, we should continue down the path of alternative fuel. I've heard that algae could be a fast growing, low emissions fuel and alternative fuel is within our reach if we take the initiative to make it available.

 

also, to answer Dark's original question, we should definitely NOT use our reserves in Alaska. They're protected for a reason. I would prefer to combine both by buying some time with non-American oil and then make a transition completely to alternative fuel

[~Shore]

While there may be an argument about how alternative fuel should work and how we should find it, I think its important to recognize that sooner or later we're going to need it, and instead of destroying a beautiful environment to get more oil, we should continue down the path of alternative fuel. I've heard that algae could be a fast growing, low emissions fuel and alternative fuel is within our reach if we take the initiative to make it available.

 

also, to answer Dark's original question, we should definitely NOT use our reserves in Alaska. They're protected for a reason. I would prefer to combine both by buying some time with non-American oil and then make a transition completely to alternative fuel

[The_Prince_of_Death]

Solar power and wind power are the cleanest and safest to use. hydrogen, oil/gas, and hybrids are dangerous. We shouldnt use hybrids because the price for corn will go up, which means farmers wont be able to feed their livestock and sell the eggs, milk, meat, etc for proit anymore making us starve unless we go veggitarian. We shouldnt use hydro power because it will mess with the eco system, same goes for the oil/gas but at a higher stake (globalwarming).

[The_Prince_of_Death]

Solar power and wind power are the cleanest and safest to use. hydrogen, oil/gas, and hybrids are dangerous. We shouldnt use hybrids because the price for corn will go up, which means farmers wont be able to feed their livestock and sell the eggs, milk, meat, etc for proit anymore making us starve unless we go veggitarian. We shouldnt use hydro power because it will mess with the eco system, same goes for the oil/gas but at a higher stake (globalwarming).

[~Shore]

^Makes sense

 

corn isn't the only alternative to make fuel with. The Brazilians run their cars with sugar cane, which is far more efficient, but harvesting it is not very environmentally sound.

 

Solar power is very viable, and would make the electric car plausible again. Especially since there are many hot places on earth that are very empty such as deserts which would be ideal places for solar plants

[~Shore]

^Makes sense

 

corn isn't the only alternative to make fuel with. The Brazilians run their cars with sugar cane, which is far more efficient, but harvesting it is not very environmentally sound.

 

Solar power is very viable, and would make the electric car plausible again. Especially since there are many hot places on earth that are very empty such as deserts which would be ideal places for solar plants

[The_Prince_of_Death]

all we need to do is try to use lightning to our advantage, like ben franklin did to prove his theory on electricity, but actually change it into an energy source that we can harvest and apply to good use. I like how they tried to change garbage into oil though even if they only get 1/3 of the oil used out of it. recycle people! if we dont then theres no point in trying to look that hard for a new source. I like yuor point about alaska too, MasterKCatmaster. if we use our reserves we will destroy our most beautifull, peacefull state(alaska). why deosnt somebody come up with a energy source that could benifit the planet and the things on the planet?

[The_Prince_of_Death]

all we need to do is try to use lightning to our advantage, like ben franklin did to prove his theory on electricity, but actually change it into an energy source that we can harvest and apply to good use. I like how they tried to change garbage into oil though even if they only get 1/3 of the oil used out of it. recycle people! if we dont then theres no point in trying to look that hard for a new source. I like yuor point about alaska too, MasterKCatmaster. if we use our reserves we will destroy our most beautifull, peacefull state(alaska). why deosnt somebody come up with a energy source that could benifit the planet and the things on the planet?

[~Shore]

the environment>our need for oil

 

however, idk if this ideal energy source exists. I mean, there isn't any food that doesn't end up in the toilet. What we need to do is find a fuel thats clean enough that it gives our environment time to recover instead of a destructive source that the more we use the more we need and the more we need the more we pay, which is what oil is. We need to find something that is clean and easy to use and obtain, but realistic enough to be reachable and to be bought into by the masses.

[~Shore]

the environment>our need for oil

 

however, idk if this ideal energy source exists. I mean, there isn't any food that doesn't end up in the toilet. What we need to do is find a fuel thats clean enough that it gives our environment time to recover instead of a destructive source that the more we use the more we need and the more we need the more we pay, which is what oil is. We need to find something that is clean and easy to use and obtain, but realistic enough to be reachable and to be bought into by the masses.

[ragnarok1945]

all we need to do is try to use lightning to our advantage' date=' like ben franklin did to prove his theory on electricity, but actually change it into an energy source that we can harvest and apply to good use. I like how they tried to change garbage into oil though even if they only get 1/3 of the oil used out of it. recycle people! if we dont then theres no point in trying to look that hard for a new source. I like yuor point about alaska too, MasterKCatmaster. if we use our reserves we will destroy our most beautifull, peacefull state(alaska). why deosnt somebody come up with a energy source that could benifit the planet and the things on the planet?

[/quote']

 

well has anyone discovered yet how to convert that energy source to the beneficial ways without costing much?

[ragnarok1945]

all we need to do is try to use lightning to our advantage' date=' like ben franklin did to prove his theory on electricity, but actually change it into an energy source that we can harvest and apply to good use. I like how they tried to change garbage into oil though even if they only get 1/3 of the oil used out of it. recycle people! if we dont then theres no point in trying to look that hard for a new source. I like yuor point about alaska too, MasterKCatmaster. if we use our reserves we will destroy our most beautifull, peacefull state(alaska). why deosnt somebody come up with a energy source that could benifit the planet and the things on the planet?

[/quote']

 

well has anyone discovered yet how to convert that energy source to the beneficial ways without costing much?