If this is the best we can do, we're hosed.

[Dystopia]

Governments will only take the research on alternative fuels serious when they are very close of running out of oil. Until then oil is magical

[Ravenshire]

I know. I'm in the industry. *shudders* That's why I'm going back to school. I simply can't continue paying the bills at the cost of my children's future. Maybe it's too late to stop it, but I don't have to contribute!

[The Grand Nudger]

I've been a soldier and an electronics manufacturer - I can sympathize with the feeling precisely. LOL, I went a similar direction as to the one you're considering, amusingly noted of course, in another post.

[critmass235]

Changing large energy systems takes years, wind and solar are not as cost affective yet. I think thorium salts nuclear is the only realistic option for now.

[The Grand Nudger]

Governments will only take the research on alternative fuels serious when they are very close of running out of oil. Until then oil is magical

Not true, take a look at the whale oil episode in our country's history. We never really "ran out" because it was always a luxury item to begin with. There were competitors, and those competitors comprised the majority of fuel used. Our government actually decided that petroleum would be a better fuel source when the prices of said luxury item got high (crunched due to our civil war and ships having business elsewhere - in addition to overhunting) - and thusly decided to tax it at a vastly reduced rate. This helped petroleum (a relative newcomer and a minor player in the energy scene at the time) beat out it's competitors - which did not, properly, include whale oil.

In this manner, our oil industry (petroleum) was literally born with a silver spoon in it's mouth-as an alternative energy source which received subsidy even in the presence of clear competitors that were in no way crunched themselves, for raw material.

So, while it may be "the invisible hand" of the market or government interventionism that ultimately shifts the balance in favor of alternative energy sources there's no reason to assume that it will only do so when the very last drop of oil has been squeezed out of the very last rock. We've been here before.

[ShaMan]

We've been here before.

^ I'm inclined to agree ^

[The Grand Nudger]

LOL, hell, we've been here so damned long I wonder whether or not any human "issue" doesn't already have precedent -somewhere, sometime-.

(I'm thinking of stealing your religious views btw. It won't have been the first time some shamans religious views have been co-opted by a more aggressive actor, precedent)

[Ravenshire]

So, while it may be "the invisible hand" of the market or government interventionism that ultimately shifts the balance in favor of alternative energy sources there's no reason to assume that it will only do so when the very last drop of oil has been squeezed out of the very last rock. We've been here before.

I certainly hope this is the case. I do know that I will be looking into every possible alternative energy source I can put into a micro-brewery. It would be soooo awesome to make great brews, serve great food and give the finger to fossil fuel power generation at the same time. Living in Colorado, both solar and wind are viable options pretty much year round.

[The Grand Nudger]

Anytime you ferment anything you create multiple energy sources.

The spent fermentation substrate is almost always flammable (and often slow burning). During the act usable fuels are created - and even the off-gassing provides opportunity for mechanical sequestration.

If you approach anything from the angle of energy it's pretty much a wide open market. You mind if I PM you some questions?

[Ravenshire]

You mind if I PM you some questions?

Not at all. I may not know the answers, but being asked a question can be an epiphany moment.