TIME: "Why America is Running Out of Gas"

[Sandman]

The problem with this analysis is that the energy WILL get used. It will power our homes and offices, etc. The waste heat that will come from Fusion power will probably be much less than that from current Fossil Fuel usage.

By powering our homes and offices, it will be turned into heat. Energy isn't used, it's converted. Simple physics.

Yes, but it radiates into space. The global warming problem is that greenhouse gases prevent heat from radiating into space, not the generation of additional heat.

The sun generates heat. It radiates it into space, but it's still incredibly hot. Even though the heat will eventually radiate into space, every fusion reactor will raise the temperature of the Earth, albeit by a tiny amount.

Plus, the "little sun" analogy is just plain wrong. They have the same MECHANICS as the sun, but not NEARLY the same power.

Hence the 'little'.

[Sava]

The problem is not Big Oil. The problem is that in order to meet CAFE standards, automakers reduce the weight of vehicles, and make them less crashworthy as a result. If you were going to get in a crash in a Geo Metro or in a Toyota Camry, which would you prefer?

less crashworth against bigger vehicles... if everyone is driving such more efficient vehicles, crashworthiness remains relatively constant.

They just aren't popular.

The averages I quoted from the article are not "actual usage" but rather industry averages of the Fuel Efficiency ratings. Which are usually higher than actual usage. If anything, the data is misleading, but in favor of the car companies.

I'm glad to see you started to read the article, but your post was still riddled with insults... don't bother addressing or posting to me in the future, because I won't respond until you can learn to be a decent human being.

[Az]

The sun generates heat. It radiates it into space, but it's still incredibly hot. Even though the heat will eventually radiate into space, every fusion reactor will raise the temperature of the Earth, albeit by a tiny amount.

The solution: leave the planet.

Generally, this is not so: what we are worried about is the heating of the Atmosphere, and that only occurs because of the greenhouse gases. The earth CONSTANTLY gives away heat, radiates energy. If more of that radiation will go into space, there is nothing to worry about. The problem occures when this radiation heats the atmosphere, which occurs through greenhouse gases.

[Dinner]

More chicken little "the sky is falling" retoric. I've been hearing this for decades and the sky still hasn't fallen.

We have high natural gas prices because no one can get a pipeline built or a new field developed. We have plenty of untapped domestic natural gas so why aren't we tapping in to it? Good question. How about asking the "eviromentalists" who constiently try to obstruct development and put a million and one road blocks in front of anyone foolish enough to want to invest in this sector? Also California has the highest gas pricesd in North America largely because the last new refinary to be built was 40 years ago (how much larger is demand now compared to 1960?) and the eviromental lobby insists we get a special "reformulated" gasoline which isn't made any were else in the world. Thus we have a huge bottle neck retarding supply and competetion.

Lastly, did you folks hear about the previous "reformulated" gasoline the left wing nutjobs forced onto us in California? It contained MTBE which the Sierra Club insisted, spending millions and lobbying the state assembly, had to be included in gasoline so it could reduce emissions by 2%. That 2% reduction cast 20% more then unreformutated gasoline and, oh yeah did I meantion, MTBE causes cancer plus it is water soluable so it is now in a great deal of our state's ground water. Most scientists and industry leaders said this would happen and that MTBE was to dangerous to be forced onto consumers, but, the Sierra Club and their green cohorts rammed MTBE down everyone's throats.

Now, vast areas of the state's ground water is contaminated with a dangerous carcenogien and nobody has figured out a way of cleaning the problem up. Thank you eviromentalists our world is so much better because of you nutjobs!

[Felch]

Originally posted by Fez's DL Sava
your post was still riddled with insults...

What insults? Feel free to quote me to point them out.

[Az]

Oerdin: do you really want us to wait till the skies fall?

[Felch]

Don't worry about MTBE Oerdin - there was an amendment in the Senate energy bill to get rid of it. That should be up for debate before the August recess. It'll still have to be passed and make it through committee, but I doubt anybody will remove it now.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Azazel
Oerdin: do you really want us to wait till the skies fall?

How about dealing with reality instead of everyone insisting the world is coming to an end when it clearly is not? Face it there is plenty of oil left to exploit.

Have you heard about how in the 1970's the enviromentalists were claiming we only had 30 years worth of oil left? Boy were they wrong. We've got five times the proven reserves now then we did in the 1970's and the ocean floor, which makes up 70% of the earth's surface, still has barely been explored the same goes for antartica, greenland, much of the Canadian far north, and far northern Siberia hasn't been extensively explored with modern equipement.

We've got enough oil to last for centuries.

[Odin]

The public wouldn't let the oil companies to drill in Antarctica, I think there is a UN thing that says there is supposed to be no industy on that continent and that the many nations' claims on the continent are not to be recognized.

[Ted Striker]

The hydrogen cars are actually very close to production.

It's those electric cars that suck.

[Dinner]

Hybred powered cars are were the future is not hydrogen. Do you know where those hydrogen powered cars get their hydrogen from? They get it from hydro-Carbons like gasoline so you still aren't kicking the oil barrel when you switch to hydrogen though we could possibly get less pollution depending on how efficiently we can convert crude oil into gasoline into hydrogen into energy propelling a car forward.

[Ted Striker]

Well you can get the hydrogen from natural gas.

Up until recently the US had a surplus of domestic natural gas.

[Imran Siddiqui]

less crashworth against bigger vehicles... if everyone is driving such more efficient vehicles, crashworthiness remains relatively constant.

Sava, think for a second (I know it is hard ). Trees and walls aren't going to be made from the same flimsy materials that cars will be .

[Dinner]

The US still has monsterous sized proven reserves of natural gas. We just haven't built the distribution system to get it were it needs to go largely because we've had three decades of enviromentalists obstructing new projects due to their absolutely pathological hatred for anything to do with the oil/gas industry.

[Sandman]

The solution: leave the planet.

Generally, this is not so: what we are worried about is the heating of the Atmosphere, and that only occurs because of the greenhouse gases. The earth CONSTANTLY gives away heat, radiates energy. If more of that radiation will go into space, there is nothing to worry about. The problem occures when this radiation heats the atmosphere, which occurs through greenhouse gases.

We don't need to leave the planet or forget about fusion power, we just have to be responsible with it. That means maintaining high standards of energy efficiency, rather than just splurging on cheap energy.

The Earth can only radiate more heat if it first becomes hotter. Which it will, if fusion is used excessively. The world will not suddenly adjust its thermal properties if a load of fusion plants are suddenly activated, it will simply warm up. Yes, it will radiate more heat, but only because it is itself hotter.