[TheForge] OT biodiesel now hydrogen

[Grover Richardson]

As prices go up, oil from sources not listed will become financially viable.
There is millions of barrels of oil in the shale rock in Scotland, but it is
not currently financially feasable to remove it.  Costs too much to remove
it<G>.

Horses are a problem also.  New York City, around the turn of the century (2
turns ago), someone said that if things continued, that the city would be
covered in several feet of horse droppings<G>.

Huge rise in prices.  Research Rome, about the time of the fall of the
empire.  One source I heard yeeears ago (don't remember who unfortunately)
said that it cost a day's wages for the lower class to import wood and clean
water.  Everything nearby was stripped clean.

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Justin Fellenz
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2005 9:16 AM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: RE: Re: [TheForge] OT biodiesel now hydrogen


A friend of mine was telling methe other day that we have passed the oil
peak, the point at which demand permanently outstrips possible supply of
oil...happened sometime in the 70's, apparently. Same article by some
economist argued that at somewhere around 5 bucks a gallon a big chunk of
the country won't be able to get to work--so there will be a migration
closer into jobs, a depopulation of the countryside, inflation--basically a
big economic nightmare. I've heard 30-50 years till the oil's gone from a
variety of sources, none of them too reliable; but the important date is
much sooner, when the price goes up.

Now, people are pretty resourceful and I tend not to put too much stock in
these doomsday predictions, but if something like that were to happen, and
the answer was an expensive technology like hydrogen, I wonder if we won't
see some significant changes in the next few years. Interesting to speculate
on the effect of a huge rise in price of perhaps the most fundamental of
products.

Hmmm. Horses? Maybe those Amish folks are on to something. 

Just musing,

Justin
> 
> IMHO, what will happen is that even when gasoline dissappears off of 
> the face of the earth, hydrogen and other materials will be used to 
> make a
> gasoline equivalent.  You can't beat it for power density and ease of
> transport<G>.  Possibly the same could be said of diesel also.
> 
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