We thought it was the Arab Spring. But, now, the revolts in Turkey, Brazil, Egypt, Israel, Chile, Russia, and the various US states are showing that was too simple an explanation. These revolts (with the probable exception of Russia) are now aimed at democratically elected governments.
Continue reading Arab Spring? I think not.
Last night (it is now 4:59 AM on the 27th of October), I had the opportunity to see a screening of a new movie- Freedom. This semi-documentary was directed and produced by Rebecca and Josh Tickell. And, no, it’s not about the Bill of Rights, but about the use and production of ethanol fuels in the United States.
Continue reading Freedom. A movie about Energy.
You might think that when we (start to, continue to ) invest in new energy-producing alternatives, we will solve our “big oil” problem. NOT! We need gasoline and/or diesel fuels for the foreseeable future. Our transportation system relies on liquid-based fuels. Yes, we can convert these vehicles to electricity (with major improvements to the existing technologies), but the transition will be much slower than you would think. If we had sufficient supplies of electric vehicles (and they were reliable) and outlawed (not likely at all) the sale of all gasoline powered vehicles tomorrow , it would be at least 10 years before there would be a noticeable drop in gasoline consumption. (Consumers don’t trade in all their cars every year, consumers buy used cars, etc.)
Continue reading Big Oil- can’t live with them, can’t live without them (at least, for now)