Should the oil companies be forced to build the infastructure for alternative fuels ?

Question

There is no easy way to get hydrogen, compressd air, batteries charged or exchanged, ect.. Companies that deliver fuel for our cars will want to continue to do so. If an investor put up hydro stations down I-80 the oil companies would follow suite and compete for the market. So make them do it now with the mega billions they have made in this market..

Answer 1

Yes i agree

Answer 2

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While it would be a better use of our tax dollars than subsidizing big oil, when we trust our government to collect and hand out money - even with the best intentions - it usually winds up wasted, or lining the pockets of special interests.

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I would be happy if the government would simply get out of the way, and temporarily ease the regulations that hamper small auto companies from selling vehicles. Complying with government regulations costs millions - and this is the barrier to entry that bankrupts most small auto companies.

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Look what we could be driving already:

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http://zapworld.com/zapworld.aspx?id=456...

http://phoenixmotorcars.com/models/fleet...

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The ZAP-X has a 350-mile range, a top speed of 155 mph, puts out 644 horsepower, charges in 10 minutes, and has a battery pack that should last the life of the car (better than 250,000 miles.) The Phoenix uses the same Altairnano Nanosafe li-ion batteries, and is a real car - being built right now for fleet use. Prices for hand-built cars are $60,000 for the ZAP-X, $45,000 for the Phoenix. These prices could fall a lot when mass-production becomes feasible.

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But you don't even have to spend lots of money if you want to try out an electric car. Freeway-capable EV conversions (normal cars converted to electric) can be found for as little as $5000. Link:

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http://squidoo.com/cheap-electric-car

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This is the kind of electric car I drive. Electricity to drive it only costs me about a penny per mile! More info in that above link.

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Answer 3

well, it is unrealistic to think this could happen.  The oil lobby is very powerful and the chances such a law could pass and be signed by the president (who is an oil man) are non-existent.  One needs to hope the free market will sort it out.  If  big oil continues to gouge consumers and refuses to reinvest their profits into expanding production (thus lowering prices) then they become more and more vulnerable to competition.  At some point some non-oil people with lots of money will see a market ripe for them and they will make the investment offering a compelling lower cost option.

Answer 4

^5 to you for that one. But someone should regulate them.  They would have us paying what we are paying now if they could get away this it.

Answer 5

Good idea. Now all we need to do is find enough Congresspersons who have not been bribed by the oil companies, to do this...

Answer 6

My theory is that when these guys know which one of the new systems is a good bet they'll be all over it.  I wish our nation kept a scientific panel to sort out the merits of various green projects...it's not good enough to let politicians and PR people take the lead based on their own self-interests.

Answer 7

Dear god, NO!

That would just give them a new means of keeping a stranglehold on us all! In 1900, 1/3 of all farmland was designated for horse fodder. That means transportation energy. If we were to go back to that, planting switchgrass, we could extract something like 1200 gallons per acre from homebrew distilleries! We could see a return of the family farm. The key to energy independence is SMALL SCALE PRODUCTION DIY. Don't wait for Big Oil or Big Gov't to 'save' us! Let's SAVE OURSELVES!!!

Answer 8

NO

it would be a great idea if they wouldn't end up trying to monopolize that industry to, running all the family owned farms out of business, so they could monopolize our food and fuel industry, but you know that would be the result.

Answer 9

Same deal: ALREADY DONE IN EUROPE...

They had the choice between this or an exceptional tax on windfall profits (since the profit increase is not the result of their good work but of external factors...   and we do not let everybody win on the lottery.)

Answer 10

Oil companies are bound by their rate of return and compare to their research and social fund they spend are not more the lip service . Havng said that we have to understand the corporate world and their direction , All this companies are answerable to their share holders and they are not going to give more then a blink of the eye. Lets not dream and believe they will come to the rescue of the enviroment if we are all engulf in CO2 enviroment.  The sad nature is that they are getting so big that the govement of the countries they operate have to cowed to them . Thus the good old Commonwealth law of the " civil service " " public servant " are myth in this century,   Given the scenario, I will say we need the " greenpeace " to have more teeth or the enviroment protocol of the united nation needs more bite then noise.  

The nature of the renewable ans the infrasture to carry by individual or small enterprise is getting prohibitive.

Given the situation of the 21st century, our crisis needs the goverment backing ,but politician are no angels and some are so astray that we are left to wonder who will we go to.

Like when the United Nation troops landed in Congo to protect the innocent, the reverse actually happen.

And give the scenario of the 21st century where accountant nows run the company and the country, we are all wondering our human race needs a new dimensions?  Off course we have some salvation who will challenge the goliath, but it is an uphill task. We wish we can roll back our calender to the

John wayne days , but minus the guns.

Answer 11

the most viable alternative fuel, and available now, is electric, and the infrastucture for that already comes direct to a power soket at your home or work. http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/

Getting oil companies to provide a new infrastructure just locks us into their hedgemony for the future.

Answer 12

Now why would we make anyone build an infrastructure for something that doesn't exist?

Once we have real alternative fuel vehicles, then the infrastructure will follow.  But there is no hydrogen fuel cell vehicle for anyone to build infrastructure for.

Furthermore, it is unclear what, if anything, will be the prime alternative fuel of the future.  It could be hydrogen fuel cells (if we can find a way to produce hydrogen without using all our natural gas, figure out how to ship it and store it).  But it could also be an electric outlet in your garage for a battery powered electric car.

We have an electricity infrastrucutre and distribution system in place, it might actually make sense to use that since fuel costs will be partially based on the cost of the infrastructure.

In addition, it may be feasible at some point for people to produce their own hydrogen at home using water electricity from solar panels or wind power.

We would be "greener" to use what we already have than to build something new from scratch.

Answer 13

There is an easy way to get hydrogen, the Europeans have been doing it for a while now. Change over to the cleanest and safest most viable energy source available at this time; Nuclear power.

It would take less than 100 plants to remove the need for any other electricity generation, as well as to convert water into hydrogen at night to power 2/3rds of the vehicles on the road.

Nuclear power has been labeled wrongly by environmentalists who don't want any plants built. If you look at safety records, nuclear power is FAR safer than any other power plant. Heck, even wind farms shred up all sorts of endangered birds and such.

As someone who has talked to oil industry insiders, I can tell you that most energy companies would prefer not to even have to deal with all the problems oil brings. They deal with it because it makes money.

Force is not a good solution because we have already "forced" petrolium products on the public. If anything, we need to "force" states to allow the construction of nuclear power plants.

Answer 14

The oil companies shouldn't be forced to do anything but follow the laws and pay a fair price for their business, which they are not currently forced to do.  If they follow the laws and pay for any pollution or environmental degradation they are responsible for, before too long their business will become unprofitable and/or too expensive for consumer use.  This will naturally lead to an increase in alternative fuels by either themselves or their competition - probably both.

Right now, you can buy a new electric car for $100,000 that will bring you over 200 miles on a single charge and go from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds.  This car doesn't need a special refueling station, just to be plugged in to a regular outlet.  Granted, you can only drive it a little over 200 miles in a day, but this is the kind of vehicle that will bring us into the future of renewable energy sources for transportation.  This will make oil profiteering less profitable, making competitive energy sources comparatively more profitable, and we don't need to force oil companies to do anything other than pay what they owe and follow the law.

Answer 15

No.  When alternative fuels become cost effective the market will provide the infrastructure.  

They have made 'mega billions' alright by providing hundreds of thousands of jobs, investment opportunity for hundreds of millions, goods, services and the tax base.  Most of their profit is put forward toward exploration and into infrastructure to develop and refine their products.  If you want to see higher fuel prices and shortages then we can implement your plan.

Answer 16

Well of course, considering they will jump straight into this market once oil is finally starting to become obsolete. Do you think they want to go broke when the party is over? You do understand though that they will request, and be granted, taxpayer dollars to "help their transition" into the alternative fuel market. So you will never know what the companies have put in compared to what you and I would have generously given as taxpayers to feed these rapacious multinationals.

Answer 17

Yes and then it should be free weve paid for it already

Answer 18

who else will do it, and you know these oil companies will jump at the chance to make even more money