When will america have to use a different energy source other than gas?

Question

When will america have to use a different energy source other than gas?

Answer 1

Oil is here to stay. We need to use ours while there is a need for it. Plus it keeps us from funding radical Islam's holy war.

Answer 2

We have had most of the technology for 20 years but have not implemented it to save energy, change to renwable sources and stop importing oil. We know what is cost effective; we know where we need better technology. Solar Concentrating Electric Power Plants, wind, wave, small hydro-electric, geothermal, and nuclear energy are what we need. We must have a pollution surcharge where we pay the real price (health effects, global warming and cleanup) for oil, natural gas, coal, cigarettes, cooling towers, cars, trains and airplanes. Raising the price of fossil fuel today gives us more time to solve these problems and helps pay for the 20 Trillion Dollars worth of renewable energy over the next 10 years. Humans have 50 trillion dollars worth of stuff that runs on cheep oil, natural gas, or coal.

The problem is the oil will be gone at least to run cars, heat homes, power electric plants or air travel over the next 30 years or will pay $30 per gallon. I would prefer a 5% plan for the USA for a 10 year plan to cut 50%. At the same time, we have to be building renewable energy so at the end of 10 years we can cut an additional 20%. With the peak of oil in the 1970’s, peak natural gas in the 1990’s, having mined cheep coal, the peak of ocean fishing in the 1980’s, and the peak of uranium in the 1990’s, humans must stop procrastinating and make real changes to keep earth sustainable including in the energy debate, finance and regulation.

Many of mankind’s advancements cause earth surface to warm, destroy the ozone layer, kill off endanger species, heat cities, and in some way cause more dramatic destruction.   Humans have destroyed half of the wetlands, cut down nearly half of the rain and other forests, and advance on the earths grasslands while advancing desertification and thus duststorms.

But with that we must understand we have never seen what is now happening before. CO2 has never lead to temperature change, but temperature change has led to increases in CO2. The models have to be made as we go along with current evidence! But again adding a small amount of CO2 to the atmosphere enlarges the earths sun collection causing warming; increase water in the atmosphere and it forms clouds cooling earth but sometimes causing flooding. The sun is available to produce energy, bring light to buildings and makes most of human’s fresh water. Composting is the answer to desertification. New dams are the answer to fresh water storage, energy and cooling earth by evaporation, we need many small ones all over. For example, California needs 100 by 2012 and we are far behind.

Education is why I founded CoolingEarth.org.

This is a grassroots movement. We need as many people as possible working on this. Please email me your ideas, if you would like to help. I would love for someone to help work on this. The charity needs many helping hands and minds-would you like to help there? I am working on Patents-need more help. How about Designing?

LMurray

Answer 3

It will be a while yet. Although very logical, possible, and the alternatives, as well as the demand exists worldwide, there are too many political, economic, and arbitrarily created interests at play here. ...And, remember: many, many members of our government (including most members of this current administration) are deeply immersed in the petroleum business. It has always been that way... That why petroleum is traditionally called "black gold". Wars have been fought over it, and this trend seems to continue unaverted, by the hand of the powerful.

Answer 4

As soon as a foreign car company starts making plug-in hybrids.  That will show that people are willing to plug-in at home for $2 to $4 dollars instead of buying gas.  Then they will make more electric cars.  American car companies will drag there feet to near bankruptcy before they give in.  They want more complicated expensive cars to sell with higher maintenance costs and shorter life spans.  

They'll promise hydrogen cars like it's the true answer when it is really 25 years away.  Plus when it finally comes out it will be the same set up with us buying hydrogen from the oil companies instead of making it ourselves from water.  Plus we can still pay the higher prices because it's a complicated technology that needs regular maintenance and more repair parts.

Answer 5

whenever we decide to stop talking and start acting.... some of what we talk about (fuel shortage) we attempted to address 30yrs ago.

The gov't has decided it's best to spend money on study groups and think tanks. The time for talk is past, and it may be to late to act !!!

Answer 6

When the oil runs out in about a century. Actually, there is a lot of oil in certain US regions and the political parties are fighting about whether to drill for it. If they let it stay in the ground we run out sooner. I read that McCain says to drill for it in an environmentally friendly way. Sounds good to me way to go McCain. Then supply goes up and prices go down that would make many people happy and Venezuela would have less clout when they disagreed with US policy.

Answer 7

Presuming that you mean "gasoline" and not "natural gas", I think the answer is that America is starting to change that now.

Presidents Bushes state of the union speech a few years ago talked about hydrogen powered cars and a hydrogen economy. (Still in the planning stages). Just a couple of months ago the 2007 Energy Bill was signed into law and that included a huge increase in alcohol production for use in automobile fuels. There is also work progressing on bio-diesel production. So the answer is that it is starting in earnest now.

I've included a link regarding information on the Energy Bill and the increase in required alcohol production as an example.

Timothy D.

West Melbourne, FL

Answer 8

O they said we would switch by tomorrow morning.  

come on be realistic.

Answer 9

When it becomes too expensive.  People's decisions are ultimately made by their pocketbook.  As long as gasoline is the cheapest, most effective, most readily available way to propel a vehicle, it will be commonly used.

As soon as its costs grow larger than the costs of acquiring new technology and supporting it (through taxation, demand or scarcity, or through subsidy of other fuels), Americans will flock to alternative means of propulsion.  But not until.

Answer 10

hopefully soon

Answer 11

i don't know, but i hope that it will be asap

because we are already in trouble