Why should we drill in the U.S. now vs Why should we find an alternative fuel and not drill now?

Question

Oil is not infinite anywhere/ it will run out. Should we drill now or invent another source of fuel?

Answer 1

Both. Only striving to do some other fuel will be too costly of a transistion in the short-run.  Diesel fuel could be a short-term solution if it were priced fairly in relation to gasoline. Europe runs over 50% cars on it. Much better fuel mileage.

Answer 2

the issue here is energy independence. in order to reach that goal we are not only going to have to drill her for oil, we are going to have to invest in coal liquefaction plants, hydrogen generating plants, collect methane from various sources such as sewage treatment plants, make ethanol, best made from sugar not corn, develop new battery technologies, better solar cells, wind generators, nuclear power, etc.

since all these technologies are ready for use now, we need the infrastructure, and the vehicles to use these energy sources. all of which takes time, which means we need to drill for oil NOW, and continue to develop the infrastructure for other energy sources.

Answer 3

What type of alternate fuel should we invent?

The current alternate are:  coal plants, pollution and mining; oil plants, dud; wind farms on every ridge in US; solar farms, covering entire southwest; nuclear, no pollution, and best choice.

For vehicles: electric, how do we generate needed electricity; natural gas, located with oil fields?

I agree we need to do something, but until something is developed, why can’t we drill for oil in our country instead of importing.

Answer 4

If we don't do everything we can now we will be in big trouble very soon.  We need all the choices, drill, nuclear, wind solar, bio fuels, nat gas and coal.

We also need to stop the markets from allowing investors who wil never use the oil they are buying futures for they are just running up prices for profit.  If they are not going to actually take delivery of the oil they should not be allowed to bid on the futures.

Answer 5

Yep, oil will run out. We already have an alternative source of fuel - my cars run on natural gas (methane), and the carmakers have known how to make them for a number of years. They just aren't mainstream yet due to the lack of fueling stations in some parts of the country. My 1999 Ford Crown Vic is 99% cleaner than a regular gas-burner, and way cheaper to fill up ($8) in Utah. Drilling for more oil isn't going to do it for us. There just isn't enough left. Even the oil in Alaska will run out in 2 years or less if they decide to drill for it. What good is that? No wonder they resist the idea. Why throw all that money into setting up for drilling when there just isn't all that much there? I say go for natural gas. We have it here in the USA already - it heats houses, you cook with it, the pipelines are in. We just need  more filling stations for the vehicles.

Answer 6

You see the expected quandary proposed,inevitably, by the energy barons of this world. Do'nt allow them to box you in like this. Your train of thought plays directly into their hands. They have manipulated you to question them from inside thier field of play. They make the rules and control the refs'. They are the high court and any appeals fall on deaf ears. They are GOD-in there eye's. We are their folly.

Answer 7

Another source may have been already made!

new energy source comes from a new scientific break through, However there are two separate scientific bodies working in our society at the moment. There is one in the public domain which we know what can do and there is the second working inside the Industrial Military Complex of the United States.

When the latter has a scientific break through they are not obliged to share this information with the public domain, the breakthrough may have been arrived at while making a new vehicle or weapon, in turn it falls under national security acts, thus the public don't have to be told.

its just something that could be happening, squeezing the last drop of oil from the earth and the last dollar from your pocket before unveiling a new energy source.

check out http://www.mkaku.org for information on possible future enrgy resources.

Answer 8

Sorry study photosynthesis ,the plants are not only recycling our CO2 into oxygen ,but it also recycle fossil fuels . It is from plant fossils not animal fossils. Where do U think our present supply of fossil fuels came from. As long as the plants have plenty of CO2 there will be plenty of oil & gas.

Answer 9

Oil is absolutely not infinite.  Even if we were able to erect overnight all of the drilling rigs and infrastructure to drill all that the US claims rights to, the cost of gas would drop a mere few cents per gallon.  To many that would be enough, but in reality the US has enjoyed cheap gas far longer than most of the world.  In Europe gas costs well over 9$ US per gallon.  In Canada it is also really high.  There are currently existing many prototype alternatives that are beginning to take off.  In the 80's the US auto market saw a major shift towards smaller cars due to the oil shortages, then we sort of forgot... and thus the H2 was born.  

in the end the problem lies with this... the energy (thats all we care about) has to come from somewhere.  Even if all of the cars were replaced with electric vehicles, the electricity comes from somewhere.  a couple of facts:

1. the vast majority of electricity produced in the US comes from coal.

2. there is no efficient way to store electricity (on the scale of use for city consumption)

3. electricity isn't extremely well travelled... (over distance it degrades, even with the use of high voltage transmission lines.  This is why these lines hum, it's energy being lost, well converted to an unusable form)

4. Solar arrays are great in areas like arizona, new mexico and colorado, but what about wisconsin, illinois, oregon, washington, or new england? Wind is great in Wyoming (VERY windy there).  But both of these ideas pose problems environmentally as far as the footprint an effective solar array for a state would take up, or the dangers to wildlife that with turbines cause (both are getting better however).

5. nuclear (there I said it) has gotten WAY more efficient and WAY less dangerous since the US stopped building reactors.  Parts of Europe are extensively powered by nuclear energy as we speak, and India is planning on bringing several online in the next couple of years.

In the long term we NEED to stop using fossil fuels, they will eventually run out and then where will we be. However nothing is quite developed to take it's place yet.  What we need to focus on today is being more efficient in how we use it...Stop driving those H2's (i know i am picking on you guys but seriously...$60000 for a vehicle that you can't/won't drive even on a dirt road let alone off road?) and giant Pick-ups, and switch to smaller more fuel efficient vehicles especially for commuters and the like who don't ever use their truck for more than doing their weekly groceries.

Even I am weary of the "N-word"(Nuclear that is) but unless there are some heart-stopping developments (and please bring 'em on) in the realms of solar/wind/ocean current generators we need to seriously start talking about bringing the US back into the Nuclear age.

Answer 10

a huge experimental nuclear fusion plant is being finished up in france with partners from russia, usa and japan. eventually, nuclear fusion is the holy grail of all applied scientists. some think a full-scale nuclear fusion reactor will be operating in about 20 years, maybe longer. but that is the future.

actually, the biggest problem is corrupt politics and all the "bad apples" in the u.s. congress.

meanwhile, we must manage with a variety of sources and, obviously, we need to drill offshore and do everything possible to counteract the surge in gasoline prices. whatever it takes.

Answer 11

Both. We need to do everything, soon, or we are going to be in a mess.  That includes commissioning Nuclear Power Plants.

Answer 12

We can and should do both.  We don't have any alternative now, so lets use what we got.

Let's start building more Nuclear Power and keep building wind power.  But these take time.

In the meantime let's continue to research and develop alternative energy supplies while still drilling so the poor aren't effected as much as they are now.