Why should we suffer?

Question

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080421/oil_prices.html

We can put a man on the moon but we can't develop an alternative? Why is this?

Answer 1

oils cheap, gonna keep using it till its all gone, but when it does the these massive oil companies will be the fore runners for alternate fuels.

Answer 2

Greed & manipulation,pure & simple....

Oil co's want to look for more oil in Alaska..why ??

To lower prices ?

help their fellow man ?

No way !.. To find MORE oil they can sell at $117 a barrel !

Why is the Alaska pipeline not helping us out ???

MMmmmmm, something fishy here...

Answer 3

In terms of energy density, portability, capital costs and ease of extraction, petroleum will be the winner for at least another century.  The next step will be a revival of coal-to-liquid processing; right now it's still more expensive than oil but as the cost of oil goes up it will become more attractive.

Answer 4

Because big oil companies have a huge infrastructure already in place for diesel and gasoline.  They are not about to change it for nothing.

Answer 5

The only reason why oil is at this level is because we don't have the political will to get our own reserves.

We have enough oil in ANWR and off our coast where we could be independent from foreign oil for decades.

Answer 6

You should rent "Who Killed the Electric Car?".  It's a great movie/documentary!  It'll answer your question.

Answer 7

women

Answer 8

There ARE alternatives.

The oil industry is powerful!

Answer 9

ok let us consider the alternatives shall we?

propane/methane/cng- all good alternatives to gasoline as a fuel, but they need heavy steel pressure tanks that need to be inspected every 5 years for integrity. also the infrastructure is not in place to handle the large numbers of vehicles that would need to be supplied.

electric cars-good alternative, but batteries are heavy and expensive, and are slow to recharge. they also have limited range as well.

hydrogen- again good alternative, no infrastructure.

alcohol-not a bad alternative, but it requires to much energy to make, and requires large amounts of renewable sources that take away from other things, like food crops. on the plus side it can use the same infrastructure as gasoline.

liquefied coal- good alternative, can use the same infrastructure as gasoline, but definitely not environmentally sensitive.

solar panels on cars- good, but expensive, and too inefficient currently for automobile use, perhaps some day.

but to ask why we cant develop alternative energy sources is a bad question since alternative energy sources are already in development. again the biggest problem is the lack of infrastructure. in the future our fuel needs are not going to come from one source, but several. in fact future cars are going to have to use at least three different fuel sources.