Archive for June, 2008

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H is for Hooey

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Joe Romm says it so we don’t have to:

[N]obody should get terribly excited when a car company rolls out its wildly impractical next-generation hydrogen car. Too many miracles are required for it to be a marketplace winner.[...] Who, exactly, is going to buy a car that can’t easily find fuel? On the other hand, who is going to build tens of thousands of fuelling stations – price tag $2m apiece or more – until the cars are wildly successful? That is the so-called chicken-and-egg problem, which is especially acute for hydrogen. [..]And yet the media can’t get enough of these hi-tech Edsels. The New York Times, of all places, writes:

Fuel cells have an advantage over electric cars, whose batteries take hours to recharge and use electricity, which, in the case of the United States, China and many other countries, is often produced by coal-burning power plants.

Is the Times unaware that electricity is pretty much available everywhere, whereas hydrogen is essentially available nowhere? Is the Times unaware that the per-mile fuel cost of an electric car is probably one-quarter that of a hydrogen fuel-cell car? Is the Times unaware that electric-car manufacturers are working on “exchangeable batteries”, which would make a battery swap about as fast as it takes to refuel a car with hydrogen?

Most egregious: Where, exactly, does the Times think hydrogen comes from? Santa Claus? [...]

If you build it, the media will come, but don’t hold your breath waiting for mass-market hydrogen-car buyers. In two years, GM and Toyota have promised to deliver plug-in hybrids. That will be a real step closer to a future free of petroleum.

Go Joe!

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The candidates are on board

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

We quoted Senator McCain’s endorsement of a shift to flex fuel vehicles the other day, and here is a quote from Senator Obama’s energy factsheet:

Barack Obama believes that all new vehicles sold in the U.S. should be flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), which means they can run on biofuel blends like E85. Obama will work with Congress and auto companies to ensure that all new vehicles have FFV capability by the end of his first term in office.

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The message is sinking in: Fiorina gets it

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Last September Jim Woolsey and Anne Korin wrote:

A determined pack has begun to race its engines and to try to shoulder us off the road toward energy independence. It’s time for those determined to stay on the track to drive aggressively. The energy-independence question is really about oil — the rest of U.S. energy use presents important issues, but not the danger of our being subject to the control of nations that “do not particularly like us,” as the president put it. Some of the engine racers have an economic interest in keeping our transportation system 97-percent oil-dependent. Less understandable are the authors of a recent Council on Foreign Relations report accusing those working for such independence of “doing the nation a disservice.”

The authors of that report and their followers define “independence,” contrary to both Webster’s and common sense, as essentially “autarky” — i.e. complete self-sufficiency, or not importing oil even though we remain dependent on it. Such a Pickwickian definition captures none of the thinking of serious advocates of reducing our oil dependence: The point of independence is not to be an economic hermit, but rather to be a free actor.

It is true that some who promote oil independence spice their remarks by implying that we might substitute oil from domestic sources or from our near neighbors for cheap Middle Eastern imports, and somehow manage to insulate ourselves from the world oil market.

But speechwriters’ tropes shouldn’t be taken as serious policy proposals. Geology will not cooperate in any such fantasy. There is no reasonable way that we can leave oil in place as the near-exclusive fuel for the world’s transportation systems and simultaneously wall ourselves off from the world oil market. If we want to end dependence on the whims of OPEC’s despots, the substantial instabilities of the Middle East, and the indignity of paying for both sides in the War on Terror, we must define oil “independence” sensibly — as doing whatever is necessary to avoid oil’s being the instrument of despotic leverage and foreign chaos.

Yesterday former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, explained independence does not mean autarky::

[McCain advisor Fiorina said] the plan to become strategically independent from foreign oil does not mean completely cutting off oil supplies from the Middle East.
“That is an unrealistic goal to say we will not get oil from the Middle East,” Fiorina said. “But what it does say is that if a regime in the Middle East is hostage to our interests or the pricing of a regime in the Middle East is hostile to our economy, then we have other sources of energy that we can choose to say ‘No thanks. We’re not going to play.’ “

Freedom means choice.

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Terrorists targeting oil infrastructure

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Back in 2003, Gal Luft and Anne Korin wrote: “However, after the attacks on World Trade Center and the Pentagon, symbols of U.S.’ economic and military dominance, terrorist organizations of global reach like al Qaeda have identified the world’s energy system as a major vulnerability and a certain way to deliver a blow to America’s oil dependent economy as well as global economy at large. With attacks against transportation networks, military bases and government installations becoming more difficult to execute due to heightened security, terrorists looking for a big bang might find oil, to quote al Qaeda, the “umbilical cord and lifeline of the crusader community,” the object of the next major assault on the west, an assault that could wreak havoc with America’s economy and way of life. ”

Fast forward to the present, where attacks on oil targets have removed a significant amount of oil from the global market contributing to the drastic rise in prices. The likelihood of a catastrophic attack against a hub of the global oil market is high. AP reports: “Saudi authorities arrested 701 suspected al-Qaida-linked militants in 2008, some of whom planned a car bomb attack on an oil installation, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday.” The threat extends beyond the Middle East: Nigeria, for example, has lost almost one million barrels a day of production due to attacks, the most recent of which were last week.

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Tune in: Zubrin on Book TV

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Set America Free Coalition member Robert Zubrin talk about his book, “Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror By Breaking Free of Oil” this Saturday June 28, at 9:00 AM on C-SPAN2 Book TV.

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What We Pay For In A Gallon Of Gasoline

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

What We Pay For In A Gallon Of Regular Gasoline (May 2008) Retail Price: $3.77/gallon

Taxes - Fees collected on a gallon of fuel that are paid to the federal, state, or local government. Distribution and Marketing - Products are shipped by pipeline, stored at terminals, and trucks deliver gasoline and diesel fuel to retail stations. Refiners - process crude oil to make gasoline, diesel fuel, and other products for sale to retailers and resellers. Crude oil - Domestic and foreign crude oil producers sell crude oil to refiners for processing.

Source: US Dept. of Energy

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McCain on board

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Senator McCain talks fuel choice:

Instead of playing favorites, our government should level the playing field for all alcohol fuels that break the monopoly of gasoline, lowering both gasoline prices and carbon emissions. And this can be done with a simple federal standard to hasten the conversion of all new vehicles in America to flex-fuel technology — allowing drivers to use alcohol fuels instead of gas in their cars. Brazil went from about five to over 70 percent of all new vehicles with flex-fuel capacity. It did all that in just three years. Yet those same automakers that helped Brazil make the change say it will take them longer to reach the goal of 50 percent new flex-fuel vehicles for America. But I am confident they can do more, and do it faster, in the interest of our energy security. And if I am elected president, they will. Whether it takes a meeting with automakers during my first month in office, or my signature on an act of Congress, we will meet the goal of a swift conversion of American vehicles away from oil.

Watch here.

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Support from the Kansas City Star

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

E. Thomas McClanahan in the Kansas City Star:

A group called Set America Free, with backing from both sides of the political spectrum, has put together a list of suggestions, which seems a good starting point for debate.

Supporters of the group include both Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

To me, the group’s key point is that we should make greater use of technologies that exist today, rather than do nothing while we wait for those that require further development.

That means, among other things, we should make more cars that can run on ethanol. A flexible-fuel vehicle capable of running on either gasoline or ethanol or different ratios of both requires only a different fuel-control chip and different fittings in the fuel line to accommodate ethanol. Additional cost: About $100.

I know. Ethanol is in bad political odor right now, but I’m not necessarily talking about corn ethanol. If we’re serious about energy diversification, we should drop the tariff on imported sugar ethanol.

Today, up to two-thirds of Brazil’s autos run on ethanol, primarily made from sugar. When the next energy crisis hits, a flexible-fuel vehicle fleet would be a nice ace in the hole.

We also need more hybrids, powered by a combination of gasoline and electricity, as well as what might be termed super-flexible cars: flexible-fuel, plug-in hybrids.

These would run on gasoline or ethanol, as well as electricity produced by the car’s generator and captured braking energy. At night, its batteries could be recharged with the plug-in feature.

Powering more of our vehicle fleet with electricity would shift more transportation uses away from exclusive dependence on oil. Electricity can be provided by a range of sources, including coal and nuclear, and, yes, wind — although it’s still not clear how much difference wind power will make.

Posted in Flex fuel vehicles, biofuel, ethanol, plug in hybrids | Comments Closed

Zubrin: OPEC is taxing the industrial world into depression

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

ZubrinSet America Free Coalition member Zubrin was the keynote speaker at the 24th annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo: 

Robert Zubrin, author of Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil, gave a compelling account of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries strategic will to power through the constriction of global oil supplies. In 1972, the United States spent $4 billion on oil imports, or 4.5 percent of the U.S. defense budget. In comparison, 35 years later, the United States spends $650 billion on imported oil. As Zubrin put it, “$650 billion isn’t just money, it’s power.” What’s bad for wealthy countries like the United States is crushing for developing countries such as Kenya, he said. OPEC’s “slow choke” on oil supplies is smarter than a complete shutoff due to the military consequences the United States would exact on such a move. To hammer home Dinneen’s point about oil interests controlling editorial content of major media outlets, Zubrin said the Saudis partially own the Wall Street Journal. He quipped the paper should be renamed the Wahhabi Street Journal. “OPEC is taxing the industrial world into depression,” he continued. The United States could open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but it would do little good. “That’s a desperation card,” Zubrin said. “It’s not the way to go. Oil is trump right now, so how do we change the trump suit?” His answer is mandating all vehicles sold in the United States to be flex-fueled, giving consumers a fuel choice. A flexible-fuel vehicle mandate would end the chicken and egg dilemma, and would make E85 pumps appear rapidly across the country. “This would crash the oil price to $50 a barrel,” he told the crowd. “This is how you smash OPEC.” His plan states that, once the U.S. farmers have produced all the ethanol they can, trade barriers should be abolished, beginning the importation of ethanol from friends in Latin America and elsewhere to help them reap the prosperity now enjoyed by OPEC countries. “It would be a terrific financial engine for world development,” Zubrin said. “Instead of selling Citibank to Saudi princes, we can be selling tractors to Africa. … We cannot afford to leave this power in the hands of the enemies of freedom.”

Posted in Flex fuel vehicles, biofuel, ethanol | Comments Closed

Frank Gaffney calls a spade a spade

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

Set America Free Coalition member Frank Gaffney writes:

the Saudis’ reported, new-found willingness to increase oil production by half-a-million barrels per day should not be confused with acts of friendship. After all, twice in recent months King Abdullah contemptuously rebuffed pleas from President Bush for just such relief from the damage caused by soaring petroleum prices. Only when that damage appeared likely to trigger a renewed U.S. determination finally to end America’s “addiction to oil” have the Saudis seen any need to bring down prices at the pump.

Fortunately, the latest Saudi gambit may be too little, too late to perpetuate our present enslavement by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the Saudi-led oil cartel that has been waging economic warfare against the United States for decades and lately with increasingly devastating effects. Thanks to the likes of Robert Zubrin, author of the highly acclaimed “Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil,” Fox New’s popular prime-time host Bill O’Reilly and a growing number of legislators, the American people are awakening to the fact we have an alternative: Flexible Fuel Vehicles – cars that at a nominal cost can use existing technology to run on alcohol-based fuels (such as ethanol, methanol or butanol), gasoline or some combination thereof.

Posted in Flex fuel vehicles, Saudi Arabia | Comments Closed

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