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The Decline and Fall of the Oil Age

By Tam Hunt, Contributor
December 21, 2011   |   15 Comments

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15 Reader Comments
Comment
1 of 15
December 21, 2011
Don't forget Flex-Fuel, and CNG. GM has announced several new CNG models for the US market. And don't forget the Chinese, with 150 million EVs on the road today.
Comment
2 of 15
December 22, 2011
The end of the Age of Oil is also the beginning of Age of Nickel-Hydrogen nuclear fusion. Andrea Rossi's E-Cat Cold Fusion, or LENR (Low Energy Nuclear Reaction)system was successful in 2011 and he has sold first working 1MW steam plants. Coal and dirty fission will be replaced by this safer, cheaper alternative for electric power production in this generation. The end of the Age of Coal is also in site.
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Comment
3 of 15
Anonymous
December 22, 2011
EV's are a neat technology but really do still have a long way to go. And, considering both battery disposal and the fact that most electricity is still produced by fossil fuel, the touted environmental benefits are questionable. From that standpoint, natural gas and natural gas powered fuel cells may prove superior. But, the one thing that few people think about is that if you liked Big Oil, you'll really love Big Electric Utility exerting the same consumer unfriendly dominance over the transportation sector that it has exerted over the electric power sector. Do we really want to see that? Do we want to give them that much more control over yet another area of our lives? Moreover, utility regulation has shown itself to be completely incapable of living up to the challenge.
Comment
4 of 15
December 22, 2011
Gas will always be priced as high as the oil companies can charge without chasing away too many customers. The only way to reduce what you pay out for gas is to stop buying the stuff. I long ago reached my limit for "price-induced conservation" so I bought an EV, a 1999 Ford Ranger Electric, and now save $4000 per year. The savings has increased with the steady rise in gas prices. I added solar to my garage roof so more recently my transportation fuel has become free. After some efficiency improvements my home electric utility bill has further decreased to about $250 per year, including home usage and car charging. Our national trend toward energy intensity improvement is encouraging although I am dismayed to see it lag so far behind what has already been proven possible.
Comment
5 of 15
December 23, 2011
I believe the US government (more specifically, the Obama regime) has a lot to do with higher gasoline prices than most would imagine. Examples include: drilling in the US is heavily restricted and prevented, pipelines can not be built (e.g. Keystone pipeline), boutique fuel blends are mandated and there are new regulations sprouting up like weeds. All of these activities restrict supply and increase the price of gasoline.

It is quite clear that the Obama regime advocates higher prices to reduce global emissions -- that is exactly what they have stated, if one bothers to check the record. Ranting that the "evil oil companies" are responsible is nonsense. Besides an inept federal government, OPEC is a major culprit - they are a cartel after all.

Having said all that, it is clearly in our economic self interest to efficiently use oil and come up with alternatives, with technology innovations (and the ballot box) the way out of the box canyon the government has placed us in.
Comment
6 of 15
December 23, 2011
I believe the US government (more specifically, the Obama regime) has a lot to do with higher gasoline prices than most would imagine. Examples include: drilling in the US is heavily restricted and prevented, pipelines can not be built (e.g. Keystone pipeline), boutique fuel blends are mandated and there are new regulations sprouting up like weeds. All of these activities restrict supply and increase the price of gasoline.

It is quite clear that the Obama regime advocates higher prices to reduce global emissions -- that is exactly what they have stated, if one bothers to check the record. Ranting that the "evil oil companies" are responsible is nonsense. Besides an inept federal government, OPEC is a major culprit - they are a cartel after all.

Having said all that, it is clearly in our economic self interest to efficiently use oil and come up with alternatives, with technology innovations (and the ballot box) the way out of the box canyon the government has placed us in.
Comment
7 of 15
December 23, 2011
I believe the US government (more specifically, the Obama regime) has a lot to do with higher gasoline prices than most would imagine. Examples include: drilling in the US is heavily restricted and prevented, pipelines can not be built (e.g. Keystone pipeline), boutique fuel blends are mandated and there are new regulations sprouting up like weeds. All of these activities restrict supply and increase the price of gasoline.

It is quite clear that the Obama regime advocates higher prices to reduce global emissions -- that is exactly what they have stated, if one bothers to check the record. Ranting that the "evil oil companies" are responsible is nonsense. Besides an inept federal government, OPEC is a major culprit - they are a cartel after all.

Having said all that, it is clearly in our economic self interest to efficiently use oil and come up with alternatives, with technology innovations (and the ballot box) the way out of the box canyon the government has placed us in.
Comment
8 of 15
December 23, 2011
I believe the US government (more specifically, the Obama regime) has a lot to do with higher gasoline prices than most would imagine. Examples include: drilling in the US is heavily restricted and prevented, pipelines can not be built (e.g. Keystone pipeline), boutique fuel blends are mandated and there are new regulations sprouting up like weeds. All of these activities restrict supply and increase the price of gasoline.

It is quite clear that the Obama regime advocates higher prices to reduce global emissions -- that is exactly what they have stated, if one bothers to check the record. Ranting that the "evil oil companies" are responsible is nonsense. Besides an inept federal government, OPEC is a major culprit - they are a cartel after all.

Having said all that, it is clearly in our economic self interest to efficiently use oil and come up with alternatives, with technology innovations (and the ballot box) the way out of the box canyon the government has placed us in.
Comment
9 of 15
December 23, 2011
I think your OPINION expressed once is QUITE enough....

I mean after all, it is so unique and all...

.....Bill
Comment
10 of 15
December 23, 2011
Electric Jeep:

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/12/23/jeep-grand-cherokee-goes-electric/?test=faces
Comment
11 of 15
December 24, 2011
Sorry for the multiple posts - was experiencing severe connection problems. Seem to get kicked off AOL e-mail by Windows frequently when Renewable Energy World on-line and that happens on multiple computers. Anybody else have that problem?
Comment
12 of 15
December 24, 2011
Happy XMAS Eve.

Interesting article, thank you for taking the time to express your opinions.

My opinions as follow should be viewed as coming from an environmentalist working for a large Canadian Oil Sands company.

1.) Electrification of the transportation sector is inevitable / predictable, projecting where the supply chain bottlenecks that determine the rate and extent of this transition will be at some distant point in time is pure speculation.

2.) This article indirectly identifies that the price of oil (Brenton or WTI) is no longer being driven or set by US consumption. It is the Developing World that is driving demand and hold prices high irrespective of G8 economics.

3.) Regardless of where the future "Joules" that keep our transportation system moving along come from, let no there be no denying that some future "Cartel" will dominate key points in the Supply Chain. Speaking to Keller et al specifically here. Future control of materials required to generate, transform, distribute, and or store energy/power will always reside within the Free Market. The role of Government should ONLY be to set in place intelligent policy and not to prop-up industry as this will inhibit natural selection in technology evolution.

Looking forward to 2012 and what is in store for the North American Alternative Energy market place!
Comment
13 of 15
December 26, 2011
Keller: nobody else has those problems because you are quite possibly the last AOL user left in the world. Though, that goes a long way towards explaining your -- eh -- perspective.

As to the meat of the article it's good to see the economic crunch recognized in a measured manner, rather than these contextually ignorant stories about "sudden spike in CO2 emissions in 2010" that completely ignore the stabilization/recovery.
Comment
14 of 15
January 4, 2012
I agree that electric vehicles are coming back! Although I would have liked if the article had touched on a few other aspects. Infrastructure: we will need a lot of charging stations integrated into cities and into the heartland. People will only feel comfortable if they are sure they can get electricity when they need it. We also need to consider people who can't charge at home because they rent, live in apartments and/or park on the street.

Mass transit: What is the current trends in electrification of exisiting mass transit and future improvements in options?

I'm curious if anything is being done to address the fact that some people find electric vehicles to be unsafe because of their silent movement? Or is that even still an issue?

Thanks, I liked the article.
Comment
15 of 15
January 4, 2012
Oh, and does anyone know why CODA wasn't included in this list?
http://www.codaautomotive.com/
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Tam Hunt

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About: Tam Hunt is managing member of Community Renewable Solutions LLC, a renewable consulting and project development company focused on community-scale wind and sol... more »

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