According to Gold, Gas Prices Aren't Rising; Dollar is Falling

[cannabineer]

300 years ago there were no combustion engines, no powered flight, etc...

I expect technology to adapt to the future. If we run out of oil we go to natural gas. If we run out of natural gas we go to coal. By that time we will have something better.

I can't imagine a world that doesn't have Fusion before 2100 unless there is a total and utter collapse. Rising oil prices will push investment into new energies and cause consumers to demand the development of efficient vehicles. Even when accounting for the increase in population and use of oil we are looking at 100 years worth of oil. Though, it might be more since rising prices will curb demand as well as other energies. Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and natural gas will be utilized in the coming decades. Even if fusion never pays off, solar power will likely be capable of powering our lives, thus leaving oil to making plastics and the like. How far can we really be from solar powered cars? It is gonna happen eventually. Look to see trains make a giant come back since they use electricity/coal.

The irony is that when i was a kid in the 60s, fusion was 20 years away. Progress: it's now at least thirty years away.
I don't subscribe to either of the great energy conspiracy hypotheses: that global warming is BS, or that the oil companies are suppressing all alt-energy research. However, I do think that as global warming becomes acute, we'll feel pressure to not burn any more fossil carbon. Maybe in my lifetime ... and maybe not.
But fusion is the big brass ring, no? A noncarbon and essentially unrestricted source of energy. But the technology for harnessing the extreme temps and pressures needed to make fusion a going process ... is not yet in hand, and will take much time and money to develop.

In the meantime, there's fission, especially using breeders and the thorium cycle. It's a good and carbon-poor source of electrical energy, and the much lower cost to make it operable as compared to fusion is very attractive to me. The real problem of course is political: somehow getting a deep waste disposal site approved, built and licensed ... and keeping the idiots from building them to a nonseismic spec in seismic areas. Like coastal California and Japan. cn

 

[Carthoris]

The irony is that when i was a kid in the 60s, fusion was 20 years away. Progress: it's now at least thirty years away.
I don't subscribe to either of the great energy conspiracy hypotheses: that global warming is BS, or that the oil companies are suppressing all alt-energy research. However, I do think that as global warming becomes acute, we'll feel pressure to not burn any more fossil carbon. Maybe in my lifetime ... and maybe not.
But fusion is the big brass ring, no? A noncarbon and essentially unrestricted source of energy. But the technology for harnessing the extreme temps and pressures needed to make fusion a going process ... is not yet in hand, and will take much time and money to develop.

In the meantime, there's fission, especially using breeders and the thorium cycle. It's a good and carbon-poor source of electrical energy, and the much lower cost to make it operable as compared to fusion is very attractive to me. The real problem of course is political: somehow getting a deep waste disposal site approved, built and licensed ... and keeping the idiots from building them to a nonseismic spec in seismic areas. Like coastal California and Japan. cn

They were just estimating poorly. Fusion is probably 50 years away from any real use. 80-100 to adoption. However, they are building a bigger reactorchamperthingy in France right now, and it is is entirely possibly that with a good showing that the US, China, or Eurozone will be willing to drop a hundred billion or two into the pot. I mean, if Obama can toss a hundred billion at renewables then it isn't hard to believe Fusion might get a big boost and move quicker in the future at some point. The point was that we have a full basket of eggs, one of them is going to hatch and take care of the oil problem.

 

[NoDrama]

We can go back to burning wood, its renewable.

Good ole wood burning cars, now that's the ticket.

 

[Carthoris]

We can go back to burning wood, its renewable.

Good ole wood burning cars, now that's the ticket.

Its always hard to tell if you are being serious or not Any history buff knows that Germany had hundreds of thousands of wood burning cars during the war. Many other European countries also used them.

http://strangevehicles.greyfalcon.us/HOLZBRENNER VOLKSWAGENS.htm

They still use them in some places that are backwoods. It would be a great end of the world vehicle

 

[fb360]

What scares me about gold is that the government has already confiscated gold once in our history. They have set precedent. What is to stop a government from demanding all gold for government bonds once the currency collapses?

Hopefully a population of 300million.

 

[TheMan13]

When a government crosses a clear line, or rule of law, to pick winners and losers in an economy citizens take heed. Look at our economy today, any questions? For anyone to assume that these same clowns could actually change the environment via policy simply is not reasonable.

As termites create more CO2 that humans on this planet that would be a logical start point if logic played any part in their plans ...

 

[Carthoris]

Hopefully a population of 300million.

Thanks for reminding me to buy some more silver

 

[fb360]

Thanks for reminding me to buy some more silver

hahahah

sad shit isn't it

 

[Omgwtfbbq Indicaman]

i'm glad i drive a prius.

 

[althor]

We can go back to burning wood, its renewable.

Good ole wood burning cars, now that's the ticket.

Actually wood burning is terrible for the environment.
Our first recorded "global warming" came during the Roman times from so much burning.

 

[Carthoris]

Actually wood burning is terrible for the environment.
Our first recorded "global warming" came during the Roman times from so much burning.

Making up history as we go, eh? Global warming(and cooling) exists. I would never deny that fact. It was happening before humans existed and will continue after they stop existing.

The only way you actually get a chart that shows temperatures on the rise historically is to blow up a small portion during the upswing. You can show a line straight up in the right cases, but within 100 years you can show a line going straight down too. CO2 probably makes the temperature hotter. Is man the only cause of the temperature upswing? We don't know. Even if we all died off the temperature might continue to climb for centuries before it plummeted into an iceage. We might drop 50 degrees next week. The truth is we don't understand how it all works. We only have guesses.

As far as your claim that Rome ushered in global warming, I call BS. No temperature chart shows any real correlation that could be accredited to Rome. Rome started in 753 BC. The temperature continued to drop for what, 500 years? In fact, the only real correlation I see is that it gets cold then hot then cold then hot over and over for all of history with or without humans. Our current temperatures are not out of the ordinary for the planet, and neither were the temperatures during Rome. However, you might note some very interesting volcanic activity in correlation with temperatures.

 

[Carthoris]

i'm glad i drive a prius.

A Prius is worse for the environment and for your pocketbook than a normal car would be. Geo Metro, Ford Focus, Nissan Micra would all be better. I drove a Micra around Ireland and I have to tell you it was a nifty little car. It costs about 1/3 what the Prius does, and it gets about the same MPG. It also looks better. If you are looking strictly at $, the Prius sucks against almost every normal comparable car and even many SUVs and Trucks.. If you are looking strictly at MPG.Oil Usage, it is about average for small cars that are built with MPG in mind and probably a bit worse when considering oil usage due to the heavy manufacturing costs on the Prius and the battery replacements. If you are looking at overall impact on the environment the Prius is a big loser there too.

Overall, the Prius doesn't do anything great but make yuppies proud of themselves. Kind of like when they eat natural foods grown in the foot hills of the Himalayas vs buying a gassed up Tomato from Wal-Mart that came from FL. It is more of a status thing than it is caring about the environment.

 

[cannabineer]

The Prius would be much better with a tiny Turbodiesel, a manny tranny and no battery pack. Jmo. cn

 

[Carthoris]

The Prius would be much better with a tiny Turbodiesel, a manny tranny and no battery pack. Jmo. cn

We agree on something! There are a lot of cheap cars that they drive in Europe that get good gas mileage. We just don't have them here. It is more the government rules and regulations than not having a market. They have to literally remake the cars because.. and get this.. the European cars don't meet US emission standards. Europeans have lower standards than the US for pollution. Could it be that we just make things up and don't actually care if a regulation makes sense or not? Cheap cars with good gas mileage would sell well here.

 

[cannabineer]

We agree on something! There are a lot of cheap cars that they drive in Europe that get good gas mileage. We just don't have them here. It is more the government rules and regulations than not having a market. They have to literally remake the cars because.. and get this.. the European cars don't meet US emission standards. Europeans have lower standards than the US for pollution. Could it be that we just make things up and don't actually care if a regulation makes sense or not? Cheap cars with good gas mileage would sell well here.

I'm quite irritated by this as well. The Europeans and Japanese get the real economy vehicles. A small Turbodiesel in a compact pickup is on my wish list. I can eke 30mpg out of my (gas) 4-cylinder Mazda pickup ... imagine what a properly-sized Turbodiesel with a six-speed could do. ~nice dreams~ cn

 

[Carthoris]

I'm quite irritated by this as well. The Europeans and Japanese get the real economy vehicles. A small Turbodiesel in a compact pickup is on my wish list. I can eke 30mpg out of my (gas) 4-cylinder Mazda pickup ... imagine what a properly-sized Turbodiesel with a six-speed could do. ~nice dreams~ cn

I toured the republic of Ireland driving a Nissan Micra. It was a nice car, and I felt comfortable in it. I am 6 foot tall and I am not a tiny person. It is a sub $10k car. They are supposed to be bringing them to the US next year. I enjoyed driving it. I drove probably about 2000 Km in it. Got great gas mileage even with the gas motor. I probably wouldn't want to sit behind me while I was driving, but it wasn't too bad.

 

[SSHZ]

It's amazing how we can have an intelligent discussion without Uncle Buck.......... nice job everyone- interesting and well thought answers.

 

[cannabineer]

I could write in crayon to abet understanding. ~giggling, ducking~ cn

 

[ginwilly]

we had some really ugly cars in the 80s that we still can't touch efficiency wise 30 years later.

I dated a girl that drove a LeCar. I think it was made by bic because it was pretty much disposable after the first tank. Chrysler K-car, VW had a rabbit diesel that performed better than what we have today. I don't get it, are our epa standards that much more stringent? Why does the volt only have a 35 mile battery range when the battery itself costs more than the GM electric car from the 90's did for the whole car?

 

[althor]

Well as the Obama admin would say "I misspoke".

http://www.inquisitr.com/353249/ancient-greenhouse-gases-from-rome-and-china-helped-warm-planet-study/