strredwolf: (Hmmmmmmm)
STrRedWolf ([personal profile] strredwolf) wrote2005-06-12 03:59 am

Oil Storm...

FX Network's docudrama "Oil Storm" posed a question to the viewers, saying "What would happen if the flow of oil to the USA was temporarily severed?"  To spoil folks, their answer was "A year of hell, a nessisary shift in energy strategy, and a damaged economy."

The better question would be "What would happen if the flow of oil from everywhere to everywhere was peramently severed?"

I would think total anarchy would be highly probable at this current stage of the game.  Alternate fuel cars (aka natural gas, hydrogen, and their hybrid eletric forms) would need to be quickly refined and produced.  Lighter materials would provide for added efficency.  I doubt the world could wait that long.

But this exersize has some relivance on Canmeph 2.  The world is older, as is the species.  Many wars have come, and a healthy amount of paranoia has set in as well as the need for a certian level of redundancy in everything.  With energy, this was paramount.  So, in addition to oil, other fuels were being developed on the fastest pace possible.  Solar energy was refined to near-100% levels.  Battery technology improved massively, squeezing every electron possible out yet keeping it viable for a new charge.  Hydrogen, coal, oil (crude and natural-grown), nuclear, you name it.

There wasn't much of crisis, as the mindset was now on "be as efficent as possible, with leeway for comfort, so everyone can stay afloat."  There aren't many personal automobiles, as mostly it's mass transit and your own two feet.  Of course, you'll need one for groceries and such.

And then, the invention of the Artificial Singularity Cell, the ultimate matter-to-energy converter.  The ASC's principle is simple:  exploit a black hole's tendency to "leak" various types of matter and energy as it degrades over time.  How it does isn't for discussion here (but I will describe it later).  Needless to say all that useless junk you want gone peramently can be used to power your car.  Of course, the ASC's are (what I'll nicely term) "volitile" by nature.  If not handled correctly, it could suck you in and recycle you as electrons.  Thus, they're used more often than not in major energy plants.

There is one other side-effect of the ASC's, though.  While they spew out electrons, they may also spew out various atomic matter, including the odd gasoline molecule.  Given how many ASC's are in place around the world (and the tight security!) you may say that the older energy plants are still active, and Canmephia is now a major player in the intergalatic energy market.

And that's not counting Canmeph 3, Babylon Alpha, or any other station using ASC's.

---
In doing some prelim research, I came across a report by the Department of Energy.  According to them, using current technology, the world will run out of crude oil in roughly 30 years.  We have that amount of time to find new energy sources, refine more efficent technology, and impliment it in the consumer markets.  30 years...

[identity profile] griffinwolf.livejournal.com 2005-06-12 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, PS, I heard rumor that Toyota is actually going to RAISE the prices for their cars sold in the US, to make the American Car market more 'competitive.'

That's bullshit. Trying to appease an economic ally despite the reason why people are buying Toyotas (or, I suppose, Hondas, which are the only two car companies to develope and impliment power-recovery systems) is because they offer better milage, and better reliability. My dad said the guy in the dealer almost never sees corrolas again after they sell 'em because they don't break down.

America needs to start to get with the program, stop building so much SUV's (which only give a sense of comfort to the soccer moms who buy 'em and don't use them for their actual purpose, UTILITY), and start coming up with ways for their cars to use their gas better....

And also not fall apart.

[identity profile] strredwolf.livejournal.com 2005-06-12 03:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I also hear through Slashdot that Toyota's Prius (their hybrid) gets about 48 mpg in real world data (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/10/0117207), and that modifications to plug the car in (http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/02/1958251) allow it to get 60 to 100 mpg. Further modifications to the battery get it to 180.

Honda's getting 30 in R/W data.

[identity profile] kesarra.livejournal.com 2005-06-12 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
GM is cutting jobs because it has fallen into junk bond status. And the US gov't is still propping them up with corporate welfare checks. The airlines have been under that sort of treatment for many years now. They've been losing money no matter what they do. What we really need to do is get our infrastructure back to rail. There's too much suburbia and diesel truck based living that will collapse catastrophically as oil dwindles.

Last I heard the newest H3 model still doesn't have a published milepergallon. Which means it's probably 12ish.