STrRedWolf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
strredwolf) wrote2005-06-12 03:59 am
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...
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...
no subject
I suspect that what Redwolf is suggesting simply cannot happen. We're not going to have any instant "all fossil fuels gone" moment. It's going to be a gradual thing of one country after another slowly running out of easy low-lying fruits on the energy tree. The cost of producing the same amount of gasoline will slowly increase shifting the balance point of the gasoline supply and demand chart. As this happens, one after another, alternate fuels like Ethanol will have a lower price balance point than gasoline.
It won't be cost or ease of conversion alone that will determine the next major fuel source, but a combination of many such factors. I'm sure the auto industry will have a say in it, as will the various energy companies. They'll be able to influence the choice of fuels by making one car cheaper, or one fuel more efficient, or just by plain old marketing (lying) to the public to instill some sort of idea of superiority of one type over another. It'll be like BluRay vs. HD-DVD or Betamax vs VHS, only on a larger scale.
TDP, coincidentally, also would permit use with very mildly modified engines. Like I said before, it doesn't matter if it has the magical "more output than input energy" that they claim with the new plants. Breaking even or perhaps 70-80% efficiency in transferring electrical energy to gasoline would still accomplish the goal of having a portable energy source from longer lasting sources. There's also Biodiesel and any number of other alternate fuel sources already being used in small quantities.