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Hello fellow Knic investors, I got this article out of a news service on the web. Its a bit dated(Oct/96), but very relevent to the current problem we , in the United States face. The article alludes to ethanol and Methanol, since they are the best known alternative fuel TODAY. But I think it clearly points to the gravity of the situation and maybe why the Dpt of Energy has funded the Princeton Plasma Physics lab to the toon of $200M per year for the development of a superior alternative fuel such as Pure Energy's . Remember, the Pure Energy fuel has none of the drawbacks of those other fuels mentioned in this article.
Read the article and I challenge anyone to tell me that we are not sitting on a goldmine here.
Enjoy, here it is:
WASHINGTON -- Witnesses warned a Senate committee Wednesday that the
United States faces a potential crisis if it does not cut its dependence
on foreign oil and invest more in renewable <strong>fuels.</strong><br>
<br>
<p>``Generally, I believe the challenge that confronts us on this question
of energy independence will test us in some of the same ways that
the Western democracies were tested and found wanting in the 1920s
(when world developments laid the groundwork for World War II),''
former CIA director R. James Woolsey testified.<br>
<br>
<p>``We failed in the roaring '20s. The stakes, as we move into the roaring
21st century, are even higher,'' Woolsey told the Senate Agriculture,
Nutrition and Forestry Committee.<br>
<br>
<p>Committee chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said the panel has an interest
in energy because corn and other crops are used to make the renewable
<strong>fuel </strong>ethanol.<br>
<br>
<p>Lugar also said recent events in the Middle East, particularly Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein's backing of a Kurdish faction's successful
takeover in northern Iraq, should remind the United States that the
Middle East is a politically unstable region sitting atop more than
half the world's oil reserves.<br>
<br>
<p>``A modern nation cannot operate its economy without a dependable
energy supply. A great nation will assert a national interest in securing
it lines of supply for energy,'' Lugar said.<br>
<br>
<p>And that is what the United States has done in the Persian Gulf, he
said.<br>
<br>
<p>``If Saddam Hussein were the ruler of a nation that produced cocoa
rather than oil, would we be engaged in that region to the extent
that we are? Would we have established military bases there, exposing
our troops and their families to grave risks?'' Lugar asked.<br>
<br>
<p>Overall, the United States imports 50 percent of the oil it uses.
Just 9 percent of that oil comes from the Middle East, but Woolsey
and Joseph J. Romm, a top Energy Department official, said oil markets
are so intertwined that price increases or tight supplies in the Middle
East would have ripple effects on the United States.<br>
<br>
<p>Romm, who oversees the Energy Department's energy efficiency and renewable
<strong>fuels </strong>projects, said the federal government working with private industry
has made progress in finding potential sources for renewable <strong>fuels.
</strong> However, production costs for many of those <strong>fuels </strong>remain higher than
production costs for oil. The department spends $200 million to $300
million a year for research on all <em><strong><A NAME="BestHit">alternative </A></strong></em><strong>fuels.</strong><br>
<br>
<p>Production costs eventually will come down and the United States could
replace 10 percent to 20 percent of its imported oil with <strong>fuels </strong>produced
from corn and other crops. The country could further lessen its reliance
on foreign oil through greater use of natural gas, electric cars and
highly efficient cars.<br>
<br>
<p>Romm said the United States may never be energy independent, but the
country stands a better chance of ``blunting the so-called oil weapon
a great deal'' by drawing a good portion of its energy from U.S.-based
energy sources.<br>
<br>
<p>------<br>
<br>
<p><br>
<br>
<p><br>
Copyright 1996, Gannett News Service, a division of Gannett Co., Inc.
<p>ELLYN FERGUSON, Ex-CIA chief sees potential crisis over dependence on foreign oil., Gannett News Service, 10-02-1996, pp S11.
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