we need to make our energy independence about national security, not the price of oil.
Totally concur, since global oil prices impact EVERY economy, not just the US.
As far as the energy policy, I simply want it to be about removing the obstacles to developing and using energy sources other than petroleum.
What's you perspective of what those obstacles are?
IMO, I think the primary obstacles still revolve around cost/benefit with regard to vehicles. And with regard to electrical generation, insuring that our nation's baseload capacity is not dependent upon fickle wind conditions, or cloudy days.
What I really worry about is whether alternatives are as "ready for prime time" as they being hyped to be. We've had an extensive discussion on the Politics of Energy thread about the merits of Lithium batteries over waiting for ultracapacitor technology to advance sufficiently (I'm think I'm leaning toward the latter), before making the big push.
Lithium is primarily found in quantity in the Atacama desert of S. America, and China. The US doesn't have particularly large deposits of it. So some question whether we're merely substituting dependence upon imported oil for imported Lithium:
pdfdownload.org
And don't get me wrong, I really think PHEV technology is the way to go, because people who have a daily commute are the ones most responsible for this country's gasoline consumption (farmers being responsible for diesel). But Lithium batteries degrade in capacity each and every year, whether used or not, whereas ultracapacitors have the promise of long durability and quick recharge.
Hawk |
