Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : MDA - Market Direction Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pater tenebrarum who wrote (54785)	6/20/2000 10:38:00 PM
From: Casaubon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

HB, Thanks for the link. It paints a bleak picture of "Beyond Thunderdome". A future where we collect chicken waste to generate methane. It is proposterous. The hydrogen infrastrucure will be in place before the world flies apart from lack of oil. His dismisal of photovoltaics is pedantic at best. At worst, synthetic fuels derived from vegetation will offer an interim solution. This, of course, discounts impportant advances in fission, and potentially fusion, processes. There are of course other important technologies which are being investigated as viable alternatives to oil. The world will never consume less energy than a prior year, for the remainder of mans existence, unless a nuclear war occurs.

To: pater tenebrarum who wrote (54785)	6/21/2000 12:27:00 AM
From: Fun-da-Mental#1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

I agree with John Haley. I believe oil prices will rise but I don't believe we'll unexpectedly run out one day and find ourselves with no source of energy. For one thing, there is still lots of oil in Saudi Arabia, and the US has enormous permanent military bases there to ensure that source of supply. For another, alternative sources of oil are already coming online, such as: -Tar sands, oil shale, and heavy oil. Suncor (T.SU) is producing large volumes of oil from tar sands for around $10/barrel. -Liquification of natural gas. This also is commercially viable and a rapidly growing business. Also we can rely on conservation measures. Already we are switching to natural gas, coal, and nuclear for electric power generation and saving the oil for motor fuel. Also we can use new efficient technologies like fuel cells. Fuel cells are currently being used by the US army for heating and electrical power in M1 tanks. The fuel cell heaters are manufactured by Global Thermoelectric - T.GLE. The navy is testing a fuel cell power plant for a ship. That fuel cell is made by Fuel Cell Energy - FCEL. Right now only the military has the bucks to pay for fuel cells, but when they come into mass production the price will drop fast. (Yes I'm ignoring Ballard and Plug Power - that's a whole other story.) Alternative energy is a huge investment opportunity, IMHO. And of course there are still good buys in the oil patch for now, and especially in natural gas production. OPEC can turn on the oil tap, but we can only get natural gas from pipelines within North America, and the price of natural gas is on its way to doubling this year. Fun-da-Mental