Shut the hell UP!!!

[*grand*]

it is all about solar power and the hydrogen fuel cell. some serious R&D needs to be invested into this instead of firing thousands of rockets into rocks in afghanistan and IRaq.

[kins83]

Why hasn't any one followed up on the pioneering work carried out by Keanu Reeves in the 90's classic 'Chain Reaction'? Have the evil oil companies covered it up?

[*grand*]

well what do you think... a clean and reknewable way of creating energy... that would put the oill barons out of action.... and change the balance of power in the world today...

i would try to keep it down.

[shonky]

Peak oil wasn't really the point, other than the fact that it will run out and become un-economicly vialble at which point your food that's been transported half way around the world will be more expensive than the locally grown things, cars too expensive to run so use of alternatives naturally happens etc.

Depends on how quickly any of this happens though. As it is, the UK's become heavily reliant on agriculture imported from elsewhere and has let it's own farming industry slip considerably. Even in the areas that are agricultural they are often quite remote from where the people live. Local in this case might mean 300 miles or so (or more if you figure out the food miles side of things, farm to depot, depot to shop, shop to purchaser).

I suggest we invade France immediately (which let's face it, the middle classes have been doing on the sly for a while now)

[shonky]

well what do you think... a clean and reknewable way of creating energy... that would put the oill barons out of action.... and change the balance of power in the world today...

i would try to keep it down.

I'm pretty certain that most of the money going into researching renewable power is coming from the oil industry anyway, and that they'll probably not roll that out until they've finished making money off the high oil prices. I think if you do some investigating you'll find that plenty of energy efficient cars and renewable power sources have had the patents bought out and then never used, just so they could continue making money.

Great capitalists = shit humans

[*grand*]

well what do you think... a clean and reknewable way of creating energy... that would put the oill barons out of action.... and change the balance of power in the world today...

i would try to keep it down.

I'm pretty certain that most of the money going into researching renewable power is coming from the oil industry anyway, and that they'll probably not roll that out until they've finished making money off the high oil prices. I think if you do some investigating you'll find that plenty of energy efficient cars and renewable power sources have had the patents bought out and then never used, just so they could continue making money.

Great capitalists = shit humans

i am actually well aware. there was this firm in india that developed a fuel that ran of the chemical composition of the oil these leaves produced. it burned cleaner and could easily be cultivated. this oil firm bought the patent on the way this was processed and that was that.

[forensix (mcr)]

Biofuels actually produce more carbon than fossil fuels - including the production and transport. They disguise them as being green so people will latch on to them because being green is "cool"

[*grand*]

but what it boils down to at the end of the day is if there are alternatives then those in control will loose out, especially when those alternatives do not require an oil or gas reservoir, and for that reason, at this moment in time no matter how potentially viable certain safe methods of energy creation
they will not see the light of day.

[shonky]

Havn't heard of that one and sure there might be cover ups....but if I developed a fuel more efficient than oil there is no way I'd be selling the patent on...could surely make yourself the richest person on the planet developing it yourself?

You need money to develop it, which would mean you'd either need to be ridiculously rich or get the approval of investment bankers, who would then obviously take a share of it. As most investment bankers figure profits above ethics there's nothing to stop them selling their share on to the highest bidder. If you were in the position to buy out your competition and keep your profits high, I imagine most businesses would.

[*grand*]

Havn't heard of that one and sure there might be cover ups....but if I developed a fuel more efficient than oil there is no way I'd be selling the patent on...could surely make yourself the richest person on the planet developing it yourself?

You need money to develop it, which would mean you'd either need to be ridiculously rich or get the approval of investment bankers, who would then obviously take a share of it. As most investment bankers figure profits above ethics there's nothing to stop them selling their share on to the highest bidder. If you were in the position to buy out your competition and keep your profits high, I imagine most businesses would.

way the world works.

[*grand*]

the only reason why there is ethics in business is because now days it makes a little money.

[shonky]

Biofuels actually produce more carbon than fossil fuels - including the production and transport. They disguise them as being green so people will latch on to them because being green is "cool"

They're also responsible for the price hike in certain foods too as more land is turned over to biodiesel crops. From what I can remember it would take a landmass twice the size of the UK devoted solely to growing plants for biodiesel purely to power "green" cars (assuming the UK continues to use fuel at the same rate). It isn't viable unless consumption is reduced drastically.

[kidlogic]

Biofuels actually produce more carbon than fossil fuels - including the production and transport. They disguise them as being green so people will latch on to them because being green is "cool"

Most 'Green' options are like this... recycled paper causes more waste than just using new growth forests, recycling plastics creates more inferior plastics and uses more energy than just processing more oil for plastics, etc. Its a shame because it makes the viable 'green' options seem like a waste too, like wind, solar and water power.

On this subject, what really gets me mad is the restrictions put on hemp. Hemp as a resource is amazing, makes paper, fibers for clothing and other industries, can be made into a plastic and a fuel and costs virtually nothing to grow. Its only illegal or restricted in the US because of its cousin (marijana) and the oil companies fears of losing profits.

[*grand*]

yeah pain in the arse at the price of staple food products like wheat and maize.. and the hike in the price of animal feed... which then causes an increase in the price of milk and meat.. and so forth and so forth.. you wait when an extra value meal cost £3.99. mc donalds is a good what ever the word is, in terms of the relative price of food.

[forensix (mcr)]

Biofuels actually produce more carbon than fossil fuels - including the production and transport. They disguise them as being green so people will latch on to them because being green is "cool"

They're also responsible for the price hike in certain foods too as more land is turned over to biodiesel crops. From what I can remember it would take a landmass twice the size of the UK devoted solely to growing plants for biodiesel purely to power "green" cars (assuming the UK continues to use fuel at the same rate). It isn't viable unless consumption is reduced drastically.

There is one bio fuel which is slightly better for the environment - Brazilian Sugar Cane fuel - it doesn't take a lot of brains to work out what would be chopped down to make way for fields of this - again increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and causing more problems in the long run.

We need nuclear power stations and rocket ships to send the nuclear waste into space

[shonky]

Havn't heard of that one and sure there might be cover ups....but if I developed a fuel more efficient than oil there is no way I'd be selling the patent on...could surely make yourself the richest person on the planet developing it yourself?

You need money to develop it, which would mean you'd either need to be ridiculously rich or get the approval of investment bankers, who would then obviously take a share of it. As most investment bankers figure profits above ethics there's nothing to stop them selling their share on to the highest bidder. If you were in the position to buy out your competition and keep your profits high, I imagine most businesses would.

way the world works.

No it isn't. It's the way that a tiny amount of the population who are greedy, short-sighted sociopaths work.

Yeah and "ethical" business is one of the most superficially, transparent marketing scams ever, often being an "ethical" branch of an otherwise unethical company. Same companies selling the same fuel from the same grid but charging premium rates on it's green products so middle class customers can feel less guilty about their 4X4 and numerous foreign holidays

[*grand*]

i dunno how viable this is but what about solar panals on the moon. and the energy generated being microwaved back down to earth... maybe if they build that space lift it is a possibility.

[forensix (mcr)]

yeah pain in the arse at the price of staple food products like wheat and maize.. and the hike in the price of animal feed... which then causes an increase in the price of milk and meat.. and so forth and so forth.. you wait when an extra value meal cost £3.99. mc donalds is a good what ever the word is, in terms of the relative price of food.

you can buy minced beef for 99p can of coke for 50p some potatoes 30p and a bun for 20p

total cost of meal

£1.99

if you chuck in another can of coke and a bun you could have two meals for less than that