| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Captain Compassion" |
| Date: |
17 Jun 2006 01:10:44 AM |
| Object: |
The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream
By Alec Russell in Billings
(Filed: 17/06/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/17/wmontana17.xml
The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans,
pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him
with a winning smile. "Diesel," he bellowed. "It smells nasty. It is
nasty."
Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant
western state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air,
before pulling out another vial. "Now smell this. It doesn't smell at
all. It is the future."
Brian Schweitzer with a vial of fuel made from coal
Inside the second vial was a synthetic fuel made from, of all things,
coal. It looks like diesel. Indeed you can pour it into the fuel tank
of a diesel car and drive away. Yet it just may be the magic potion
that will help Americans to win independence from Middle Eastern oil
and fill up their tanks with home-grown fuel.
Or so at least hopes Montana's ebullient Democratic governor, Brian
Schweitzer.
With his "bolo" cowboy tie and his collie always at his side, the
former rancher has been dubbed by one US network "half Renaissance
man, half cowboy".
He is in the vanguard of a new drive in the heartland to break what
even President George W Bush, an old friend of the oil industry, has
called America's addiction to oil.
"When I graduated from university (in 1980) 48 per cent of our oil was
imported," said Mr Schweitzer. "Now we're importing 60 per cent."
While the world still thinks of America as a country of gas-guzzlers
set on the dream suburban life with the 4x4 in the drive, there are
signs of a change of heart - or at least of an awareness that the time
has come to wean the nation off Middle Eastern oil.
With petrol prices soaring, this is no longer just a cause for trendy
Democrats. Conrad Burns, a Republican senator in Montana fighting for
re-election, said: "We've got to get more independence from fossil
fuel and keep working on new technologies."
There are two main paths for America to kick the oil habit - bio-fuels
made from crops or synthetic fuel made from coal. With vast quantities
of coal lying under Montana, Mr Schweitzer is backing the
coal-to-diesel route.
The technology has a controversial history. The conversion process,
known as Fischer-Tropsch, was first successfully used by the Nazis and
then more recently by apartheid South Africa as both regimes tried to
use science to make up for their lack of oil.
Mr Schweitzer brushes off the historical parallel saying science is
neutral. He points to the vast plain stretching around the town of
Billings, which hides one of America's largest and least tapped coal
fields. "We have enough coal to supply all of our energy needs for 200
years," he said.
The Greens are outraged at the idea of digging up the Montanan plain.
"The environmental community go ballistic," said Mr Schweitzer. "They
say 'What are you talking about? We thought you were a green, that you
understood how bad the last 100 years have been.' "
He insists, however, that the days of coal-powered smoke-stacks are
over and that the carbon dioxide produced by the process would be
pumped back into the earth. He also points out that even if you turned
all of America's wheat and corn exports into bio-fuel you would come
up with only about 15 per cent of the nation's diesel needs.
China is collaborating with Shell on Fischer-Tropsch projects in Asia.
Now the hunt is on for about £800 million of US investment.
Bud Clinch, the head of Montana's coal council, concedes that
potential investors are wary. But he adds that the recent rise in fuel
prices to more than $3 a gallon (42p a litre, or less than half the
British price) has redoubled interest in alternative fuels.
"For the average American it's a shock. Whether coal or drilling oil
wells, I am not sure if people care one way or another. What they want
is getting more change back when they fill up."
America has heard calls for self-reliance before, notably under
President Jimmy Carter, and then the price of oil has gone down and
everyone has returned to their old ways. Mr Schweitzer concedes the
project makes little sense if oil goes below $30 a barrel from its
current rate of nearly $70 but "the risk is very low".
"When Kennedy said we could go to the moon and do it in 10 years,
people thought he was crazy. They underestimated the creative spirit
in this country."
--
"Science is the record of dead religions." -- Oscar Wilde
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
.
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| User: "Bama Brian" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the Americandream |
17 Jun 2006 12:16:22 PM |
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Captain Compassion wrote:
The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream
By Alec Russell in Billings
(Filed: 17/06/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/17/wmontana17.xml
The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans,
pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him
with a winning smile. "Diesel," he bellowed. "It smells nasty. It is
nasty."
Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant
western state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air,
before pulling out another vial. "Now smell this. It doesn't smell at
all. It is the future."
Brian Schweitzer with a vial of fuel made from coal
Inside the second vial was a synthetic fuel made from, of all things,
coal. It looks like diesel. Indeed you can pour it into the fuel tank
of a diesel car and drive away. Yet it just may be the magic potion
that will help Americans to win independence from Middle Eastern oil
and fill up their tanks with home-grown fuel.
Or so at least hopes Montana's ebullient Democratic governor, Brian
Schweitzer.
With his "bolo" cowboy tie and his collie always at his side, the
former rancher has been dubbed by one US network "half Renaissance
man, half cowboy".
He is in the vanguard of a new drive in the heartland to break what
even President George W Bush, an old friend of the oil industry, has
called America's addiction to oil.
"When I graduated from university (in 1980) 48 per cent of our oil was
imported," said Mr Schweitzer. "Now we're importing 60 per cent."
While the world still thinks of America as a country of gas-guzzlers
set on the dream suburban life with the 4x4 in the drive, there are
signs of a change of heart - or at least of an awareness that the time
has come to wean the nation off Middle Eastern oil.
With petrol prices soaring, this is no longer just a cause for trendy
Democrats. Conrad Burns, a Republican senator in Montana fighting for
re-election, said: "We've got to get more independence from fossil
fuel and keep working on new technologies."
There are two main paths for America to kick the oil habit - bio-fuels
made from crops or synthetic fuel made from coal. With vast quantities
of coal lying under Montana, Mr Schweitzer is backing the
coal-to-diesel route.
The technology has a controversial history. The conversion process,
known as Fischer-Tropsch, was first successfully used by the Nazis and
then more recently by apartheid South Africa as both regimes tried to
use science to make up for their lack of oil.
Mr Schweitzer brushes off the historical parallel saying science is
neutral. He points to the vast plain stretching around the town of
Billings, which hides one of America's largest and least tapped coal
fields. "We have enough coal to supply all of our energy needs for 200
years," he said.
The Greens are outraged at the idea of digging up the Montanan plain.
"The environmental community go ballistic," said Mr Schweitzer. "They
say 'What are you talking about? We thought you were a green, that you
understood how bad the last 100 years have been.' "
He insists, however, that the days of coal-powered smoke-stacks are
over and that the carbon dioxide produced by the process would be
pumped back into the earth. He also points out that even if you turned
all of America's wheat and corn exports into bio-fuel you would come
up with only about 15 per cent of the nation's diesel needs.
China is collaborating with Shell on Fischer-Tropsch projects in Asia.
Now the hunt is on for about £800 million of US investment.
Bud Clinch, the head of Montana's coal council, concedes that
potential investors are wary. But he adds that the recent rise in fuel
prices to more than $3 a gallon (42p a litre, or less than half the
British price) has redoubled interest in alternative fuels.
"For the average American it's a shock. Whether coal or drilling oil
wells, I am not sure if people care one way or another. What they want
is getting more change back when they fill up."
America has heard calls for self-reliance before, notably under
President Jimmy Carter, and then the price of oil has gone down and
everyone has returned to their old ways. Mr Schweitzer concedes the
project makes little sense if oil goes below $30 a barrel from its
current rate of nearly $70 but "the risk is very low".
"When Kennedy said we could go to the moon and do it in 10 years,
people thought he was crazy. They underestimated the creative spirit
in this country."
Even if coal can be a stopgap, all this will do is to kick off more
Global Warming hysteria.
Gov. Schweitzer needs to get a little technology under his belt.
Nuclear - solar - wind - ethanol - hydrogen - fuel cell - electrics
Cheers,
Bama Brian
Libertarian
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| User: "Governor Swill" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
20 Jun 2006 01:42:10 AM |
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On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 17:16:22 GMT, Bama Brian
<bamaNOTbrian@earthlink.com> wrote:
Even if coal can be a stopgap, all this will do is to kick off more
Global Warming hysteria.
Gov. Schweitzer needs to get a little technology under his belt.
Nuclear - solar - wind - ethanol - hydrogen - fuel cell - electrics
The ethanol production process creates as much or more CO2 as ethanol
saves. Ethanol yields less energy so you get poorer gas mileage.
Ethanol made with nuclear, solar or wind derived power would work.
All this aside, the single biggest problem we face is spread. Why do
we live in places so far from work for example?
Swill
--
"Only anti-Americans I see are those attempting to overturn the constitution, spy on American citizens without warrants, reject the Geneva Convention, gerrymander voting districts for permanent one party rule, sell off American jobs to non-democracies and lie to the American public about reasons for war." - HoneyBadger
"Press one to be monitored by the CIA, press two to be monitored by the FBI, press three to be monitored by the NSA. Press zero if you'd like to speak a live operator and have your source intimidated immediately."
Formal dinner: A place where the forks are on the left, and the politics are on the right.
God's Universe http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Sanity Street http://governorswill.livejournal.com
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
17 Jun 2006 02:40:05 AM |
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Captain Compassion wrote:
The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream
By Alec Russell in Billings
(Filed: 17/06/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=3D/news/2006/06/17/wmontan=
a17.xml
The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans,
pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him
with a winning smile. "Diesel," he bellowed. "It smells nasty. It is
nasty."
Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant
western state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air,
before pulling out another vial. "Now smell this. It doesn't smell at
all. It is the future."
Brian Schweitzer with a vial of fuel made from coal
Inside the second vial was a synthetic fuel made from, of all things,
coal. It looks like diesel. Indeed you can pour it into the fuel tank
of a diesel car and drive away. Yet it just may be the magic potion
that will help Americans to win independence from Middle Eastern oil
and fill up their tanks with home-grown fuel.
Or so at least hopes Montana's ebullient Democratic governor, Brian
Schweitzer.
With his "bolo" cowboy tie and his collie always at his side, the
former rancher has been dubbed by one US network "half Renaissance
man, half cowboy".
He is in the vanguard of a new drive in the heartland to break what
even President George W Bush, an old friend of the oil industry, has
called America's addiction to oil.
"When I graduated from university (in 1980) 48 per cent of our oil was
imported," said Mr Schweitzer. "Now we're importing 60 per cent."
While the world still thinks of America as a country of gas-guzzlers
set on the dream suburban life with the 4x4 in the drive, there are
signs of a change of heart - or at least of an awareness that the time
has come to wean the nation off Middle Eastern oil.
With petrol prices soaring, this is no longer just a cause for trendy
Democrats. Conrad Burns, a Republican senator in Montana fighting for
re-election, said: "We've got to get more independence from fossil
fuel and keep working on new technologies."
There are two main paths for America to kick the oil habit - bio-fuels
made from crops or synthetic fuel made from coal. With vast quantities
of coal lying under Montana, Mr Schweitzer is backing the
coal-to-diesel route.
The technology has a controversial history. The conversion process,
known as Fischer-Tropsch, was first successfully used by the Nazis and
then more recently by apartheid South Africa as both regimes tried to
use science to make up for their lack of oil.
Mr Schweitzer brushes off the historical parallel saying science is
neutral. He points to the vast plain stretching around the town of
Billings, which hides one of America's largest and least tapped coal
fields. "We have enough coal to supply all of our energy needs for 200
years," he said.
The Greens are outraged at the idea of digging up the Montanan plain.
"The environmental community go ballistic," said Mr Schweitzer. "They
say 'What are you talking about? We thought you were a green, that you
understood how bad the last 100 years have been.' "
He insists, however, that the days of coal-powered smoke-stacks are
over and that the carbon dioxide produced by the process would be
pumped back into the earth. He also points out that even if you turned
all of America's wheat and corn exports into bio-fuel you would come
up with only about 15 per cent of the nation's diesel needs.
China is collaborating with Shell on Fischer-Tropsch projects in Asia.
Now the hunt is on for about =A3800 million of US investment.
Bud Clinch, the head of Montana's coal council, concedes that
potential investors are wary. But he adds that the recent rise in fuel
prices to more than $3 a gallon (42p a litre, or less than half the
British price) has redoubled interest in alternative fuels.
"For the average American it's a shock. Whether coal or drilling oil
wells, I am not sure if people care one way or another. What they want
is getting more change back when they fill up."
America has heard calls for self-reliance before, notably under
President Jimmy Carter, and then the price of oil has gone down and
everyone has returned to their old ways. Mr Schweitzer concedes the
project makes little sense if oil goes below $30 a barrel from its
current rate of nearly $70 but "the risk is very low".
"When Kennedy said we could go to the moon and do it in 10 years,
people thought he was crazy. They underestimated the creative spirit
in this country."
Sgt. Schulze posted his limited vision. The source of 21st century
energy will be quantum dots.
Pity we can't put you dimbulbs into a box and let you poison
yourselves.
--
"Science is the record of dead religions." -- Oscar Wilde
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
=20
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
.
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| User: "Captain Compassion" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
17 Jun 2006 12:29:47 PM |
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|
On 17 Jun 2006 00:40:05 -0700, wrote:
Captain Compassion wrote:
The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream
By Alec Russell in Billings
(Filed: 17/06/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/17/wmontana17.xml
The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans,
pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him
with a winning smile. "Diesel," he bellowed. "It smells nasty. It is
nasty."
Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant
western state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air,
before pulling out another vial. "Now smell this. It doesn't smell at
all. It is the future."
Brian Schweitzer with a vial of fuel made from coal
Inside the second vial was a synthetic fuel made from, of all things,
coal. It looks like diesel. Indeed you can pour it into the fuel tank
of a diesel car and drive away. Yet it just may be the magic potion
that will help Americans to win independence from Middle Eastern oil
and fill up their tanks with home-grown fuel.
Or so at least hopes Montana's ebullient Democratic governor, Brian
Schweitzer.
With his "bolo" cowboy tie and his collie always at his side, the
former rancher has been dubbed by one US network "half Renaissance
man, half cowboy".
He is in the vanguard of a new drive in the heartland to break what
even President George W Bush, an old friend of the oil industry, has
called America's addiction to oil.
"When I graduated from university (in 1980) 48 per cent of our oil was
imported," said Mr Schweitzer. "Now we're importing 60 per cent."
While the world still thinks of America as a country of gas-guzzlers
set on the dream suburban life with the 4x4 in the drive, there are
signs of a change of heart - or at least of an awareness that the time
has come to wean the nation off Middle Eastern oil.
With petrol prices soaring, this is no longer just a cause for trendy
Democrats. Conrad Burns, a Republican senator in Montana fighting for
re-election, said: "We've got to get more independence from fossil
fuel and keep working on new technologies."
There are two main paths for America to kick the oil habit - bio-fuels
made from crops or synthetic fuel made from coal. With vast quantities
of coal lying under Montana, Mr Schweitzer is backing the
coal-to-diesel route.
The technology has a controversial history. The conversion process,
known as Fischer-Tropsch, was first successfully used by the Nazis and
then more recently by apartheid South Africa as both regimes tried to
use science to make up for their lack of oil.
Mr Schweitzer brushes off the historical parallel saying science is
neutral. He points to the vast plain stretching around the town of
Billings, which hides one of America's largest and least tapped coal
fields. "We have enough coal to supply all of our energy needs for 200
years," he said.
The Greens are outraged at the idea of digging up the Montanan plain.
"The environmental community go ballistic," said Mr Schweitzer. "They
say 'What are you talking about? We thought you were a green, that you
understood how bad the last 100 years have been.' "
He insists, however, that the days of coal-powered smoke-stacks are
over and that the carbon dioxide produced by the process would be
pumped back into the earth. He also points out that even if you turned
all of America's wheat and corn exports into bio-fuel you would come
up with only about 15 per cent of the nation's diesel needs.
China is collaborating with Shell on Fischer-Tropsch projects in Asia.
Now the hunt is on for about £800 million of US investment.
Bud Clinch, the head of Montana's coal council, concedes that
potential investors are wary. But he adds that the recent rise in fuel
prices to more than $3 a gallon (42p a litre, or less than half the
British price) has redoubled interest in alternative fuels.
"For the average American it's a shock. Whether coal or drilling oil
wells, I am not sure if people care one way or another. What they want
is getting more change back when they fill up."
America has heard calls for self-reliance before, notably under
President Jimmy Carter, and then the price of oil has gone down and
everyone has returned to their old ways. Mr Schweitzer concedes the
project makes little sense if oil goes below $30 a barrel from its
current rate of nearly $70 but "the risk is very low".
"When Kennedy said we could go to the moon and do it in 10 years,
people thought he was crazy. They underestimated the creative spirit
in this country."
Sgt. Schulze posted his limited vision. The source of 21st century
energy will be quantum dots.
They are having success making good cheap lighting from quantum dots.
Pity we can't put you dimbulbs into a box and let you poison
yourselves.
Don't think synfuel is the answer? Do you prefer buying your fuel from
Arab terrorists.
--
"Science is the record of dead religions." -- Oscar Wilde
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
--
"Science is the record of dead religions." -- Oscar Wilde
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
.
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| User: "PagCal" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the Americandream |
17 Jun 2006 03:26:01 AM |
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Coal gassification will let us continue our profligate life style for
another 200 years, that is, if the planet's atmosphere lasts that long.
Unfortunately, the 'if' puts the kibosh in the fix. It now seems that
global warming is real, and therefore just burning more coal only makes
matters worse.
So, since we have to convert from Middle East oil, why not convert to
fuels that are green instead of ones that are not?
And, we do have simple and cheap alternatives that are 'here today' and
not pie in the sky:
1. Just put up a 100 mile square solar array in out Southwest to provide
ALL electricty our country needs now and into the future.
2. For city folk or commuters that drive less than 150 miles a day, an
all electric car is the answer. GM had one, called the EV1, that people
loved to drive, and they could just bring it back. Detroit may latch
onto the pluggable Hybrid in the next three years as an alternative. Huray!
3. Do simple things in the name of conservation, like what we did in the
70's. Such things has buying energy star appliances the next time around
or raising auto CAFE are easy to do and do not require any sacrafice
from any American.
Captain Compassion wrote:
The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream
By Alec Russell in Billings
(Filed: 17/06/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/17/wmontana17.xml
The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans,
pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him
with a winning smile. "Diesel," he bellowed. "It smells nasty. It is
nasty."
Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant
western state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air,
before pulling out another vial. "Now smell this. It doesn't smell at
all. It is the future."
Brian Schweitzer with a vial of fuel made from coal
Inside the second vial was a synthetic fuel made from, of all things,
coal. It looks like diesel. Indeed you can pour it into the fuel tank
of a diesel car and drive away. Yet it just may be the magic potion
that will help Americans to win independence from Middle Eastern oil
and fill up their tanks with home-grown fuel.
Or so at least hopes Montana's ebullient Democratic governor, Brian
Schweitzer.
With his "bolo" cowboy tie and his collie always at his side, the
former rancher has been dubbed by one US network "half Renaissance
man, half cowboy".
He is in the vanguard of a new drive in the heartland to break what
even President George W Bush, an old friend of the oil industry, has
called America's addiction to oil.
"When I graduated from university (in 1980) 48 per cent of our oil was
imported," said Mr Schweitzer. "Now we're importing 60 per cent."
While the world still thinks of America as a country of gas-guzzlers
set on the dream suburban life with the 4x4 in the drive, there are
signs of a change of heart - or at least of an awareness that the time
has come to wean the nation off Middle Eastern oil.
With petrol prices soaring, this is no longer just a cause for trendy
Democrats. Conrad Burns, a Republican senator in Montana fighting for
re-election, said: "We've got to get more independence from fossil
fuel and keep working on new technologies."
There are two main paths for America to kick the oil habit - bio-fuels
made from crops or synthetic fuel made from coal. With vast quantities
of coal lying under Montana, Mr Schweitzer is backing the
coal-to-diesel route.
The technology has a controversial history. The conversion process,
known as Fischer-Tropsch, was first successfully used by the Nazis and
then more recently by apartheid South Africa as both regimes tried to
use science to make up for their lack of oil.
Mr Schweitzer brushes off the historical parallel saying science is
neutral. He points to the vast plain stretching around the town of
Billings, which hides one of America's largest and least tapped coal
fields. "We have enough coal to supply all of our energy needs for 200
years," he said.
The Greens are outraged at the idea of digging up the Montanan plain.
"The environmental community go ballistic," said Mr Schweitzer. "They
say 'What are you talking about? We thought you were a green, that you
understood how bad the last 100 years have been.' "
He insists, however, that the days of coal-powered smoke-stacks are
over and that the carbon dioxide produced by the process would be
pumped back into the earth. He also points out that even if you turned
all of America's wheat and corn exports into bio-fuel you would come
up with only about 15 per cent of the nation's diesel needs.
China is collaborating with Shell on Fischer-Tropsch projects in Asia.
Now the hunt is on for about £800 million of US investment.
Bud Clinch, the head of Montana's coal council, concedes that
potential investors are wary. But he adds that the recent rise in fuel
prices to more than $3 a gallon (42p a litre, or less than half the
British price) has redoubled interest in alternative fuels.
"For the average American it's a shock. Whether coal or drilling oil
wells, I am not sure if people care one way or another. What they want
is getting more change back when they fill up."
America has heard calls for self-reliance before, notably under
President Jimmy Carter, and then the price of oil has gone down and
everyone has returned to their old ways. Mr Schweitzer concedes the
project makes little sense if oil goes below $30 a barrel from its
current rate of nearly $70 but "the risk is very low".
"When Kennedy said we could go to the moon and do it in 10 years,
people thought he was crazy. They underestimated the creative spirit
in this country."
.
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| User: "Captain Compassion" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
17 Jun 2006 12:38:21 PM |
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On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 04:26:01 -0400, PagCal <pagcal@runbox.com> wrote:
Coal gassification will let us continue our profligate life style for
another 200 years, that is, if the planet's atmosphere lasts that long.
Good.
Unfortunately, the 'if' puts the kibosh in the fix. It now seems that
global warming is real, and therefore just burning more coal only makes
matters worse.
So, since we have to convert from Middle East oil, why not convert to
fuels that are green instead of ones that are not?
And, we do have simple and cheap alternatives that are 'here today' and
not pie in the sky:
1. Just put up a 100 mile square solar array in out Southwest to provide
ALL electricty our country needs now and into the future.
2. For city folk or commuters that drive less than 150 miles a day, an
all electric car is the answer. GM had one, called the EV1, that people
loved to drive, and they could just bring it back. Detroit may latch
onto the pluggable Hybrid in the next three years as an alternative. Huray!
3. Do simple things in the name of conservation, like what we did in the
70's. Such things has buying energy star appliances the next time around
or raising auto CAFE are easy to do and do not require any sacrafice
from any American.
No civilization in the history of the world has ever been willing to
sacrifice it's progress, wealth and welfare for the benefit of future
unborn generations. Only individuals are free to make such choices.
Captain Compassion wrote:
The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream
By Alec Russell in Billings
(Filed: 17/06/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/17/wmontana17.xml
The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans,
pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him
with a winning smile. "Diesel," he bellowed. "It smells nasty. It is
nasty."
Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant
western state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air,
before pulling out another vial. "Now smell this. It doesn't smell at
all. It is the future."
Brian Schweitzer with a vial of fuel made from coal
Inside the second vial was a synthetic fuel made from, of all things,
coal. It looks like diesel. Indeed you can pour it into the fuel tank
of a diesel car and drive away. Yet it just may be the magic potion
that will help Americans to win independence from Middle Eastern oil
and fill up their tanks with home-grown fuel.
Or so at least hopes Montana's ebullient Democratic governor, Brian
Schweitzer.
With his "bolo" cowboy tie and his collie always at his side, the
former rancher has been dubbed by one US network "half Renaissance
man, half cowboy".
He is in the vanguard of a new drive in the heartland to break what
even President George W Bush, an old friend of the oil industry, has
called America's addiction to oil.
"When I graduated from university (in 1980) 48 per cent of our oil was
imported," said Mr Schweitzer. "Now we're importing 60 per cent."
While the world still thinks of America as a country of gas-guzzlers
set on the dream suburban life with the 4x4 in the drive, there are
signs of a change of heart - or at least of an awareness that the time
has come to wean the nation off Middle Eastern oil.
With petrol prices soaring, this is no longer just a cause for trendy
Democrats. Conrad Burns, a Republican senator in Montana fighting for
re-election, said: "We've got to get more independence from fossil
fuel and keep working on new technologies."
There are two main paths for America to kick the oil habit - bio-fuels
made from crops or synthetic fuel made from coal. With vast quantities
of coal lying under Montana, Mr Schweitzer is backing the
coal-to-diesel route.
The technology has a controversial history. The conversion process,
known as Fischer-Tropsch, was first successfully used by the Nazis and
then more recently by apartheid South Africa as both regimes tried to
use science to make up for their lack of oil.
Mr Schweitzer brushes off the historical parallel saying science is
neutral. He points to the vast plain stretching around the town of
Billings, which hides one of America's largest and least tapped coal
fields. "We have enough coal to supply all of our energy needs for 200
years," he said.
The Greens are outraged at the idea of digging up the Montanan plain.
"The environmental community go ballistic," said Mr Schweitzer. "They
say 'What are you talking about? We thought you were a green, that you
understood how bad the last 100 years have been.' "
He insists, however, that the days of coal-powered smoke-stacks are
over and that the carbon dioxide produced by the process would be
pumped back into the earth. He also points out that even if you turned
all of America's wheat and corn exports into bio-fuel you would come
up with only about 15 per cent of the nation's diesel needs.
China is collaborating with Shell on Fischer-Tropsch projects in Asia.
Now the hunt is on for about £800 million of US investment.
Bud Clinch, the head of Montana's coal council, concedes that
potential investors are wary. But he adds that the recent rise in fuel
prices to more than $3 a gallon (42p a litre, or less than half the
British price) has redoubled interest in alternative fuels.
"For the average American it's a shock. Whether coal or drilling oil
wells, I am not sure if people care one way or another. What they want
is getting more change back when they fill up."
America has heard calls for self-reliance before, notably under
President Jimmy Carter, and then the price of oil has gone down and
everyone has returned to their old ways. Mr Schweitzer concedes the
project makes little sense if oil goes below $30 a barrel from its
current rate of nearly $70 but "the risk is very low".
"When Kennedy said we could go to the moon and do it in 10 years,
people thought he was crazy. They underestimated the creative spirit
in this country."
--
"Science is the record of dead religions." -- Oscar Wilde
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
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| User: "Governor Swill" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
20 Jun 2006 01:15:16 AM |
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On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 04:26:01 -0400, PagCal <pagcal@runbox.com> wrote:
Coal gassification will let us continue our profligate life style for
another 200 years, that is, if the planet's atmosphere lasts that long.
Unfortunately, the 'if' puts the kibosh in the fix. It now seems that
global warming is real, and therefore just burning more coal only makes
matters worse.
So, since we have to convert from Middle East oil, why not convert to
fuels that are green instead of ones that are not?
Ethanol is not the solution to CO2 production either. It turns out
that producing ethanol creates almost exactly as much CO2 as ethanol
saves over gasoline and you end up with a fuel that produces less
energy and thus, less mpg.
And, we do have simple and cheap alternatives that are 'here today' and
not pie in the sky:
1. Just put up a 100 mile square solar array in out Southwest to provide
ALL electricty our country needs now and into the future.
The environmentalists woud have a fit due to all the blocked sunlight
affecting the ecological balance of the chosen area. Much better to
use things like roof mounted solar water preheaters and solar panels.
No reason not to have a small windmill in every yard.
2. For city folk or commuters that drive less than 150 miles a day, an
all electric car is the answer. GM had one, called the EV1, that people
loved to drive, and they could just bring it back. Detroit may latch
onto the pluggable Hybrid in the next three years as an alternative. Huray!
When GM closed the program and demanded the return of the cars, their
drivers didn't want to give them back. Bear in mind this program
preceeded Japan's current flood of hybrids by several years and GM has
since all but abandoned electric technology.
3. Do simple things in the name of conservation, like what we did in the
70's. Such things has buying energy star appliances the next time around
or raising auto CAFE are easy to do and do not require any sacrafice
from any American.
Set the a/c at 76 intead of 72 and use ceiling fans. Leave for work
a little earlier and cut your freeway cruising speed by ten mph. Use
lower wattage bulbs. Next time you buy a dishwasher, get one that
heats it's own water and turn down your water heater. Keep your fuel
injectors clean and spark plugs replaced. Combine driving trips and
eliminate unecessary ones. A drop in gasoline consumption of only 5%
will result in dramatic price drops.
Swill
--
"Only anti-Americans I see are those attempting to overturn the constitution, spy on American citizens without warrants, reject the Geneva Convention, gerrymander voting districts for permanent one party rule, sell off American jobs to non-democracies and lie to the American public about reasons for war." - HoneyBadger
"Press one to be monitored by the CIA, press two to be monitored by the FBI, press three to be monitored by the NSA. Press zero if you'd like to speak a live operator and have your source intimidated immediately."
Formal dinner: A place where the forks are on the left, and the politics are on the right.
God's Universe http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Sanity Street http://governorswill.livejournal.com
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| User: "The Ghost In The Machine" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
17 Jun 2006 03:00:27 PM |
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On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 04:26:01 -0400, PagCal wrote:
Coal gassification will let us continue our profligate life style for
another 200 years, that is, if the planet's atmosphere lasts that long.
I wouldn't worry about the atmosphere so much, but the oceans. :-) Then
again, is it an ocean if it boils into the atmosphere, or part of the
atmosphere? Ow, my brain... :-)
Unfortunately, the 'if' puts the kibosh in the fix. It now seems that
global warming is real, and therefore just burning more coal only makes
matters worse.
So, since we have to convert from Middle East oil, why not convert to
fuels that are green instead of ones that are not?
Uh...because of capital expenditure? :-)
And, we do have simple and cheap alternatives that are 'here today' and
not pie in the sky:
1. Just put up a 100 mile square solar array in out Southwest to provide
ALL electricty our country needs now and into the future.
This is debatable. (It's a nice idea though. I wish I could support it
more fully with the data I have.)
A recent plant in Lisbon, Portugal creates 11 megawatts from 60 hectares,
or 600,000 square meters, and costs or is costing $78.5M to build.
Lisbon, Portugal is at 38°44' N -- which compares nicely to Washington DC
at 38°53' N. We might be able to get a little more power. The blurb is
clear as mud as to whether this is sustained power, daylight-only power,
or what. Assuming this is sustained power (i.e., 24/7, possibly with
onsite battery storage -- hmm, how many batteries would that require?):
100 square miles is about 260 km^2 or 2.6 * 10^8 m^2. Assuming this
scales up appropriately, that translates into 4.77 gigawatts or 41.8
kWh/year. This is about 1.07% of current US production rates.
One would have to make it at least 10,000 square miles -- bigger than the
state of Vermont.
The cost of this monster plant would run well into the trillions of
dollars (and that's if it doesn't turn into a boondoggle). It may be
trillions worth spending, admittedly...but it's a lot.
There is the issue that any kWh produced by such a plant would be one less
kWh produced by a coal-burning plant, reducing CO2 emissions. I wish I
knew how much CO2 is produced by $78.5M of solar plant construction, but
that's a one-time cost, which is good.
2. For city folk or commuters that drive less than 150 miles a day, an all
electric car is the answer.
If one has a good source of electrical energy: nuclear, solar, wind,
tidal, hydroelectric, natural gas (to some extent; my thinking is that
it'll escape into the air anyway but I'd have to research the issue).
Electric cars have a problem similar to hydrogen cars: both electricity
and hydrogen are *not* sources of energy, but merely conduits.
Admittedly, the same might be said for gasoline.
GM had one, called the EV1, that people loved
to drive, and they could just bring it back. Detroit may latch onto the
pluggable Hybrid in the next three years as an alternative. Huray!
There are issues with pluggables. My understanding is that the batteries
don't take kindly to deep discharge/recharge cycles, and require different
designs than those for current hybrids.
I'm also a little sorry to see the EV1 go but apparently it didn't meet
people's -- or perhaps Detroit's? -- needs.
3. Do simple things in the name of conservation, like what we did in the
70's. Such things has buying energy star appliances the next time around
or raising auto CAFE are easy to do and do not require any sacrafice from
any American.
Auto CAFE raising may require a sacrifice in terms of power and utility.
SUVs are heavy beasts, which is partly why they get such poor gas mileage,
compared to hybrids. However, a contest between an SUV and a hybrid, has
a clear winner -- and it's not the hybrid. Safety is a concern, although
it would help if the driver of both SUV and hybrid had half a clue about
how much following distance to allow (2 second rule of thumb), and what
rain and snow does to streets (especially after a long hot summer).
Hybrids also aren't real good at playing "school bus". However, there are
a large number of socioeconomic issues here, starting with the simple
question as to why we aren't living right next door to our jobs, schools,
and entertainment districts?
These *are* issues. I for one would hope that the market will provide --
though the market has already been corrupted by various means, the most
obvious of them might be the replacement of trolley cars by busses in San
Francisco way back before my time. Also, Santa Clara made a rather dumb
(in retrospect) decision when Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) was first
being proposed here.
There's an interesting ad making the rounds on websites. This ad claims
that a train can get 410 miles per gallon of diesel. This ad is slightly
misleading for many reasons (is the train empty? full? how many cars?
commuter? freight? # of stops?) but AFAIK it is quite true that commuter
trains are more efficient than private autos.
The catch, around here at least: it's $7.50 for a two-zone ticket for a
Caltrain ride...and my car gets 30 mpg, or $.10/mile at current fuel
prices. Since my commute is about a 44 mile round trip, that translates
into $4.40 or thereabouts. Of course a more realistic cost estimate might
be had by including insurance and repairs, and the IRS allows either
$0.33/mile or $0.35/mile as a deduction for a business expense (I forget
which, and commutes don't count). At $0.35/mile, that's $15.40 a day,
which makes the train somewhat more attractive -- and my car is rather
unhappy at the moment. (It's also 10 years old.)
A monthly pass -- about 20 trips -- would cost $99.50, about a 30-35%
savings. Might be worth looking into.
And then there's the 2 mile walk from my place to the station. :-)
And yes, they're talking about a fare increase. Diesel fuel, after all,
is refined from oil, too.
Sigh. Is it even *possible* to win? :-)
Captain Compassion wrote:
The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream By
Alec Russell in Billings
(Filed: 17/06/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/17/wmontana17.xml
The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans,
pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him
with a winning smile. "Diesel," he bellowed. "It smells nasty. It is
nasty."
Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant western
state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air, before
pulling out another vial. "Now smell this. It doesn't smell at all. It
is the future."
Brian Schweitzer with a vial of fuel made from coal
Inside the second vial was a synthetic fuel made from, of all things,
coal. It looks like diesel. Indeed you can pour it into the fuel tank of
a diesel car and drive away. Yet it just may be the magic potion that
will help Americans to win independence from Middle Eastern oil and fill
up their tanks with home-grown fuel.
[rest snipped]
--
#191,
It's still legal to go .sigless.
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| User: "Bama Brian" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the Americandream |
17 Jun 2006 12:43:11 PM |
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PagCal wrote:
Coal gassification will let us continue our profligate life style for
another 200 years, that is, if the planet's atmosphere lasts that long.
Unfortunately, the 'if' puts the kibosh in the fix. It now seems that
global warming is real, and therefore just burning more coal only makes
matters worse.
So, since we have to convert from Middle East oil, why not convert to
fuels that are green instead of ones that are not?
And, we do have simple and cheap alternatives that are 'here today' and
not pie in the sky:
1. Just put up a 100 mile square solar array in out Southwest to provide
ALL electricty our country needs now and into the future.
How will you store solar for night-time useage? I heard of one scheme
to use the day-time electricity to pump water up into a lake, and then
at night to drain the lake through hydro-electric turbines. But this
will take a HUGE amount of lakes and turbines to supply the needs of the
U.S. at night.
Cheers,
Bama Brian
Libertarian
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| User: "PagCal" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the Americandream |
17 Jun 2006 10:49:16 PM |
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1. Just put up a 100 mile square solar array in out Southwest to
provide ALL electricty our country needs now and into the future.
How will you store solar for night-time useage? I heard of one scheme
to use the day-time electricity to pump water up into a lake, and then
at night to drain the lake through hydro-electric turbines. But this
will take a HUGE amount of lakes and turbines to supply the needs of the
U.S. at night.
Here's what can be done:
1. Put in a super-conductor power distribution system. It'd ship power
without loss from the Southwest to areas that are dark (back east late
in the day). One system would use liquid H2 as the cooling medium, so
you could use the conduit as a fuel distribution system as well.
2. Energy can be stored with centrifical force. Just imagine some number
of spinning masses (hopefully burried in cement), that are spun up
during the day and wound down at night.
A 100 ton flywheel spinning at 100,000 RPM will store a lot of energy,
for example.
You could also store energy in convertable reactions, such as H2O +
Energy <=> H2 + O2 also.
Cheers,
Bama Brian
Libertarian
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| User: "Governor Swill" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
20 Jun 2006 01:25:55 AM |
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On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 23:49:16 -0400, PagCal <pagcal@runbox.com> wrote:
1. Put in a super-conductor power distribution system.
Too expensive. Most high tension lines are aluminum. It doesn't
carry electricity as well as copper, silver or gold, but is much much
cheaper.
Swill
--
"Only anti-Americans I see are those attempting to overturn the constitution, spy on American citizens without warrants, reject the Geneva Convention, gerrymander voting districts for permanent one party rule, sell off American jobs to non-democracies and lie to the American public about reasons for war." - HoneyBadger
"Press one to be monitored by the CIA, press two to be monitored by the FBI, press three to be monitored by the NSA. Press zero if you'd like to speak a live operator and have your source intimidated immediately."
Formal dinner: A place where the forks are on the left, and the politics are on the right.
God's Universe http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Sanity Street http://governorswill.livejournal.com
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| User: "Governor Swill" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
20 Jun 2006 01:23:57 AM |
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On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 17:43:11 GMT, Bama Brian
<bamaNOTbrian@earthlink.com> wrote:
1. Just put up a 100 mile square solar array in out Southwest to provide
ALL electricty our country needs now and into the future.
How will you store solar for night-time useage? I heard of one scheme
to use the day-time electricity to pump water up into a lake, and then
at night to drain the lake through hydro-electric turbines. But this
will take a HUGE amount of lakes and turbines to supply the needs of the
U.S. at night.
Sometimes it seems people are looking for *the* solution. IMO a multi
faceted approach would work best. Solar is not a solution in the
pacific northwest. Wind power probably wouldn't work well in
mountains or hilly terrain. A fashion for home power generation using
such renewables would do a lot.
Swill
--
"Only anti-Americans I see are those attempting to overturn the constitution, spy on American citizens without warrants, reject the Geneva Convention, gerrymander voting districts for permanent one party rule, sell off American jobs to non-democracies and lie to the American public about reasons for war." - HoneyBadger
"Press one to be monitored by the CIA, press two to be monitored by the FBI, press three to be monitored by the NSA. Press zero if you'd like to speak a live operator and have your source intimidated immediately."
Formal dinner: A place where the forks are on the left, and the politics are on the right.
God's Universe http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Sanity Street http://governorswill.livejournal.com
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| User: "Erik A. Mattila" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the Americandream |
20 Jun 2006 05:47:11 PM |
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Governor Swill wrote:
On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 17:43:11 GMT, Bama Brian
<bamaNOTbrian@earthlink.com> wrote:
Wind power probably wouldn't work well in
mountains or hilly terrain. A fashion for home power generation using
such renewables would do a lot.
Swill
The last wind map I saw showed the prime area in California to be the
ridge of the Sierras. Plus, the two main wind farms in this state are
on an aluvial fan near Palm Springs, and in the hills west of Los Baños.
So I think you're mistaken about hills and mountains.
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| User: "Governor Swill" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
22 Jun 2006 02:05:13 AM |
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On Tue, 20 Jun 2006 15:47:11 -0700, "Erik A. Mattila"
<eam@nospamimpix.com> wrote:
The last wind map I saw showed the prime area in California to be the
ridge of the Sierras. Plus, the two main wind farms in this state are
on an aluvial fan near Palm Springs, and in the hills west of Los Baños.
So I think you're mistaken about hills and mountains.
Mountain tops, yes. Wouldn't work nearly as well in the piedmont of
north Georgia or the rolling mountains of Appalachia.
Swill
--
"Only anti-Americans I see are those attempting to overturn the constitution, spy on American citizens without warrants, reject the Geneva Convention, gerrymander voting districts for permanent one party rule, sell off American jobs to non-democracies and lie to the American public about reasons for war." - HoneyBadger
"Press one to be monitored by the CIA, press two to be monitored by the FBI, press three to be monitored by the NSA. Press zero if you'd like to speak a live operator and have your source intimidated immediately."
Formal dinner: A place where the forks are on the left, and the politics are on the right.
God's Universe http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Sanity Street http://governorswill.livejournal.com
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| User: "Scotius" |
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| Title: Re: The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream |
23 Jun 2006 01:47:36 PM |
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On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 23:10:44 -0700, Captain Compassion
<daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote:
The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream
By Alec Russell in Billings
(Filed: 17/06/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/17/wmontana17.xml
The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans,
pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him
with a winning smile. "Diesel," he bellowed. "It smells nasty. It is
nasty."
Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant
western state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air,
before pulling out another vial. "Now smell this. It doesn't smell at
all. It is the future."
Brian Schweitzer with a vial of fuel made from coal
Inside the second vial was a synthetic fuel made from, of all things,
coal. It looks like diesel. Indeed you can pour it into the fuel tank
of a diesel car and drive away. Yet it just may be the magic potion
that will help Americans to win independence from Middle Eastern oil
and fill up their tanks with home-grown fuel.
Or so at least hopes Montana's ebullient Democratic governor, Brian
Schweitzer.
With his "bolo" cowboy tie and his collie always at his side, the
former rancher has been dubbed by one US network "half Renaissance
man, half cowboy".
He is in the vanguard of a new drive in the heartland to break what
even President George W Bush, an old friend of the oil industry, has
called America's addiction to oil.
"When I graduated from university (in 1980) 48 per cent of our oil was
imported," said Mr Schweitzer. "Now we're importing 60 per cent."
While the world still thinks of America as a country of gas-guzzlers
set on the dream suburban life with the 4x4 in the drive, there are
signs of a change of heart - or at least of an awareness that the time
has come to wean the nation off Middle Eastern oil.
With petrol prices soaring, this is no longer just a cause for trendy
Democrats. Conrad Burns, a Republican senator in Montana fighting for
re-election, said: "We've got to get more independence from fossil
fuel and keep working on new technologies."
There are two main paths for America to kick the oil habit - bio-fuels
made from crops or synthetic fuel made from coal. With vast quantities
of coal lying under Montana, Mr Schweitzer is backing the
coal-to-diesel route.
The technology has a controversial history. The conversion process,
known as Fischer-Tropsch, was first successfully used by the Nazis and
then more recently by apartheid South Africa as both regimes tried to
use science to make up for their lack of oil.
The Fischer-Tropsch method is only the first one that was
developed. The nazis did not use the Fischer-Tropsch method after they
found a more effective formula.
The US government got the German formula at the end of WW II,
and locked it away. A lot of people knew about it however, and in the
1950s, a US oil giant set up a phony pilot project producing
"synfuel", and the idea was supposedly to "see if it was economical".
At that time, it may not have been quite as economical as
importing oil, or maybe it would have been. Why else would they have
set up a pilot plant to "prove" that it wasn't, but not given any
access? Further, they were not using the formula they knew to be most
effective. They were using one of the older ones, which was part of
the reason why they were able to get away with this kind of thing.
Synthetic fuel as been economical since at least the early
'70s Arab oil embargo. Further, with a barrel of oil now being more
than double the cost it was at as recently as the '80s, it's obviously
very economical now. Not only would it be cheaper to produce synfuel
from coal than to buy it from Saudi Arabia, etc, it would also provide
jobs in the US - LOTS of jobs. That would take away a degree of
economic influence and power from the people who depend on everything
being on the verge of crisis for their control to be maintained,
however.
Not only would it be economical, but the kind of coal the US
has is high in hydrogen content. Germany had coal that was low in
hydrogen, and that was part of the reason why it was more costly to
them to produce the synthetic fuel. The more hydrogen the coal has
naturally, the less needs to be added during the catalytic process
that converts the coal into synthetic crude oil.
Mr Schweitzer brushes off the historical parallel saying science is
neutral. He points to the vast plain stretching around the town of
Billings, which hides one of America's largest and least tapped coal
fields. "We have enough coal to supply all of our energy needs for 200
years," he said.
The Greens are outraged at the idea of digging up the Montanan plain.
"The environmental community go ballistic," said Mr Schweitzer. "They
say 'What are you talking about? We thought you were a green, that you
understood how bad the last 100 years have been.' "
He insists, however, that the days of coal-powered smoke-stacks are
over and that the carbon dioxide produced by the process would be
pumped back into the earth. He also points out that even if you turned
all of America's wheat and corn exports into bio-fuel you would come
up with only about 15 per cent of the nation's diesel needs.
China is collaborating with Shell on Fischer-Tropsch projects in Asia.
Now the hunt is on for about £800 million of US investment.
Bud Clinch, the head of Montana's coal council, concedes that
potential investors are wary. But he adds that the recent rise in fuel
prices to more than $3 a gallon (42p a litre, or less than half the
British price) has redoubled interest in alternative fuels.
"For the average American it's a shock. Whether coal or drilling oil
wells, I am not sure if people care one way or another. What they want
is getting more change back when they fill up."
America has heard calls for self-reliance before, notably under
President Jimmy Carter, and then the price of oil has gone down and
everyone has returned to their old ways. Mr Schweitzer concedes the
project makes little sense if oil goes below $30 a barrel from its
current rate of nearly $70 but "the risk is very low".
"When Kennedy said we could go to the moon and do it in 10 years,
people thought he was crazy. They underestimated the creative spirit
in this country."
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