> > Questions: > > 1) What are the costs and benefits of energy taxation as a > means to reduce > demand for strategic independence?
The government would get more revenue. I can't believe it would do much, other than inhibit economic growth artificially. I don't see a big backlash to suv's costing so much in gas. People don't seem to mind dropping $50 a fillup. What's another $5 (from a 10% tax, which would never be tolerated). It would hurt the trucking industry at a time where manufacturing is down, and costs are up, expecially with the cost of federal safety and environmental regulations that get passed on to the shipping industry. Now there is in place a tax CREDIT for the development of renewable power plants (10%). This made renewable sources able to compete against coal, gas, and oil plants for electricity production in terms of costs and profit. This tax credit expired last month... A failure of the Bush administration to get a energy policy passed. > > 2) Is there any hope that research would produce a substitute > for petroleum > and natural gas based alternatives? (My suspicion is that > this is where it > falls down, that energy experts [read oil economists and > executives] believe > that natural gas and crude are the only viable energy sources. We have had this discussion before. The primary problem is our voracious need for energy. Oil is the easiest, cheapest way to get energy. Renewable sources only provide about 6.7% of the energy we need. This is growing at .1 % per year. At that rate, it will take a long time before renewables are dominant. >From http://physics.syr.edu/courses/modules/ENERGY/ENERGY_POLICY/tables.html Energy Content of Fuels (in Joules) Energy Unit Joules Equivalent (S.I.) pound of coal 1.6 x 10^7 pound of gasoline 2.2 x 10^7 pound of oil 2.4 x 10^7 Pound of Uranium-235 3.7 x 10^13 Fuel Requirements for a 1000-MWe Power Plant (2.4 10^11 Btu/day energy input) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Coal: 9000 tons/day of 1 "unit train load" (100 90 - ton cars/day) Oil: 40,000 bbl/day or 1 tanker per week (note: "bbl" means barrels) Natural Gas: 2.4 l0^8 SCF/day Uranium (as 235U): 3 kg/day Note: 1000 MWe utility, at 60% load factor, generates 5.3109 kwh/year, enough for a city of about 1 million people in the U.S.A. (Note: MWE is an abbreviation for megawatts-electrical output) > > 2a) What about coal gas coversion? See chart above: No process to convert coal to gas will increase the power output. You may get a more efficient conversion if the coal was in gasous form, but you have to spend energy to do so. Its biggest benefit is environmental, not economic or political. There are also issues with little infrastructure to create, distribute and handle new synthetic fuels, compared to gasoline. Coal Gas is being pursued primarily because domestic production of oil is down, combined with world production dwindling, may result in shortages in the near future. It is looked upon as a reactive measure to provide energy in the case where there is not enough oil. Maybe in a couple of decades.... BTW... Fusion experts now confidently state that with sufficent funding, they can have a fusion powerplant providing electricity to the powergrid in 35 years.... (sigh) Nerd From Hell > _______________________________________________ > http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l > _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
