atlaw4u
04-18-2008, 09:00 AM
The U.S. alone pays 10 times as much to OPEC nations today – roughly $1.3 trillion (U.S.) – compared to 1999, but oil production out of these countries has been flat over the past 30 years. (http://www.thestar.com/article/410812)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Chicago_Ethanol1.jpgTyler Hamilton - The Star - April 7, 2008
Robert Zubrin may be looking ahead at how humankind can travel to Mars, but the U.S. aerospace engineer is also concerned about problems right here on Mother Earth.
Namely, energy–its cost, its pollution, and perhaps most important, who controls it.
One of the biggest problems to solve, in Zubrin's view, is how to destroy the iron-grip control that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has on global oil supply and, by extension, the price of a barrel of crude. OPEC's 13 members, led by Saudi Arabia, have manipulated the world's oil market for too long and must be stopped, he says.
The solution? It's dead simple as far as Zubrin is concerned: create a legislative mandate that would immediately require all cars manufactured and sold in North America to have flex-fuel capability, meaning they can run on gasoline or an alcohol-based fuel such as ethanol (E85) or methanol (M85).
"If we had a North American flex-fuel standard it would effectively be an international flex-fuel standard," says Zubrin, during a telephone interview prior to a speech he gave last Wednesday in Toronto. "Gasoline would be forced to compete at the pumps against alcohols."
He calls it an "open-source fuel market," which would drive the price of oil back to about $50 (U.S.) a barrel – the price at which ethanol becomes a competitive alternative.
In just three years this would put 60 million new cars on the road that are no longer captive to gasoline, gradually loosening OPEC's grip as more "choice" enters the marketplace.
The cars themselves would only cost about $100 more, probably less. OPEC nations, adds Zubrin, "would no longer be able to do what they please."
On a side note, $50 oil would also slow down development in the oil sands – what many consider an environmental disaster in the making.
At times Zubrin's rhetoric comes across as a "war on terror" speech from U.S. President George W. Bush… http://www.thestar.com/article/410812
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Chicago_Ethanol1.jpgTyler Hamilton - The Star - April 7, 2008
Robert Zubrin may be looking ahead at how humankind can travel to Mars, but the U.S. aerospace engineer is also concerned about problems right here on Mother Earth.
Namely, energy–its cost, its pollution, and perhaps most important, who controls it.
One of the biggest problems to solve, in Zubrin's view, is how to destroy the iron-grip control that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has on global oil supply and, by extension, the price of a barrel of crude. OPEC's 13 members, led by Saudi Arabia, have manipulated the world's oil market for too long and must be stopped, he says.
The solution? It's dead simple as far as Zubrin is concerned: create a legislative mandate that would immediately require all cars manufactured and sold in North America to have flex-fuel capability, meaning they can run on gasoline or an alcohol-based fuel such as ethanol (E85) or methanol (M85).
"If we had a North American flex-fuel standard it would effectively be an international flex-fuel standard," says Zubrin, during a telephone interview prior to a speech he gave last Wednesday in Toronto. "Gasoline would be forced to compete at the pumps against alcohols."
He calls it an "open-source fuel market," which would drive the price of oil back to about $50 (U.S.) a barrel – the price at which ethanol becomes a competitive alternative.
In just three years this would put 60 million new cars on the road that are no longer captive to gasoline, gradually loosening OPEC's grip as more "choice" enters the marketplace.
The cars themselves would only cost about $100 more, probably less. OPEC nations, adds Zubrin, "would no longer be able to do what they please."
On a side note, $50 oil would also slow down development in the oil sands – what many consider an environmental disaster in the making.
At times Zubrin's rhetoric comes across as a "war on terror" speech from U.S. President George W. Bush… http://www.thestar.com/article/410812