We've seen the clips on the news on car shows and on, whatever medium is available.

"Oil is running out meaning the end of the internal combustion engine."

And yesterday I was watching a video of the new BMW M3, when a friend of mine comes to visit. Getting a glimse of my computer screen he goes on his own and says. "You know those cars won't exist much longer you know....." he continues. "Oil is running out"

I smirk and take a quick laugh. When he says "We'll all have to get those hydrogen fuel cell ones."

I tell him that the automakers are just forcing everyone to  buy one of those things. He's taken aback.  I tell him that why reshape the whole industry? Why make every car obsolete? Why buy a car new nowadays if in the time you pay for it it's no longer running, because they're no fuel?  He's now more confuesed and I tell him.

I can take my car and even get a model T and modiffy it to run on Natural Gas (though I doubt the model T), Methanol, Kirocene, Rubbing Alcohol.... Now I'm not gonna include Ethanol, because it raises the price of food so I rather eat than fill up.

I finish by telling him that The End of Oil is a good thing. It will allow other companies and other markets to flourish and expand, a true example of capitalism not OPEC or them bloody oil prospectors from Texas . And all these fuels are more clean than the gas we fill up with now, so the environmet will be ok. But I'm not interested in that right now. I just want to tell you this. When oil runs out and all them italian supercars get thrown away and depreciate rapidly, well you know where I'm going.  

so i have a dumb question, but this seemed like the right place to ask it.

why do hydrogen-powered vehicles have to be fuel-cells? if hydrogen can be burned just like gasoline can, then why not just make an internal-combustion engine powered by hydrogen? we could use nuclear power to split water molecules, then when you burn the hydrogen (which is the same as oxidation, or adding oxygen to it), we should have just as much water as we started out with, right?  

I think because Hydrogen is volatile and could kill half a block if there's a leak and it comes in contact with Oxygen. I used to watch this old sho "Max-X" where these firefighters where trying to put out a Magnesium fire with water and it all lead to a chain of events where the elements in materials conbined and spread and formed other crap until the ony thing left was Oxygen and Hydrogen which equalled......Boom....... I don't know if its on You tube its an old show....  

I was just talking about this the other day... In 1988 Honda released a car called the CRX HF it got 45mpg on the highway... oh yeah, and it wasn't a hybrid, isn't that about the same mpg that a prius gets?? Huh, who would have thought.  It is nothing for these companies to design cars that are fuel efficient... but if you can add "hybrid" or "hydrogen" or "Ethanol" or something else to the name of the car you will sell more... its all about the ***  

Well that Honda I think had 3 valves per cylinder which like a diesel had a pre-combustion chamber right before the main one so it could burn fuel that was too lean for a regular combustion. Though they discontinued it because it produced more NOx Particles so not that good for the environment, though you could pump at them Conoco fuel stations they have I think 10% ethanol and fix that somewhat.... I figuered it out the first time when I filled up and saw that "10% ethanol" label hidden away and freaked thinking I just voided my warranty if one of the injector bushings got corroded because of the ethanol, but nothing happened so...... I still pump at shell most of the time.

But I still rather eat than fill up my car with Ethanol.... A good alternative could be Methane. We could get it from animal and people waste  and power our daily drivers though you'll need a richer mixture, but hey if it means owning a Evo, 350Z, STI, GTR, Z06, Shelby GT500.... in the future for 1,000 bucks....What the hell I guess its OK .

On a final note:

They should have a comparison like three wrx's that run on three different alternative fuels (methane, methanol, and ethanol) and really test them out on which one should be a good replacement for fossil fuels. The tests should include Acceleration, power output, miles per gallon, price at the pump and so forth, because who want to see this at the Super Lap Battle.




ewwwwwww  

Biodiesel/ biofuel is a pretty attractrive resource because otherwise all that *** is just going to waste. Sorry about the pun. But really, we will alwalys have animals and people that produce waste matter that can be processed into biofuel, but of course the conversion into a readily useable fuel is kind of laborious and costly.

 There are entire towns and cities in WI (where I live) and elsewhere that get their electricity strictly from biodiesel generators. A few indepent big farmers have their own bio-d generators and process the fuel themselves, run the gens, and then power their house and sell the excess energy to their local power company.

Im in Seattle now at my dads place and 87 here is 4.55, premium is 4.99. worldwide oil production has remained basically steady FOR A LONG TIME and every consecutive year they make record profits. I hope big oil companies are ready to invest heavily in alternative fuel R&D because its about to be a broke ass world.  I used to pity the UK and their huge 'petrol' prices but now Im stunned to be in the same boat. In Venzueala gas is 15 cents a gallon.  

I don't understand why oil is now 140 bucks a barrel. When I originally wrote the article it was about to reach 130 and people were freaking out! What I hate the most though is the whole lame ass excuse/explanation: "Its because India and China are growing." Bull....t!!!! China's oil consumption was about 1 billion of barrels a year, India .8 billion. Us; you ask? 20.7 billion.............. I blame it on this guy  





and this guy





The people who get a truck for no other purpose than to drive around town and put them testicles on the tow hitch and nothing else. When I worked in construction I was told I had to get a truck in 6 months or I would be fired.... The guys who use the trucks like farmers, construction workers, landscapers, etc. etc..... They manage their budget according to the fuel consumption, but an idiot who says. "36s! Yeah lets go cruise it around town and take it to work so people know how bad ass I am..." That's the guy you should be looking with a deep sense of scorn, because you can't be driving your sports car to work any more you have to take the bus/ geo metro/ car pool with the guy you hate at work.... And the SUV for the family thing... Get a station wagon! Its the same thing!

This morning I saw MSNBC and they were saying we shouldn't blame India and China, because the reality is the prices are according to the global markets....NO Its us well them (look at pictures) they waste all the oil on nothing! 20 billion! I think Europe consumes something like 8 or 10.

A quick question before I get carpool tunnel syndrome. How many turcks/SUV's have you seen at the car lots just sitting there?.... At the nearest ford dealership here; they even stopped washing them.  

Master_Shake 029 you are right but...

The oil market at this moment is not driven by supply and demand.  That went out the window at about $90.00/barrel.  It is driven by mere speculation.  I believe there is plenty of oil in the world at the moment but the speculators need to keep the price going up so they can get paid when they do decide to cash out.  They make enough money that the price of gas will not bother them.

Diesel is a great source for cars but Americans still remember the clackity Mercedes and VW Golfs.  Plus the sulfur content is too high and most people are not will to pay the $3000.00 premium a diesel model commands.  I am living and working in Germany for the US on a military base and can tell you that 55%+ Europeans drive diesels.  They are fast and they are sporty with most being able to go 140-155+mph no problem and they are very quiet.  Plus 50mpg of gas works perfect for tem as the price of fuel per gallon is about $8.00-9.00 depending on the Euro rate.  Americans just need to get over the stereotype that diesels stink, smoke, and are loud.  

I personally am glad that SUV sales are down (roads are a bit safer and they are not taking up space I could be using on the road ).  There is no point in having one if all you want to do is put 24" wheels on them and then drive around wasting gas.  You should have to have a permit to buy one ie. you own a business that requires one, have a boat, etc.  Not because you want to be like you favorite rapper/super star that has one or I have a (one) kid.

Enough ranting i guess.  

I was thinking about this same thing a few day ago and was pretty upset about the demise of the internal combustion engine. While fuel cell or pure electric engines sure can be just as powerful and practical(if batteries ever mature enough) they would not have any of the character of a good ol' gas or diesel.

Fact is dino oil will run out, proven reserves are like what 100 more years? With ever increasing demand that won't last long. Sure it seems like pure speculation is driving up the price but I'm gonna bet that it's just the market adjusting for expected future diminishing supply.

One light at the end of the tunnel i know of is bio-fuel... fuels created by sustainable processes. Corn is not very efficient. However sugar cane is several times more energy efficient. I recently read about using algae to produce bio-ethanol, bio-diesel, and bio-butanol(<-almost like gasoline). It's even more efficient than sugar cane. I don't know much about the specifics but I imagine if it turns out to be more practical and cheaper than hydrogen or pure electric (due to transmission losses over the power lines) this could lead to at least and extended life for engines as we know them. Of course someone is going to have to crunch the numbers on this and figure out if this will affect food prices because it does require fertilizer to grow algea...  

I was watching a video of a guy who says that he can make a car run on water by converting it to something called H-H-O by running electric wires through a water tank. And I've talked to a guy who's trying to make his truck run on that stuff, but having trouble having it pre-combust in the intake manifold. But the reason why that will never catch up is this. If it turns into a liquid form it goes back to H2O (supposedly). Imagine that happening in your intake manifold! And two if you get H-H-O and open up the throttle body and outside air comes in with and mixes with the substance you get H-H-O-O (with nitrogen and some other stuff that comes with regular air) meaning Hydrogen and Oxygen in contact which is not pretty....not pretty at all.....

For now its Bio fuels; its just where we get the application for such.