ISSUES 101
What's Next for Energy Part 1

Why are mileage standards lower than they were 25 years ago?

Until we break the oil companies' stranglehold on our national energy policy, we will keep paying more and more for a gallon of gas. If we go into an expanded war in the Middle East, for example with an attack on Iran - oil will soar to over $200-$250 a barrel - or $10-$15 a gallon for regular unleaded gas. This does not count the tens of billions we give to the oil companies as tax breaks, while they make record profits that are not being funneled into refinery construction.

If we want to break that stranglehold - and increase our own personal mileage by as much as 100-160% - there are ways to do that now, using technology that was first patented in 1800.

While this section will discuss energy as a political issue, it also contains more practical how-to information for those who want to kiss the oil companies goodbye and start becoming energy-efficient on their own - in your car or truck and in your home.

Why Gas Is Really So Expensive!

The fact of the matter is which most of my fellow Americans are not aware of is that of currency and currency value which is greatly behind much of the inflation in Gasoline and Food prices alike.

In the last twelve months the dollar has lost 25% against almost all major currencies of the world mostly due to out of control Government spending and deficits.

Simply put - the Government borrows more money from the Federal Reserve Corporation (an independent private corporation not part of the Government) giving the promise to pay back the money with interest (what government gives up the right to print its own money? our foolish government of course!) and then the Federal Reserve out of thin air - actually paper and ink - prints more money diluting the currency which in turn dilutes its value - hence hidden inflation and taxation.

Now for example -  I am the person selling my barrel of oil which historically has been priced in Dollars - now you want to pay me for my barrel of oil with currency that is worth 25% less then it was 1 year ago - that means when I exchange the dollar for my local currency to buy chickens I now get 25% less of my own currency and now I can only buy a chicken and a half when before I could buy two chickens. Well I am not going to settle for this - so I raise the price of my oil in dollars 25% to make up for the loss. Now do you see what is truly happening?

Now spread that to food and anything else imported where the exporting country is being paid in dollars - they will demand 25% more just to break even to where they were a year earlier. They are not going to settle for less because our government has diluted the value of the currency by deficit spending and printing more money via the Federal Reserve.

The only true way to stop this onslaught on the dollar without dissolving the Federal Reserve is for the Government to stop spending what they do not have, dissolving a great percentage of the departments that it has recklessly created, and paying the deficit down - though considering the expansion of prisons and other things like war - that is unlikely to happen.

Considering that the Government is larger then it has ever been in history and that it is spending money at a rate larger then its growth and income - I sadly predict that this trend will continue until we are one of the poorest nations in the world because our currency is worth nothing, we owe China and the like everything, and the Government is taking the rest.

Online Outlet Shopping Center Newsletter
May 11, 2008

Ethanol

Ethanol was thought to be the solution just a year or two ago, but the fact is it costs more to produce a gallon of ethanol than it does to produce a gallon of gasoline. We've also seen the price of food skyrocket because corn is being produced for ethanol (and its tax breaks) instead of food. This is having serious consequences around the world as food riots spread from country to country and national governments are overthrown.

The water it takes to grow corn for ethanol is also helping lead to a water shortage. Already, 36 states are facing water shortages.

Certainly corn is not the only means of producing fuel from plants. Barley, soybeans, sunflowers, safflower oil, even grass, and who knows what, can be converted into fuel. We've just begun to tap the possibilities.

British Columbia scientists are developing ways of using micro-algae to produce enough diesel fuel for the entire province's diesel needs. The algae can use virtually any organic material.

B.C. scientists look into micro-algae for fuel

B.C. scientists are investigating the concept of harvesting micro-algae for fuel -- a process with the potential to supply 100 per cent of B.C.'s diesel needs.

BC Innovation Council life sciences director Richard Hallman stressed that it is still early days, but noted field trials in other regions show microalgae can produce 70 times more oil than canola -- at least 7,500 litres a year per hectare.

"People are promoting this because it really helps in the food-versus-fuel land conflict," he said in an interview. "It doesn't have to take place on prime agricultural land."

Theoretically, B.C.'s demand for about three billion litres of diesel a year could be produced by microalgae farms on less than 40,000 hectares of land.

"B.C. scientists look into microalgae for fuel"
by Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun
May 6, 2008

Monsanto is getting into the act, too, along with British Petroleum. The only problem is that Monsanto has been viciously aggressive in protecting its "ownership" of genetically-modified seeds as it attempts to take full control of the global food supply. Its seeds cannot reproduce and so new seed must be purchased every season - only from Monsanto. There have been many cases where Monsanto has sued farmers because their genetically-altered seed has been blown onto their property from a neighboring farm.

Monsanto enters partnership to make biofuel from grass

Mendel Biotechnology Inc. is getting lessons from an agricultural master, Monsanto Co. of Creve Coeur, in developing a grass crop for use in producing biofuel.

The companies said Monday that Monsanto will lend its crop-testing, breeding and seed-production expertise to the Bioenergy Seeds & Feedstocks unit of Mendel, based in Hayward, Calif.

Mendel will apply this knowledge to a type of elephant grass that is native to China, but not the U.S., in hopes of developing a plentiful and easily grown source of fuel for the world's growing number of trucks and cars.

Scientists in many companies and research institutions are tackling the challenges of unlocking energy from cellulose — leaves, stems, stalks or other non-edible parts of plants. Success could alleviate the demand for corn-based ethanol that is putting pressure on world stocks of food and animal feed.

"Monsanto enters partnership to make biofuel from grass"
By Rachel Melcer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 29, 2008

Hybrid

Hybrid vehicles (1) are not getting the mileage manufacturers claim, and (2) are just trading one form of pollution for another.

Hydrogen

Water is quite possibly the perfect "chemical" fuel if we can take steps to avert the growing water shortages, since it is made up of hydrogen and oxygen - H₂O. The exhaust is pure water, though not in as great an amount as is used. However, hydrogen is highly explosive, especially when kept under pressure. The Hindenburg disaster is a grim reminder of this.

Another problem is that using only hydrogen can overheat and destroy aluminum engines. One solution that has been successfully developed for the automotive market (and do-it-yourselfers) is the use of much smaller amounts of hydrogen generated onboard the vehicle and used as a supplement to gasoline to greatly increase mileage. Within the next month, the non-profit Phoenix Foundation (sponsor of this website) will begin offering the technology to the public, along with complete kits for do-it-yourselfers. Installation takes about an hour. 

Electro-Magnetic

The planet Earth itself is one gigantic power generator, as Nikola Tesla demonstrated nearly a century ago when he used just the power from the planet to light a large array of flood lamps. However, Tesla's secrets died with him and his most valuable papers were stolen by the FBI or Yugoslavian agents (take your pick) when he died. But the secret is still there, waiting to be re-discovered.

The technology today is used only by the military. During World War II it was used to power radio communications (VLF transceivers).

Commercially, it will be some time before the potential of this technology is recognized and made available. The Phoenix Foundation, a non-profit research organization, has been studying and experimenting with electro-magnetic frequency (ELF) for nearly 30 years - not just for energy, but for health applications.

Solar Energy

With oil prices rising and solar energy technology improving, solar costs are becoming more attractive. Initial investment is expensive, but in some states, enough excess power is generated so that the homeowner receives a monthly check instead of a bill for selling excess energy to the power grid. Perhaps this ability should be implemented in every state, perhaps through federal law.

The use of solar energy for heating water is much less expensive and can still reduce a large portion of a homeowner's electrical costs.

Related techniques involve landscaping and home design, such as the use of underground air conduits to cool the air flow in summer and warm it in winter, using the earth's natural 55-degree temperature. That means a homeowner only needs to raise or lower the temperature enough to cover the difference between 55 degrees and the ambient atmospheric temperature. Have you ever noticed how cool basements are in the summer?

In the winter, in an area where the temperature outside may be 20 degrees, the homeowner gains 35 degrees of heat, warming 55-degree air up to 68 (13 degrees) instead of trying to warm the outside air from 20 degrees to 68 degrees (48 degrees). The potential energy savings is enormous.

In the summer, in an area where the outside temperature may reach 100 degrees, he/she only has to warm the air from 55 to 72 (17 degrees) instead of cooling the air from 100 to 68 (32 degrees). In most cases, it involves only pumping the cooler air into the home where it is naturally warmed - without any energy costs.

Wind Energy

Windmills have been used in America since pioneer days to pump water for feeding livestock. As more efficient and affordable wind technology comes online, it could replace a large part of America's electrical energy needs.

Oil

There is strong evidence that there is a lot more oil available in the U.S. than we have been told. One huge untapped field is known as the Green River Project, the largest deposit in the world.

The problem with gasoline is that it is a hydro-carbon (such as C₁₁H₂₄ - C₇H₁₆) and it is the carbon portion that creates carbon monoxide and contributes to the greenhouse effect or global warming. Sugar has everything that we need to make gasoline and other hydrocarbons like propane C₃H₈, Butane C₄H₁₀, or hexane C₆H₁₂. Vinegar is C₂H₄O₂ but remove the oxygen and you get C₂H₄ which is highly combustible Ethylene gas. Still, though, carbon continues to be the "bad guy" in emissions. (By the way, sugar added to urine makes an excellent fertilizer for those of us back-to-the-earthers).

Coal

Hy