Scooter
Full Access Member
First, ethanol and Vegetable oil are mutually exclusive. Vegetable oil is actualy profitabel to use, and takes a lot less resources per gallon than ethanol.
Second, as I posted in a previous thread, Canada is the number one supplier of oil to the US. Saudi Arabia is number two and Mexico is number three. So that means that the majority of our oil comes from North American countries. Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries This is a link to the US government statement. I was actually surprised that Nigeria is number three. Here Top U.S. Refineries - Energy Information Administration. Energy Rankings is the refining capacity, and in the recent oil exec testimony to congress tehy stated that production was at only 80% of capacity, additionally, a lot of the oil is actually rfined in the country of origin.
The real problem is that world wide demand for oil has skyrocketed. China is allowing more and more of its citizens to purchase vehicles, and with over a billion people, that is a huge amount of SUV's. India is also in a position of buying a ton more vehicles, and we are all battling for the same oil. So there are some options...
1. We could do more diesel vehicles, that would be able to run on Veggie oil, like they were originally intended to do.
2. We could improve mass transit so that more people would be willing to use it.
3. We could dictate more efficient vehicles.
4. We all could find ways to conserve without having a 55 mph speed limit imposed on us.
I personally, am in favor of 1 and 4. I think they are the most sensible. It would also help to grow some veggie oil sources that cannot grow in a typical farming environment, such as Jojoba that grows in desert areas, and other similar crops.
It would also help if the NIMBY bunch would not use oil as a bully pulpit to force their agenda down the throats of everyone.
Second, as I posted in a previous thread, Canada is the number one supplier of oil to the US. Saudi Arabia is number two and Mexico is number three. So that means that the majority of our oil comes from North American countries. Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries This is a link to the US government statement. I was actually surprised that Nigeria is number three. Here Top U.S. Refineries - Energy Information Administration. Energy Rankings is the refining capacity, and in the recent oil exec testimony to congress tehy stated that production was at only 80% of capacity, additionally, a lot of the oil is actually rfined in the country of origin.
The real problem is that world wide demand for oil has skyrocketed. China is allowing more and more of its citizens to purchase vehicles, and with over a billion people, that is a huge amount of SUV's. India is also in a position of buying a ton more vehicles, and we are all battling for the same oil. So there are some options...
1. We could do more diesel vehicles, that would be able to run on Veggie oil, like they were originally intended to do.
2. We could improve mass transit so that more people would be willing to use it.
3. We could dictate more efficient vehicles.
4. We all could find ways to conserve without having a 55 mph speed limit imposed on us.
I personally, am in favor of 1 and 4. I think they are the most sensible. It would also help to grow some veggie oil sources that cannot grow in a typical farming environment, such as Jojoba that grows in desert areas, and other similar crops.
It would also help if the NIMBY bunch would not use oil as a bully pulpit to force their agenda down the throats of everyone.
Our energy policy is screwed up. Importing Brazilian ethanol is a quick fix until we get our future energy infrastructures built. I am so for nuclear power you wouldn't believe it. It's all Al Gore's fault with his Tennessee coal based coal fired power plants which are spewing more CO2 in the atmosphere than most people know. 
