Conserving Oil Is No Longer an Economic Imperative

[fury fan]

Conserving oil may no longer be an economic imperative, but it is still a major pollution issue.
The more gas we use, the more CO2 we reject, along with other nasty things.

Interestingly enough, they used to complain about other components in automotive exhaust - CO, unburned hydocarbons, etc -> smog.
We fixed that, but NOx became the new threat -> acid rain.
We now have vehicles that perform complete combustion (including MY10 and newer diesels), which is H20 and CO2. All problems solved!

So now they complain about CO2.
They also complain about water shortages, even though vehicles are converting more water than ever before.
Trees pull in CO2 and process into O2, which is a necessary gas for the very same people that complain.
I think they just want a cause to champion, or maybe just something to complain about.

Sarcasm aside, here's what's coming next (and I'm seeing it in my industry in the last 5 years) - noise.

Noise will be battled until vehicles make no noise. Then we'll tabulate the increasing volume of people being struck by vehicles that make no noise, and initiate standards for auxiliary warning-noise devices. People will become dependent on these devices, which will be found to not always work in all conditions, causing a new death issue. We'll create a new 100%-performing device, then find out those devices have side effects on localized wildlife, causing ecological 'mini-shifts' of population. Perhaps noise-cancellation devices will be installed to prevent those migrations -- as needed by a new branch of the EPA.

 

[Rwc]

Sound transfer reduction is all the rage in windows now. Especially in low income apartment complexes near a highway or airport. The Fed wants to preserve the ability to sleep in

Interestingly enough, they used to complain about other components in automotive exhaust - CO, unburned hydocarbons, etc -> smog.
We fixed that, but NOx became the new threat -> acid rain.
We now have vehicles that perform complete combustion (including MY10 and newer diesels), which is H20 and CO2. All problems solved!

So now they complain about CO2.
They also complain about water shortages, even though vehicles are converting more water than ever before.
Trees pull in CO2 and process into O2, which is a necessary gas for the very same people that complain.
I think they just want a cause to champion, or maybe just something to complain about.

Sarcasm aside, here's what's coming next (and I'm seeing it in my industry in the last 5 years) - noise.

Noise will be battled until vehicles make no noise. Then we'll tabulate the increasing volume of people being struck by vehicles that make no noise, and initiate standards for auxiliary warning-noise devices. People will become dependent on these devices, which will be found to not always work in all conditions, causing a new death issue. We'll create a new 100%-performing device, then find out those devices have side effects on localized wildlife, causing ecological 'mini-shifts' of population. Perhaps noise-cancellation devices will be installed to prevent those migrations -- as needed by a new branch of the EPA.

John

 

[saforwardlook]

Just to inform, the stuff that used to form in Los Angeles, for example, where you couldn't see the mountains 1/4 mile away in the summer in the 70s, is formed when HC and NOx combine in sunlight to create smog. CO had nothing to do with it. But the science behind development of smog was heeded and tranlated into HC and NOx emission standards for automobiles, the largest contributors to the problem, and the problem is very manageable today in all areas of the U.S. And the companies that developed the conrols for HC and NOx were started in the U.S. where the first requirements were implemented, and they still are thriving by selling those technological solutions to the rest of the world, creating wealth and good jobs in the U.S.

Also, standards are being considered by NHTSA to require some level of noise by electric vehicles to help make pedestrians aware of vehicles operating nearby.

Also, the lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere is approximately 100 years before it breaks down into its elements. All of the fuel combusted over the last 100 years has resulted in a lot of accumulated CO2 in the atmosphere, acting as a blanket to keep temperatures higher than if it were not there. Although atmospheric science is well developed, people want to believe what is convenient rather than what is agreed upon by the scientists. We can pretty accurately predict the temperatures in a garage at various parts of the day depending on the amount of insulation in the roof (and walls), but we have no clue about what a blanketing layer of CO2 over the earth does? Once it is up there, it will be there for some time, making it difficult to deal with when it gets past the "tipping point". It really isn't rocket science, despite what some would have you believe.

If our govenment listened to the scientists as they did with smog, and our home grown companies developed leading edge technology to address CO2 solutions (e.g. improved solar systems, windmills and H2 production on site for use as a fuel for fuel cell vehicles), other countries would buy our products, again creating wealth and good jobs that really make American great, as opposed to opening up coal mines again as others have proposed as solutions to make America great.

In my view, China is our greatest threat, and they are attacking the CO2 issue with intensity. It isn't hard to guess where that leaves us if we continue to deny reality and our institutions of higher learning are unaffordable to most people any more.