The government is sooo STUPID!

[MrBurgerking]

So, yet another reason the government is being stupid. We have this oil shortage going on now all over the world and we're looking for alternative fuel sources. Hydrogen is getting there but is still pretty difficult, we're moving to E-85 but not a lot of cars take that and it's hard to find. I heard of this new solution: Methanol.

It's made from a certain way of processing hemp. It burns significantly cleaner than gasoline and is being used in race cars. Formula 1 and other open wheeled race cars use it a lot as well as many drag racers. It's a form of alcohol.

Basically, as we've seen already, the current administration (Bush) is focusing little attention on these other fuel sources so his relatives can make more money in the oil industry. This isn't even ignorance anymore as the technology is already present, it's negligence.

I apologize if people like Bush, but he's ruining the environment.

I also apologize that this is in the wrong forum. I figured more people read this than the legalization one and i wanted to get the "news" (not really news) out.

More info at: http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...faq1.shtml#4-1

[Einstoner]

What does Bush do other than speak? Speeches which he doesn't even write. I doubt he has much say in what goes on anymore, but thats just my oppinion.

[rnc3147]

What's even worse than that is the current administration is finally JUST acknowledging that there is a problem with global warming. If it wasn't for hard scientific evidence and that movie by Al Gore, they'd still say global warming "wasn't a problem". I don't think Bush gives a fuck about the environment, let alone using renewable hemp to ween us off oil.

[virtecs]

first of all, e-85 and the other corn based fuel sucks. If you look at the amount you need of e-85 to fuel a car the same distance as regular gasoline, you'd end up spending more on e-85 then you would on regular petroleum.

second of all, there's increases on the price of oil and such because ideal places where we could drill for oil are protected by fucking wild life organizations. There's ample places in Canada to drill AND it wouldn't effect much of the environment.

third of all, the hysteria of global warming is no where near the actualities of reality. CHeck an earlier post of mine where I give the link to a 185 page article refuting most of the so called "facts" of al gore's movie "an inconvenient truth." The fact of the matter is, is that the warming trend that we are having falls in the predicted path. Also, the "little warming period" or whatever it's called that occurred 650,000 years ago, which gore dismisses, had warmer temperatures than we are currently experiencing, and thats BEFORE the industrial era.

All in all, the oil price influxes are more due to drilling restrictions and e-85 mandates across the US. We are having a warming trend, but it's nothing to get all worked up about.

I'm not a fan of the bush administration only because of their dealings with Iraq. We should have tackled this war like ww2, bomb the hell out of it, then move in. This is an entirely political war because people have forgotten what it takes to win. You can't go into a hostile area and act all loving and cuddly with it's occupants.

[mad_dog_dallas]

global warming isn't really a problem...it's just politics. CO2 has little effect on the warming of the planet, and out of all the CO2 in the atmosphere we contribute about 6%-7% of that. global warming is tied to sunspot activity on the sun. more sunspots = higher temps. but on the topic of hemp, yes i believe it it stupid that we don't use it as a fuel source.

[hashaman]

Using any sort of fuel that requires land area to produce is dumb. It takes more energy to grow plants for m/ethanol than the fuel itself contains. Also, it would take somewhere near 97% of US irrigable land to produce enough plants for fuel.

The only direction is to move towards a more abundant fuel source. And considering hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe...

[mad_dog_dallas]

i think we should use solar energy. if we could fully capture the suns energy we'd have an infinite free supply.

[mushroomsatsuji]

They already have alternate fuel sources. They are just trying to find a way to make it more economical. Ethanol is already being offered and they have an electric car that can outrun a Ferrari. I know for a fact BP is doing experiments on this

[trawepale]

Originally Posted by mad_dog_dallas

global warming isn't really a problem...it's just politics. CO2 has little effect on the warming of the planet, and out of all the CO2 in the atmosphere we contribute about 6%-7% of that. global warming is tied to sunspot activity on the sun. more sunspots = higher temps. but on the topic of hemp, yes i believe it it stupid that we don't use it as a fuel source.

I was watching a program on the science channel about his the other day... the temperature of the sun is rising which in turn makes the earth warmer.

but i still think we have a effect on it too.

[trawepale]

Originally Posted by mushroomsatsuji

They already have alternate fuel sources. They are just trying to find a way to make it more economical. Ethanol is already being offered and they have an electric car that can outrun a Ferrari. I know for a fact BP is doing experiments on this

ohhh ye i remember i saw this is a magazine...popular science was it?? but anyway that car is sick and is run on like ton of laptop batteries.

[mushroomsatsuji]

Originally Posted by trawepale

ohhh ye i remember i saw this is a magazine...popular science was it?? but anyway that car is sick and is run on like ton of laptop batteries.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blog...s/3423261.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster

[mad_dog_dallas]

here's a video discussing global warming. long but interesting. it's in the last post on page one.
http://forum.grasscity.com/spiritual...l-warming.html

[MrBurgerking]

I didn't say anything about global warming. The only thing i said similar to that was that it burns cleaner. I wasn't speaking of global warming, but of actual tangible experience. I hate it when I'm walking down the road and a big truck drives by me and I get a huge whiff of burnt diesel.

I'm aware that ozone depletion is hardly caused by us. Natural things such as volcanoes and cow farts (seriously) have a bigger impact on that than us.

Hashaman, thanks for the information. I just read about this like a half hour ago so i didn't have time to do much research. Still, many companies are using wood as a fuel source rather than coal now, so some sort of hemp fuel could be used instead of the wood. That would probably be more logical than fueling cars.

On the topic of wood and trees, hemp paper is definitely a better route. I've heard that 1 acre of hemp can produce as much paper as something like 2 or more acres of forests. Also, in the process of making paper from trees, a lot of chemicals that are bad for the environment are used. These chemicals are not needed for making hemp paper. Just a little trivia, too, the US Constitution is written on hemp. If it had been written on paper made from trees, it would have already deteriorated by now.

[HalfBaked98]

with all the technology we have right now you know they could easily find a good fuel source that is economical. they dont change for the simple fact that the gov't makes to much money from petroleum to make a change.

[Disinterest]

Here's a solution to our impending fuel shortage crisis: Stop having so many goddamn babies.

Might solve a few of our other problems too. According to a David Suzuki book I just finished reading, best estimates suggest that we could survive sustainably on this planet with a population of no more than 1 to 2 billion people. Thankfully, in Westernized civilizations that have access to birth control, educated women who are aware of their rights, etc. you find a trend of decreasing population.