Letters to the Editor

A biofuel food-price bombshell The U.K. Guardian reports some astonishing numbers from a "confidential" World Bank study on energy crops and grain prices. Andrew Leonard [2008-07-04]

• Same model for fuel distribution, different fuel

  Reading the columns and letters around biofuels/peak oil/electric cars that have been popping up lately I had a small epiphany. It occurred to me that the big petroleum companies would get completely cut out of the picture if we switched to electric cars where the batteries get recharged from plugin-type outlets, since the electric companies already have/own the grid that distributes the "fuel". But if we switch to any type of liquid fuel where you pull into your friendly corner filling station to refuel, then the petroleum companies simply need to do some upgrading to equipment to be able to distribute and sell that new fuel.

  I suppose this might have already occurred to some of you, but to me this seems a bit of a revelation. The oil companies (which usually do refining and distribution too) are NOT going to just quietly fade into the sunset. They are going to do everything they can to push us into using some type of liquid fuel for cars, and from their point of view if it is petroleum based, then the upgrading might not even need to happen (oil from shale or coal or algae or plants).

  -- JohnnyMM
  [Read JohnnyMM's other letters]
  Permalink Flag Thursday, July 3, 2008 10:35 PM
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