To really get off oil we'd have to...

[evnow]

Meh. Maybe we live with some carbon emissions from natural gas. Fifty years from now maybe we'll be having the same discussion about how do we get off natural gas.

While NG is a clean burner - it is not exactly safe to extract "shale" gas. There are also good indications that shale gas reserves have been highly exaggerated to pull in "stupid money".

Film Challenges Safety of U.S. Shale Gas Drilling
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=10943260

Legislation Seeks One-Year Moratorium On Natural Gas Drilling in New York
http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=77899

Why Natural Gas Vehicles Won't Decrease Oil Dependence, Part I
http://seekingalpha.com/article/187096-why-natural-gas-vehicles-won-t-decrease-oil-dependence-part-i

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i think long term, we will always have a use for carbon based fuels. getting it from algae might be a viable option, but i think we need to stop releasing carbon that has been sequestered for millions of years. it is changing our ecological balance and we may not like the results of the new centerpoint.

many computer scenarios have been run on what might happen (does anyone really know for sure??) if the concentration of CO2 was increased and its not a pretty picture. dangerous microbes that currently do not provide a threat due to less desirable conditions will multiply at a much greater rates. insect infestations along with a reduction in animals that eat insects will happen.

now none of that addresses stinky dirty particulate filled air we have to breathe.

 

[philaphonic]

To reduce agricultural consumption of petroleum (and petro-products), we can always eat less meat. It is well known that much more agricultural energy is used to get an edible calorie from animal products than from plant products. You don't have to turn into a vegan (though that would help), just reduce your animal consumption significantly. As a side beneift, you'll be a bit healthier, too.

Phil
vegetarian since 1985
vegan since 2005
future Leaf owner

 

[evnow]

To reduce agricultural consumption of petroleum (and petro-products), we can always eat less meat.

Or atleast buy local, organic.

Most of the fossil fuel use is for transport, processing and packaging. Here is a recent TOD article on this ...

Energy Use in the US & Global Agri-Food Systems: Implications for Sustainable Agriculture

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6575

Farming itself is the least profitable and least energy intensive segment of the entire economy of agriculture. Of the roughly 2,000 liters of oil required per year to feed each American (Pimentel 459), only one-fifth of that energy is actually used for agriculture, with the rest going toward transport, processing, packaging, marketing, and food preparation and storage (Brown 35).