There is a lot of interest in biofuels like corn ethanol.

The spike in world food prices in early 2008 which resulted in food riots in some countries proved the folly of using food products to make fuel.  But that doesn’t mean biofuels are not a viable liquid fuel.

Here is a lighthearted look at the biofuel and fuel efficiency issues:

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-1-v-53.html

We don’t need to use corn or other food products to make fuel (ethanol).  We can make ethanol from plant waste or non food crops like swithgrass.

We can also make something called biodiesel.

Here is a video about making biodiesel starring Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame.

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-1-v-49.html

Why is finding a good solution to our “liquid fuels” challenge so important?  Here is a video by Dr. Andrew Frank from the engineering school at the University of California, Davis talking about something we experienced just this past summer, spiking fuel prices rippling through the economy at the speed of trucks.

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-1-v-7.html

Energy challenges break into two categories, stationary and mobile. Let’s talk about Mobile Energy Challenges.

This challenge boils down to the problems posed by our use of “liquid fuels”.

The primary Liquid fuels are gasoline, diesel fuel, and compressed natural gas.

Here is a video about the different types of fuel.

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-1-v-6.html

The good thing about liquid fuels is that they are easy to transport and relatively easy to distribute (think gas stations on every corner where you can fill up your vehicle’s liquid fuel tank).

Gasoline and diesel fuel are the biggest concerns currently. Oil prices spiked to $147.00 per barrel in mid 2008 before dropping back below $70.00 per barrel as the world’s economies slowed down at the end of the year. The jury is still out as to what caused the spike in prices, but there is no disputing that the $700,000,000,000.00 a year that the United States sends to other countries is an enormous strain on our economy. Think about the outrage generated by the $700 billion Wall Street bailout. We are spending that amount every year on our energy dependence.

Despite the calls of “drill, baby, drill” we can’t drill our way out of this problem. The United States uses 25% the world’s energy and only has 3% of the fossil energy reserves.

Currently, compressed natural gas (CNG) isn’t used very widely as a liquid fuel, but it could be used more widely without completely rebuilding the distribution infrastructure.

Here is T. Boone Pickens talking about his plan to use CNG as a transition fuel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQa-ibNOKM

Here is a video about the dual fuel vehicles being sold currently in Brazil:

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-1-v-101.html

The problems with the liquid fuels are that they are limited in quantity and they generate greenhouse gases. As Pickens says, the real solution is things like electric vehicles and hydrogen powered vehicles. He views CNG as a bridge fuel.

What do we need to do now? In the short term we need to drive much more fuel efficient vehicles, use public transportation and human powered transportation.

As a longer term solution, we need to vote for politicians who will guide us to a renewable energy transportation future and we need to be prepared for the social and economic transition era away from liquid fuels. It isn’t going to be easy, but it has to be done