"U.S. to become biggest oil producer and energy independent"

[JK98]

"The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia to become the world's biggest oil producer before 2020, and will be energy independent 10 years later, according to a new forecast by the International Energy Agency."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-beco...120500800.html

[Marvin the Martian]

I have trouble believing this, I must admit. I don't see us becoming energy independent unless we keep all the oil we produce here...and the oil corporations won't do that if they think they could make more money selling it on the open market. Corporations' only loyalty is to the almighty dollar.

[sideways]

Supply and demand. You have to look at both sides of the equation.

The US has bumped up supply, ok, can it keep it higher? The amount of energy you get back compared to the energy you put in is on the decline. The age of easy oil has been over for a while now, the easy pickings have already been picked. You need to come up with alternatives to oil and ramp that shit up.

On the demand side you need to get people to stop wasting energy. It's no good increasing the amount of energy produced if there is an equally large or larger jump in demand. It's like LED lights vs incandescent lights. Sure they are more efficient, the flip side is people use more of them. It's false economy.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by sideways

Supply and demand. You have to look at both sides of the equation.

The US has bumped up supply, ok, can it keep it higher? The amount of energy you get back compared to the energy you put in is on the decline. The age of easy oil has been over for a while now, the easy pickings have already been picked. You need to come up with alternatives to oil and ramp that shit up.

Absolutely correct.

Originally Posted by sideways

On the demand side you need to get people to stop wasting energy. It's no good increasing the amount of energy produced if there is an equally large or larger jump in demand. It's like LED lights vs incandescent lights. Sure they are more efficient, the flip side is people use more of them. It's false economy.

Also correct. If I am the only one home, the house is dark except for the area where I am. When I come home, usually the whole house is lit up, unless it's late and everyone is asleep.

[JK98]

Originally Posted by sideways

Supply and demand. You have to look at both sides of the equation.

The US has bumped up supply, ok, can it keep it higher? The amount of energy you get back compared to the energy you put in is on the decline. The age of easy oil has been over for a while now, the easy pickings have already been picked. You need to come up with alternatives to oil and ramp that shit up.

On the demand side you need to get people to stop wasting energy. It's no good increasing the amount of energy produced if there is an equally large or larger jump in demand. It's like LED lights vs incandescent lights. Sure they are more efficient, the flip side is people use more of them. It's false economy.

The problem isn't really energy, but oil. The US has plenty of coal and natural gas. While most passenger trains in the US run on electricity, most freight trains in the US are diesel powered electric(the trains have diesel engines that power electric motors). Around half the US electricity is from coal, around 20% from nuclear, and around 20% from natural gas.

Phasing out incandescent light bulbs has saved plenty of electricity. Compact florescent bulbs are very cost effective. While a 100 watt incadescent gives off the same amount of light as a $2 24 watt compact florescent bulb, getting consumers to spend around $20 a bulb for an LED bulb doesn't seem to be worth saving another 7 watts or so.

Tube televisions being replaced by LCD ones has saved plenty of electricity, however plasma televisions consume huge amounts of power(more than tube televisions). Imo plasma televisions should by law be phased out.

[Marvin the Martian]

Here's a radical thought to save fuel...outlaw NASCAR!

[kp-j3]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

Here's a radical thought to save fuel...outlaw NASCAR!

Just when it's getting interesting?

(Lot's of fisticuffs this weekend).

They are already shortening races (but not lowering ticket prices that I'm aware of). Personally more of an F1 & Australian V8 super cars fan myself.

But as a gearhead, I hope conservation measures, electric & hybrid technologies and CAFE standards do their best to kill demand. Still like the smell of burning dinosaurs though, it's just something I grew up with.

[nathan]

Have they ever heard of Canada. Whatever natural gas resources the U.S has there's considerably larger ones up North. Also the Canadian oil reserves are not just theoretically usable with future technology, there able to be abstracted with the current latest technologies now in the western proveniences. It smells like another U.S centric article. Especially with this quote, "North America would become a net exporter of oil around 2030." Just to inform some Americans that seem to fail geography, Canada is a separate sovereign nation which it's government been signing a lot of energy deals with Asian countries lately.

edit: I'm not trying to stereotype all Americans as arrogant which from personal they arn't. Just some have a habit of ignoring other countries even when they do professional reports.

[Syndrome]

Yeah, I wouldn't want electric to completely replace the combustion motor, I'm a huge fan of diesel trucks(dodge, chevy). I just wish they would focus more on getting mpg higher instead of emissions. The way they should look at it is by converting 1 gallon of gas into as much pollution as possible, but then make that single gallon take you 10 times as far.

[Marvin the Martian]

The U.S. Won't Be Energy Independent Even If We Pump More Oil Than Saudi Arabia

While we may soon produce as much crude as Saudi Arabia, we will not actually have the same power over world markets as Saudi Arabia, and thus oil will continue to be a political, and financial pain in our side.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-wont...154500330.html