by directinfo » Wed 31 May 2006, 09:30:16
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SoothSayer', 'A')rticle discusses peak Oil:
Link... (snip)
3. Substitution. Another aspect of technical development is that people are now able to create oil and ethanol (which can be mixed with regular fuel) from sugar, grain and palm oil. This development has already resulted in extreme price increases in these commodity classes. [/i]
Substitution is great! I like it a lot.
For example the Consumer Price Index will substitute foods in the basket of goods to keep the expectations of inflation low, even when inflation is booming to the moon. For example, if beef raises by 30% in price and chicken stays flat, they may substitute chicken for beef in the basket. That proves that we didn't pay more for food, get it? Substitution.
And we can do the same thing with sugar. Oil makes sugar and then sugar makes gas. We sort of get two uses for the same barrel of oil, get it?
First we get a barrel of oil. Then we grow mountains of sugar cane to be industrially harvested and refined and transported and used as gas. Then we stick the gas into a tractor and grow more sugar cane. We can go round and round like that forever on the same barrel of oil apparently... very efficient.
Well, not yet... that is when the technology will be developed. We WILL BE very efficient. All we need are the zero waste incubators to seal correctly with the fusion pressers and then when a few other gizmo things added will do the trick!
No word yet from society whether they are willing to circle around the oil feedback loop forever without burning some of that gas for themselves.
Let's take a survey on that.
Thanks for the post!
http://www.arkbuilders.org/downloads/Road_to_Nowhere.jpg