Scott Benson

An Alternative to America’s Gasoline Crisis

(Brazil is not 60% biofuel. Brazil is VERY proud of their oil industry (Petrobras) which has had some great success in the last few years. Contradictory to popular belief, all Brazilian cars are NOT run on sugarcane ethanol -- only about 20% of them do. That leaves the 80% that run on OIL. More specifically, diesel. 55% of Brazil's engines run on diesel. This isn't hard to believe. Brazil has lots of buses, trains and trucks, and doesn't have "suburbs" persay. Brazil runs on oil, just like everyone else.)

The 'Peak Oil' Myth: New Oil Is Plentiful

You don't understand peak oil, dude. Nobody says we are running out of oil. Peak oil says we may be running out of CHEAP oil, on which our modern world economies depend. Every alternative you list, from the Brazil Tupi and Carioca fields (indeed impressive amounts, maybe, but very deep in the earth) to the oil shale nonsense, are going to be HUGELY expensive to produce. There is lots of oil for people who can afford it. But few people seem to acknowledge that most of the world isn't all that rich. Do your research, my man.

An Alternative to America’s Gasoline Crisis

I have been working with alternative-fueled vehicles since 1992 -- E85 and CNG primarily. The "users"/"clients" of mine who drove the CNG vehicles under realistic conditions did not like the CNG vehicles. While they ran, the lack of filling stations was problem #1. Amoco/BP paid half a million dollars each for the fast-fill stations that they eventually closed, cause they made no sense. CNG has had its day, and it failed. The U.S. has been on a natural gas production platueau for 30 years, and every new well depletes faster than the last. LNG is going to be very costly. CNG is a great fuel. Too bad there is no "there" there in terms of supply.

In Light of Peak Oil, Financial Diversification Is a Bad Idea

If you're a peak oil person, as am I, you must realize that China and India and SE Asia are not going to ascend to world prominence via their impressive industrialization. Superexpensive oil means their industrialization stops cold very soon. Europe is going to fall apart as well due to peak oil, so the Euro is now under attack. I"ll go along with the precious metals for inflationary reasons, but it sure looks like the dollar stands to climb back up -- other currencies will be under so much stress.

The Case Against Peak Oil

"ExxonMobil (XOM) alone, writes Cassidy, has invested more than $60 billion into exploration and development over the past four years." This doesn't mena they found anything. Most of the oil companies have invested a lot of money in finding new oil and the results have been disappointing. Not all peak oil people are nutcases. I hope there is another Prudhoe Bay or North Sea out there to save us again, but it isn't looking promising. All the new stuff costs a lot of money to extract.