Energy Crossroads: A burning need to change course

Check out highly efficient electrolysis from pulsing electricity.

Cars could easily run on water. Someone will reply to this saying electrolysis is too expensive, they are incorrect. Traditional electrolysis is expensive, but new techniques have been developed that are much better at fracturing water.

Humanity will, in essence, be introducing humidity on a massive industrial scale for the first time. The planet's water is now in balance (undeground, land, sea and air). water vapour is a potent greehouse gas. It holds a very high heat capacity and will eventually increase the energy in the atmosphere.

Don't be silly. Water vapor is also a combustion product of hydrocarbon fuels from petroleum, so we are already releasing vast amounts of it. The amount of human-generated water vapor is negligible compared to natural evaporation from lakes and oceans. Even though water vapor is a potent greenhouse gas, it rapidly leaves the atmosphere via precipitation, unlike CO2 which hangs around for centuries.

You've made a good point, I agree with you. I'll just state my bottom line: so long as we strive to meet our immense enegy needs via a "new form" of industrial energy we will still lose in the near term(10-30yrs). we need long term vision to teach ourselves that it's using less which will ultimately put us on the right track. Nothing can replace the easy gigawatts/day wave we've enjoyed for so long. Our economies must change. Also, I'm not that silly.

Yeah, I didn't mean to suggest that the hydrogen economy will necessarily work, or be ready in time to make up for falling petroleum production. Just that water vapor is not a significant pollutant unless humans start evaporating more water than the Sun does. Personally, I agree with the Hirsch Report - we're 20 years too late on developing alternative energy, so the next several decades will be an extremely severe test for industrial civilization.

Why do we need liquid fuels?
We can charge an electric car to go 100 miles in 1 minute.
greyfalcon. net/ quickcharge
greyfalcon. net/ quickcharge3

Oh, I loved "End of Suburbia", "Crude Impact" and "A Crude Awakening", so I guess this one is great too. Looking forward to it. The more I read about the peak oil subject, the more convinced I am. Sure I hear criticism and counter arguments too, but I really don't see the basis for optimism regarding peak oil, neither the timing of it or the magnitude of the impact it will cause...

This video has been added to the playlist "Energy, Policy, and Climate Change", a collection of more than 50 related videos. Click on user name "apheta" in this comment and then click on playlists.

Excellent video. 5 stars.