The United States....as fuel exporter?

Wait, what?

It's logic like this that decreed Ireland didn't deserve potatoes.

I'm a skeptical squirrel

Wait really?

....man, if the states can cut down and stop importing from Saudi Arabia and Alberta...righteous. As long as we're not repeating clusterfucks like BP's, of course.

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

This is why I say we aggressively invest in green energy development: so we can make a killing on the oil market while the gettin's good.

I am now known as Flyboy.

One way or another sustainability is going to be the cornerstone of the future economy. We're gonna have to go green if we want to stay in the green. So it's quite encouraging to see that oil consumption is dropping; let's keep it up, and get off the coal too while we're at it.

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

Yeah, but you know policymakers are just going to keep us burdened with oil, then break out the alternative energy once people simply can't pay the inflated prices. That could take a decade.

I'm a skeptical squirrel

Sweet.

If you don't like a single Frank Ocean song, you have no soul.

Can we export the Ethanol while we're at it? Barely anybody's using the damn stuff.

More seriously, how do we plan to get the oil to export? Unless I'm mistaken, we haven't found many new sources in the US after the 70's.

edited 5th Dec '11 8:42:56 PM by RocketDude

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

Good news for once!

Isn't ethanol rather intensive and inefficient in its present state? I know Brazil can pull it off with sugarcane, but I'm not so sure about here at its present state.

I now go by Graf von Tirol.

the article in OP is false

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/11/is-the-usreally-a-net-petroleum-exporter-no/249269/

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2011/11/30/america_is_still_a_giant_oil_importer.html

edited 5th Dec '11 8:58:31 PM by PhilippeO

@Earl: Yeah, and we apparently have a bit of a stockpile of it. Lobbyists have been pushing the govt. to put more of it into the regular pump gas.

edited 5th Dec '11 9:09:02 PM by RocketDude

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

Where's that fuel that MIT was working on that was made from genetically engineered algae that only requires brackish water?

Anyway, we can't export ethanol. 1) Ethanol doesn't transport well (which is why you only really see ethanol fueling stations in like the middle of Iowa) and 2) considering you get less MPG with ethanol and you only get 20% new energy when you make it, it's probably not even worth manufacturing at all.

Er... considering that my parents' company competed for a contract to load tanker ships bound for Europe full to the brim with ethanol, I think we do export it...

I am now known as Flyboy.

Weasel Words bolded for you.

Fight smart, not fair.

It doesn't transport well — it has to do with the water solubility. Oil is comparatively easy to export. I have no idea why Europe wants it.

Either way, if we're going to insist on ethanol, it might be better to distill it from something that's, you know, not a food source.

edited 5th Dec '11 9:24:14 PM by ohsointocats

@Oh So Into Cats:

1. There is algae fuel on the way, it's just that it has a couple of hurdles (reliability of the production or something, for starters) and there's not much news on it.

2. There is cellulose ethanol (made from the plant stalks or something, which won't cut into food prices), but it's not much better.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

The plant material left behind is still used depending on the farming method, so while it wouldn't cut into the actual food supply it would cut into production costs. It probably wouldn't be as bad, though.

Ah. Disappointing. Thank you, Phillipe and Deboss.

Of course. It would be nice to think we'll keep our atmospheric carbon ratio under 500 ppm, but I'm an optimist.

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

The refinery thing is one of the big parts. To put it simply, there are no new refineries. Nobody builds them, they just revamp old ones with new tech and replace broken down parts. So it's fairly cheap to send the stuff to the US for refining and cracking*

and then ship it back out. It's similar to claiming that Japan is a car importer because it imports all the raw metals*

^{note: I have no idea if this is true, and I don't care enough to do a google search}

.

Fight smart, not fair.