Must I repeat myself? Most petroleum goes for oil-based products - not gasoline. The oil companies will do very well when we switch to hydrogen cars. It is not the oil companies who will determine the future of hydrogen cars, but the world's auto companies. And they are putting a ton of resources into researching and developing it.
Profits do not greed make. I will never criticize a company for making all the profit it can so long as it does it honestly and ethically. The oil companies have unfairly received a lot of criticism for their profits. But what we have to look at is the profit margin. The oil companies have a very reasonable profit margin of around seven to eight percent. Obviously the oil companies are going to a lot of profit because of their scale.
We started working on rockets in the 20s and finally built one that worked in the 60's. That took about 40 years.
That's not what you said. You said "Most of the petroleum goes into oil by-products such as plastics.", which of course, is absolute bullchit. The overwhelming primary product of petroleum is for fuel. Lubricants and solvents are other primary products. By-products like plastic and asphalt are secondary by definition, but in this case they aren't even close.
The moon exploration program started in the mid-1950s under Eisenhower. We landed on the moon about 15 years after we decided to go. Please don't tell me that making an energy efficient vehicle is as difficult as flying humans to the moon. The technology and know how is there to have these vehicles. Americans don't want them ... yet.
2/3 is used for fuel. :thumb: I've always heard it was there and the technology/patents were bought by big oil companies. Have no idea as to the truth of it.
Did a quick search: There are some alternatives out there already so it must be like you said about Americans not wanting them......yet. The Toyota Prius gets 60 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the Hwy.......which is odd to me that it would do better in the city. The Japanese and the Europeans have micro cars that are fuel efficient (80 mpg ) but they are not offered to Americans right now. And the hybrids are creeping in- have to say I don't know anyone who owns one though. I guess when the prices get high enough Americans may scream loud enough for something to get going.
A friend of mine works for Devon Energy. He/She and everyone else got a huge cash bonus the year before last at Christmas. This past year, he/she received around $25,000 in company stock and she's a newbie at the company. This was this persons 2nd year. I was happy for my friend. The sad thing about it was that my friend listened to a "bunch" of coworkers at the Christmas party bitching and complaining about how they were underpaid and the bonuses were not enough. gimme a break
These hybrid vehicles are really small. You know we like our big vehicles in this country. They are coming out with hybrid SUVs, but I bet they are expensive. Another problem is that they hard to get. Government is subsidizing the auto industry to make these vehicles, up to 60,000? of them. Once they reach that number, they slow down production. Had a friend last year who wanted to buy a prius. They told him it was a 3 month waiting list. Never heard of anyone ever waiting for an SUV. Sooner or later we'll get onboard with energy efficient cars and conservation in general. For now, I'm doing like most people ... just complaining about it.
