Here is a link to an excellent environmental publication written in a much more interesting manner tyhan most  http://www.orion.org  .
I hope you are feeling better today

oh cool thank you!  and thank you,  i am feeling better - think im finally getting over the bug i had.

Global warming or not I think alternate fuel is important for immediate environmental reasons like air quality.

I agree!  And not only the environmental issues but the political issues too.  If we are able to become independent when it comes to fuel, we will be able to create jobs and have a steadier economy i believe.  Not having to rely on foreign oil or letting oil companies get away with all the power that they have.

I saw a program on ethanol and how many countries are far ahead of the US in use of this alternative.  My first car in '81 would use ethanol if I could have found anywhere to buy it!  It was a fascinating program.  Bio-Diesel is interesting, but I don't have a diesel car, so I don't really investigate it.

Ethanol is NOT the answer.

Biodiesel is only marginally better.

Might not be the answer, but it's is still an alternative. At least people are thinking alternatively...in theory.

Ethanol and biodiesel are not alternatives.  The only reason big oil is even allowing their development to any degree is because it takes a huge investment in oil and petrochemicals to raise the crops and refine and deliver those fuels, especially ethanol.  The only reason ethanol can even exist as an industry is massive government subsidy and the stealing of massive quantities of public water resources.  The only reason people support ethanol is because they don't understand it and it means they don't have to change their lifestyle at all.  It is anything but alternative.  Alternative would mean living differently, and that's too much like work for our fat, lazy society.

It costs more energy to produce ethanol than it yields.  As another side-effect, it's doubled corn prices as more of the corn is going to fuel production.  Since there is more money in corn than in other grains, farmers are foregoing rice, wheat and barley in favor of it, causing those prices to rise as well.  Meat prices go up because the animal feed costs more.

Ethanol has nothing but a negative effect on our economy and the environment.  It's a pipe dream cooked up by politicians that want Iowa's voters.

Oh thats cool!  Yeah there are many possibilities we just need to implement them before its too late

The only true answer to our energy needs is to go all electrical.  Electricity is by far the cheapest, most efficient type of energy to produce  For vehicles, the energy supply infrastructure already exists.  All that's needed are technology advances in charge times and manufacturing processes in order to make electric vehicles a viable option for the average person.

For those who may say that electric cars only transfer the pollution to the power plant emissions, consider this:

• Electrical energy can be produced by a variety of ways, many of which do not pollute, unlike the production of gasoline and petroleum-based products, which always pollutes
  
• The generation of electricity is a far more efficient process than refining or preparing a liquid fuel
• Transporting the fuel to filling stations via truck incurs even more pollution and fuel use
• Electric motors are typically 80-90% efficient, while combustion engines typically range in the 12-15% efficiency range, losing most of the energy produced as heat.

The facts are clear, electric vehicles result in lower pollution throughout the entire chain of supply, even when the initial power is generated by a means that pollutes.  They also see the least amount of energy loss from the initial generation to the wheels.  Obviously there are problems with the technology, charge time being the biggest obstacle, but as technology advances this will likely be overcome.

If we were to build 400 more nuclear power plants in this country, we would completely eliminate our dependence on petroleum for electricity generation.  Now, some of you are undoubtedly thinking "Chernobyl....Three Mile Island....Chernobyl....Three Mile Island"  Here are the facts on both incidents:

1.  Three Mile Island.  The nuclear reactor there suffered a partial meltdown, but the safety precautions and standards used in the building's procedures and construction resulted in no civilian injuries or deaths, and no adverse effects to the environment.  The reinforced concrete was effective in containing the radiation.  All in all, Three Mile Island was a success of sorts, as the building safely contained the meltdown and protected the surrounding area from it's adverse effects.

2.  Chernobyl.  Engineers were conducting a test the day the reactor exploded.  The plant was already in disrepair, with no reinforced concrete barrier surrounding the reactor.  To add insult to injury, the tests the engineers were conducting were done purposely well beyond safety limits.  The bottom line: the people running the Chernobyl reactor were so incompetent and so active in ignoring safety precautions that it's almost as if they were actually trying to blow the reactor up.

Modern nuclear reactors are far safer than both the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island reactors.  Transporting and storing the radioactive waste can also be done extremely safely.  The containers used to ship the waste are able to withstand an 80 mph impact with a diesel locomotive, and then a 45-minute long jet fuel-fed fire without breaking the surface.  The waste can then be stored in a secure, remote site in the Nevada desert, far underground.

Anyway, that's my take on the whole thing.

Yep.  We could still drill offshore and in ANWAR until then, though, and no one ever seems to consider that.

Yeah electricity is a good source.  And if we can get the power plants to produce electricity via wind, solar, or water energy which doesnt emit harmful emmisions that would be great.  As for solar if we can cost-efficiently produce the panels and increase the conversion percentages of light to energy then we have some serious potential with solar.  As for wind, if we can increase the location possibilities to let us harness more wind then we have better options with wind.  regarding both if we can use something called ultracapicatators which would control the inconstant influx of energy in both situations because the sun isnt always out and the wind isnt always blowing.  These ultracapacitators would be allow us to channel the energy and allow it to be used whenever we need it regardless how much light or wind is present.

i dont know if anyone is gonna read this but personally i think that global warming is fake.  some people are so stupid that they think global warming is the earth gettin so hot that it like catches on fire.... people can be so stupid.... they just listen to what they hear without thinking.... heres what i think about global warming. the earth heats up a few degrees, then u no some ice melts and turns into water OH NO!, then its still hot so the water evaporates..(dont think i spelled that right o well) then it will form clouds and block the sun which will make the earth cooler!! then my fear of global warming is that if all this happens then plants cant grow without the sun so all the plants die, then animals that eat plants die, then other animals die, and it just works up the foodchain till we die.

Okay you are far from accurate.  Yes the people who think that the planet is going to 'catch fire' or get very hot very soon are a little overexagerating and overworried but global warming is not to be taken lightly.  Global warming is a serious threat that needs to be faced now before its too late.  With the way our political system and world works, if we start to combat global warming now, we will be safe.  Regarding the weather and world effects of global warming, what i believe is to happen is that yes the polar ice caps will melt but that will do more than just effect the polar bears habitat, and increase the ocean depth thus decreasing beach surface area; the melting ice caps will decrease the salt water concentration of the ocean thus throwing off the North Atlantic Ocean Current which regulates and controls global climate.  When this occurs, extremes in temperature would occur all across the world (both hot and cold).

That is what is what i understand is to happen due to global warming.  This issue needs to be tended to yesterday if we are to protect ourselves from possibly wiping ourselves out.

your statement is only true if the polar ice caps are pure water. im not sure if they are.  they might be but why wold frozen salt water not have salt in it?

Well actually the polar ice caps are fresh water, they hold about 80% of the earths fresh water which is why some countries also have interest in them for future possible water sources if the world ever gets that bad (but that isnt for many, many  years and thats besides the point).  An ice cap is a thick permamnent covering of snow and ice on the earths surface and snow and ice are fresh water, sorry but it is true that the ice caps are mainly fresh water.  Now of course there is some salt water as with anything else and its impurities but again, mostly fresh.