 |
(Conspiracy Nation, 3/28/05)
-- The Big Oil dinosaur waits until the final minute so it can squeeze
the last drop of revenue from its existing hydrocarbon assets, suggests
Paul Roberts in his enlightening book, The End Of Oil. Battling
the oil dinosaur as its supply diminishes are some innovative
scientists, but their dream of
converting to a hydrogen economy has been thwarted by political puppets
acting at the behest of their oil company masters. This theme is also suggested in the 1996 movie, "Chain Reaction" (image, left). In the film, Keanu Reeves, a streetwise lab technician, survives an organized assault on a hydrogen power project. A group of scientists working in Chicago had at last found an economical way to utilize cold fusion, but powerful forces (the energy rulers) weren't happy about it. So Pow! |
The Oil Dinosaur isn't against a hydrogen economy exactly; they just
want to monopolize it, but not until the oil profits are played out.
They are quietly getting ready for the next big thing: hydrogen fuel
cells, for example. They can hopefully switch gears and control that
when the
time comes.
A hydrogen fuel cell is "a kind of battery that never needs
recharging." Two fuel cells mix hydrogen and oxygen and produce
electricity. The hydrogen has been extracted from water (H2O). It has
bonded with other hydrogen atoms. A catalyst splits the bonded hydrogen
back into single hydrogen atoms, which rush to bond with the oxygen.
But a barrier allows only the hydrogen protons to pass into the oxygen
cell. The hydrogen electrons are diverted into electricity. [1]
Instead of polluting emissions from engines based on hydrocarbon
fuel, the hydrogen fuel cells emit only steam. They also could
potentially be the basis for decentralized power. There could be "a
whole host of hydrogen products, from automotive engines to power
generators for home use to industrial scale units." Geoffrey Ballard
worked on developing a type of hydrogen fuel cell called a Proton
Exchange Membrane (PEM) cell. Unfortunately, "once it was clear that
Ballard was within striking distance of an automotive fuel cell, U.S.
automakers and fuel companies became openly hostile. Companies took out
advertisements ridiculing the fuel cell. At trade shows and
conferences, auto executives derided fuel cell advocates and their
research." [1]
Also waiting offstage is cold fusion. Sixteen years ago, Stanley
Pons' and Martin Fleischmann's announcement at the University of Utah
startled the
world: a breakthrough in the field. Cold fusion
would be "a limitless source of future energy." But then, when other
scientists could not duplicate the success of Pons and Fleischmann,
cold fusion, until then a promising area of research, became
discredited. Nonetheless, a handful of scientists believed in Pons and
Fleischmann and kept experimenting. "Shunned by the scientific
establishment, this hardy band of cold fusion researchers" have carried
on. Now, according to an article in the Guardian newspaper, cold fusion
may be about to stage a comeback. [2] But would cold fusion and
"limitless energy" be allowed, if it turned out to be viable?
How would oil stock prices be affected by this competing source of
abundant energy?
Michael Ruppert has done an admirable job of increasing awareness
about the disappearance of oil and what that might mean. At his From
The Wilderness web site (http://www.copvcia.com) he and his group
continue to grind out reports about "Peak Oil." But Mr. Ruppert and his
people don't say much about alternative sources of energy. Instead,
they promote an apocalyptic view, where a diminishing oil
supply leads to "doom and gloom." The name of Ruppert's web site, "From
The Wilderness," has a Biblical connotation: It suggests Moses coming
from the wilderness to warn his people, then leading them back into the
wilderness, fleeing the wrath that is to come. But, "Psst! Hey Mike!
Tell us about the hydrogen fuel cells! Tell us about the cold fusion!"
------- Notes -------
[1] Roberts, Paul. The End Of Oil. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. ISBN: 0-618-56211-7
[2] Adam, David. "In From The Cold" Guardian newspaper online (http://www.guardian.co.uk)
March 24, 2005
-------
Conspiracy Nation
http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html