OPEC Finally Has a Challenger

One problem we have as consumers is the fact that individually we have very little influence on the market. Big oil companies and OPEC have been able to basically dictate what gas prices are going to be.

Now that BioFuels are coming of age, OPEC finally has competition, and it looks like they are starting to squirm.

President Khelil of OPEC recently said that, “the intrusion of bioethanol on (sic) the market [is responsible for 40% of the rise in world oil prices].”

This assertion defies logic, and the President of OPEC has provided no proof or any substantiating evidence of this. His assertion, he feels is enough.

Well, it is enough. Perhaps now EVERYONE will be able to see the lies that are propagated by OPEC.

Enter the World BioFuels Industry.

In an open letter to OPEC published last week in the Financial Times, the BioFuels industry called OPEC out on the many years of market manipulation and lies that have kept the cartel in business. I suggest you read the article at www.goodfuels.org/opec.

Ethanol Isn’t Bad – It’s Booze

All this talk about Ethanol, and I didn’t even realize it was booze. Well, there you go.

Reading this article by Dark Palmer, “The Case For Ethanol” I realized that a lot of the information I’m getting on the subject from watching the news is bullshit.

Yeah, big surprise there.

Anyway, there is a campaign he is promoting to Declare Energy Independence, and since it’s the 4th of July it’s your patriotic duty to sign it.

Here’s the link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/declare-july-4th-energy-independence-day

Party on!

How ‘Bout Them $300 Million Batteries

Last week John McCain offered $300 Million for an electric car. See the article in the Washington Post here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062300002.html

Now, I’m all for the electric car, and the good news is that the Lithium-ion batteries are already here.

Maybe if John McCain did his homework he would already know about the uber-cool Tesla (http://www.teslamotors.com/) which goes 0-60 in 3.6 seconds and gets the equivelant of 220 miles to the gallon.

If you want a high-performance sedan, then the Tesla Model S or Fisker Karma: http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_shows/2008_detroit/2010_fisker_premium_hybrid_sedan/index.html set to be released in 2009 might be more to your liking.

There’s also the Chevy Volt: http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/ which is scheduled to go into production in 2010.

What’s better is that this phenomenon is not limited to the United States. Indian manufacturer Reva has developed an electric vehicle for the Indian market (http://www.revaindia.com/)

The higher gas prices are pushing these products to market much faster, and I think in the end this is a good thing.

Of course, if your taste is more for the gas engines, there are still the high efficiency Prius, and Smart Cars getting up to 50 mpg.