According to experiments done by Exxon, who has invested $500 million in algae, it is better to grow it in greenhouses. To fuel the whole nation, it would take an area the size of Rhode Island with greenhouse algae. Problem is, it will cost over $4 a gallon to produce at this time. They are breeding some algae to be 60% oil by body weight. That is why I mentioned the cost.
Right now we need to drill domestically, then begin coal gasification to make synthetic diesel, then as time goes on, algae will eventually take over, but this is 20-50 years out. Natural gas is available now, so fleets can convert within 5 years. Diesel is available now, this could be phased in like unleaded gas over 5-10 years as manufacturers retool. Within 10 years if we start now, we can cut out imports. Then, build and begin coal gasification and/or algae production. It is going to have to happen sometimes, because the easily obtained oil in the middle east is going to begin running out in about 50 years. We have about a 200 years supply of natural gas and 800 year supply of coal. This gives us time with fuel we already have.
While this is being done, we can begin building more thromium nuclear power plants. Thromium can't be made into bombs, and the decay life is much lower than uranium or plutonium. It also produces about 1/10th the waste of traditional nuke plants. Also windmills in the plains states sounds great, problem is the transmission lines east and west are not in place. This can be done with tax credits to power companies. Right now it is easier for them to build natural gas power plants which is a waste, and should be used for transportation fuel. This is because of regulations in the nuclear industry as well as air pollution from coal. So, I say use coal and natural gas for the transportation fuel, nukes and wind for power generation. Government can help this with tarriff on imported oil with the money offsetting tax credits for wind transmission and coal gasification and natural gas conversions.
The cost from the factory of a natural gas vehicle is about the same as gasoline, conversion of an existing gasoline vehicle is about $2,000. Natural gas compressor stations are about $100,000. Average diesel vehicle over a gasoline vehicle is also about $2-4,000. Hybrids cost even more. That is why Germany decided to go diesel. Now they are working on diesel hybrids which get 75-100 mpg. We are way behind the curve. Synthetic diesel can be made at about $2 a gallon before tax, but the plant to make it is expensive to build. It can be done, but it will take shifting tax policy with credits.
In economics 101 I was taught that for every dollar you spend, it goes around 7 times and returns to you. If our dollars are going overseas through imported oil, it isn't going around here creating jobs. Anything we produce domestically produces jobs. Oil is the biggest single imported item and using domestic fuel would make payback get us out of recession and cut our trade deficit in half, deliver more taxes to government without raising them, and provide jobs with healthcare. It is a win-win-win situation. Problem is too many far left enviromental wakos are keeping this from happening and are using the EPA to stop it from happening. Believe me, I work in the natural gas industry. We are trying to get fleets to convert to natural gas, problem is we can't get deals with gasoline stations to put in compressors. We are slowly doing it. Also with the raising of the mileage standards, you will probably see more diesel cars on the road in the next few years, since they get 20-30% better mileage than gasoline. The process can be speeded up, if we had help from the government, not hinderances.
