On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:13:39 -0600, Chris W wrote in
:

Larry Dighera wrote:

Electrically powered vehicles are the only hope to reduce the transfer
of wealth from the western world to the middle east,

Electric cars will never eliminate our dependence on oil from the middle
east. That is a bold statement and I could be wrong

In the short term, there is no question your statement is true, IMO.
In the long term, the US will need to develop many alternate power
technologies to remain independent.

but I believe the
only way to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, is to use every
possible alternative to power cars and trucks, including bio diesel,

Vegetable oil seems like a great renewable alternative fuel to me. The
question is, is there enough agricultural land to grow the amount
necessary.

methanol (from something other than corn),

To my thinking, methanol is never going to be a significant source of
energy due to its low energy density and high energy demands for
manufacture. Its in vogue now due to farm lobby interests, IMO.

natural gas,

There is an enormous amount of natural gas frozen under the seas.
We'll have to learn how to harvest it, but there is little doubt it
will become a prime fuel source in the future, IMO.
http://marine.usgs.gov/fact-sheets/g...tes/title.html

maybe hydrogen,

As a storage medium for photovoltaic solar energy, hydrogen and
oxygen, the natural products of the disassociation of water, can be
"burned" directly in fuel cells. But that technology is still in its
infancy from what I've read. Here's what Honda has in mind:
http://world.honda.com/FuelCell/HomeEnergyStation/
This sort of equipment is making fuel whenever the sun is shining.

and to what I believe will be a limited extent battery power. At the
same time we should stop using fuels to generate electricity that work
well in vehicles so as to save it for vehicles and use nuclear,

Nuclear has shown itself to be problematic:


http://environment.newscientist.com/...n-uplands.html
Chernobyl haunts the Norwegian uplands
12:00 28 October 2006

Tougher controls on the slaughter of sheep have been imposed in
Norway after they were found to be contaminated with unusually
high levels of radioactivity from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) says the
problem has arisen because the sheep have feasted on an unusually
large crop of mushrooms, which were more plentiful than usual
because of wet weather. Previous research has shown that fungi
take up more radioactivity from the soil than grasses or other
plants.

... the discovery of such high levels of radioactivity so long
after the Chernobyl accident came as a surprise. "No one at the
time expected contamination to be so high more than 20 years after
the event," he says.

This occurred a long distance from Chernobyl. I'd prefer that we
didn't poison ourselves in the search for fuel.

coal (which can be made clean with the byproduct useful for making concrete
stronger),

Coal is plentiful and can be made a cleaner source of energy, but it's
not happening yet:
http://environment.newscientist.com/...d=FGPEPLHHNEGB

hydro-electric, wind and solar (and I don't mean PV cells).

Decentralizing electrical power is a great idea. Small wind turbines
seem like a good idea: http://www.quietrevolution.co.uk/

Another untapped power source, ocean waves, seems ripe to help fill
the need: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_power

What I can't understand is why solar heat for your house isn't being
pushed more. Unlike solar electric cells, solar heat can easily and
quickly pay for it's self. In many parts of the country it can provide
over 90% of your heating needs. The only disadvantage I can see, is for
it to be most cost effective, you need to have it built into the house
from the start. It's hard to add it to existing homes and have it be
efficient unless certain things just happen to be right. That may be
part of why it isn't talked about more.

Of course, solar swimming pool heating is being used extensively in
locations where it is feasible.

We seem to have strayed a bit from the topic of aviation, but I
believe you are correct in intimating that it will be an aggregate of
technologies that will eventually supplant middle east petroleum in
the US if we are to remain independent in the future.