Foreign oils

The MTG process was developed for synfuel production in response to the 1973 oil crisis and the steep rise in crude prices that followed. Because methanol can be made from any gasiftable carbonaceous source, including coal, natural gas, and biomass, the MTG process provided a new alternative to petroleum for Hquid fuels production. New Zealand, heavily dependent on foreign oil imports, utilizes the MTG process to convert vast offshore reserves of natural gas to gasoline (59). 

But overall there was a steady contraction in domestic production during the 1970s and 1980s. This unprecedented decline was the result of increasing imports of foreign oil, especially from the Middle East, Venezuela, and Mexico, and fluctuations in the... 

Hydrogen energy is an important long-range solution to our dependence on oil. A sudden rise in gasoline prices occurs when even one refinery shuts down since we have not built a new refinery in over 30 years and we are becoming more dependent than ever on foreign oil. 

PNGV was promoted as a program to get government and industry together for cleaner air program and for cutting dependence on foreign oil... 

Currently, ethanol is produced from sugar beets and from molasses. A typical yield is 72.5 liters of ethanol per ton of sugar cane. Modem crops yield 60 tons of sugar cane per hector of land. Production of ethanol from biomass is one way to reduce both the consumption of erode oil and environmental pollution. Domestic production and use of ethanol for fuel can decrease dependence on foreign oil, reduce trade deficits, create jobs in rural areas, reduce air pollution, and reduce global climate change carbon dioxide build-up. 

Countries turning to nuclear fission energy have decreased their dependence on fossil fuels and have diminished their output of carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals, airborne particulates, and other pollutants. Money that would have been spent on foreign oil payments has been saved. It is estimated, for example, that nuclear fission energy has saved the United States 150 billion in foreign oil payments. 

Gasohol is gasoline containing an alcohol additive. The alcohol provides an octane boost, allowing an engine to run more effi-ciendy with less pollution. If the alcohol is produced from biomass grown within a nation, there is the added benefit of a reduced dependence on foreign oil. 

Both the Fischer-Tropsch reaction and the Mobil process enable one to convert synthesis gas into hydrocarbons. Since synthesis gas may be obtained from coal, we have in effect a means of converting coal u> gasoline. Geimany moved its Panzer Korps in World War II with synthetic fuels made from (he Fischer-Tropsch reaction, and improved technological developments have enhanced the attractiveness of the process. South African Synthetic Oil Limiied fSASOLJ currently operates several modern Fischer-Tropsch plants. Many organometallic chemists refer to both the Fischer-Tropsch and Mobil processes as political processes 1 2 because they are heavily subsidized by countries that find it important to be independent of foreign oil. 

E-mail Address calstart calstart.org Web Address www.calstart.org WestStart-CALSTART is a non-profit organization that works to help in the development of advanced transportation technologies and to foster companies that will help clean the air, lessen dependence on foreign oil, reduce global warming and create jobs. 

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