Quote:
Originally Posted by fielderLS3
Only if you define emissions as CO2. I personally don't consider to CO2 to be a "pollutant" like CO, NOX, hydrocarbons, and things like that that actually "pollute" and lead to health problems and smog.
And with that definition of emissions, FE and emissions have little correlation. A new V8 powered pickup today is much cleaner than a Honda Civic 15 or 20 years ago was.
And in the 1970s, FE and emissions worked against each other. In the 70s, emissions regulations meant low octane gas, low compression ratios, and large, inefficient air pumps, all of which torpedoed efficiency.
Perhaps Shale oil isn't exactly the right terminology. It is my understanding that oil companies are figuring out how to use fracking to produce oil similar to what began with natural gas a few years earlier. The basic process has been know for decades, but only recently has the technology become advanced enough, and the price of oil high enough to make the economics of it work.
These sources are indeed more expensive than conventional oil, but at today's prices, they are still very profitable. Production from places like North Dakota is sky-rocketing (hence the need to build new pipelines), and could be in the millions of barrels a day in just a few short years.
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Don't disagree with you on CO2. But Europe disagrees with both of us. And reduction in CO2 is the same as CAFE. Reduction in CO2 requires the same reduction in FE.
Fracking is not the same as shale oil. Yes, I agree there are more alternatives that are now available as oil prices go up. But OPEC controls that. If they wanted the price to go down to the point that they would put Canadien Tar Sands out of business they could.
So yes, Tar Sands and North Dakota oil are all awesome. But they aren't "Jed Clampett Oil". That is the oil you can find by "shootin' at some food". It is expensive. And the Dakatos only add up to a 4 or 5 year supply of oil at our current consumption. Not the endless (LOL) supply that the 500 year supply of Shale Oil in the Rockies promises..