Life without oil: "No Blood for Oil" shout the protesters. Whether or not the US would fight Iraq because of its vast oil reserves isn't really the point. Fact is, our dependence on sticky, smelly, costly oil is bad for geopolitics, bad for the environment and bad for all the non-oil producing countries around the world. So, is it possible for live without oil? And, what would life be like without it? Energy expert Robert Ebel (Center For Strategic and International Studies, Washington D.C.) tells FM4's Reality Check that an oil-less future is possible and that we won't miss it once it's gone. He warns, however, that the future isn't with renewables but with hydrogen and until we've found a way to produce and supply it cheaply, we'd better get used to using petroeleum fuel for transportation, for heating, for industrial purposes and...well, for just about everything you can imagine. Non-fuel oil uses include: bubble gum, mascara, running shoes, candles, hairdryers, matches, medical products, asphalt roads and even guitar strings. Greenpeace Austria's Erwin Mayer is convinced there are alternatives. And, American entrepreneur Grant Goodman (with a little help from Austrian investors) plans on building his own soybean oil refinery later this year. Is this a real alternative to the black gold that fuels economies around the world? An Alternate Energy Store in the USA already has put products out on the market which have nothing to do with oil.
Betthupferl:
Rennrad oder Trompete - Alpe d'Huez oder Carnegie Hall; was die Chromosomen können, damit verdienen wir unser Geld. Das ist bei den Reichen und Berühmten nicht anders, hat Martin Puntigam festgehalten - fürs Betthupferl
Österreich |
21.2.2003 | 18:42
