Wednesday, February 02, 2022

To API: with total electric car adoption - what do we do with the gasoline?

I have a question my environmentalist friends will hate, but it must be asked:

If the nation were to switch to electric cars, what would we do with all of the gasoline? Put another way, when refining crude oil, which we must do to produce plastics, is it even possible not to make at least some gasoline? Can the amount be reduced or zeroed out or would it have to be burned anyway?

If it must be burned, what is the best way to do it?

The Center for Fiscal Equity has been championing electric cars powered and controlled from an overhead roof deck, with transmission lines like those used for electric buses and trains. The ideal source would, of course, be fusion, with thorium reactors taking second (if not first) place. Solar is a joke and wind might be good for homes, but not for America's transportation needs. Such road systems would be closed to pedestrian traffic - entirely controlled and possibly under ground (or grass would be grown on the roofs. (which would also provide electric power and communication to homes and offices.

Natural gas could, of course, provide the electric power generation.

Could gasoline? Indeed, is this the best way to dispose of it - by using it to generate electricity?

Could the hydrogen be refined out of gasoline - and if so - what would the by products be used for?

Of course, farmers would still need to use gasoline, as well as other heavy equipment. Trucks might also best use it - although hydrogen fuel cells or cryo-hydrogen may also be options for military aircraft. API would know - and if it could corner the market for cheep hydrogen, this would be worthwhile to explore.

Any information you can provide would be helpful - both for public debate and for making more complete presentations to Congress on energy policy.