It would appear my previous post on fuel and boycotting the fuel companies has raised some thought amongst the readers. I would like to comment.
One reader raised their concern that what difference would it make to not purchase fuel one day as opposed to the day before, or the day after. The difference is a moral message, rather than a monetary impact. Yeh, sure it would be nice to see the fuel companies lose some money, but more than anything, I'm all about power to the people. Right now, I feel pretty bloody helpless when it comes to fuel and purchasing it. So, forgive me if a united voice doesnt raise some inspiration in me.
Another reader decided to respond anonymously. You all know how much it gets my goat to see people comment on my diary anonymously. It shits me in fact. For love of chocolate people, please just give me a name. Would it kill you?
Anyway, this reader, whom I am left with no choice but to call Anon, decided that we should all use Ethanol. It is the revolutionary fuel of the future apparently. Except for one major concern - where the fuck do you buy it from? It's a fabulous idea and I would say a lot of people would be all for it, except that it's not massed produced anywhere and your car has to be tailored to run on ethanol (it's an expensive operation to transfer your car over to it) - this is my research. Besides, Ethanol would probably be more expensive, given that it isn't mass produced! I recognise the economic impacts on farmers and being a country girl, I support it hugely. I also support the environmental impacts it leads to, but again it's out of my / our control. I can't control the legislation that the government has in place, or that the fuel companies command the market and its direction. So, fabulous idea Anon, but honestly, it's probably not a realistic option. It has been fixed so that we rely on petroleum, and maybe it's the cynic in me, but something tells me that ethanol isn't going to be saturating the Australian market any time soon. Again, this leads me back to the reason why I am supporting the No Fuel Day - currently, we are individuals suffering under the current fuel regime, but boycotting fuel that day unites us as one voice. It sends a message. It's a protest, right? Protests probably don't move mountains, but it voices an opinion.
Honestly, I see your points, but I refute them given the circumstances.
Now that I have ranted, I must now go relax and wait for the backlash from my comments.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
That was me with the ethanol, not sure why it came up anonymous? sorry!
When you enter your name/url then preview your post, it drops out your name. I guess I didn't notice which is why it came up as anon. Again, sorry.
I am not going to get into a sledging match with you because I can't be arsed. I just want to come back on two things you said to set things straight. I'm not a total idiot. If I was, I'd have suggested we partion for cars that ran on compressed air! Ethanol, however, is a completely feasible possibility.
1. It is already produced in quantity in NSW and QLD. It's just alcohol which can be made very easily from sugar cane, corn, etc. It's so much cheaper to produce ethanol that it is to refine oil. And it would be a local product which is most important!
2. The majorty of cars (if not all) will not require modifications to run on 25% ethanol. Fuel sold in most US states contains high levels of ethanol. During the 1980s, Australian fuel contained ethanol. The fuel companies started a smear compaign against ethanol which is why people have so many misconceptions about it today.
Sorry my comment pissed you off so much. Maybe you should turn off comments if you don't want ppl to contribute.
Ah.
See, now legeslation comes from the people. The people want ethanol, they will get ethanol. It may take a long time to change the legeslataion and the ways of man, but they can change. Itjust requires a lot of effort from those who believe in right and wrong.
At the moment we live in a capitalistic society. That we even have this problem is symptomatic of us having been railroaded by the monoliths and the capitalists who are rich beyond yours and my wildest dreams because of our dependance on the ways they have created for us.
We follow so blindly when we are the ones who can change it. If only we believe that we really can.
We really can, Sam.
Post a Comment