Angry Voice turned on anti-dragway activists

Johnboy – yep, they’re growing cotton thanks to your distorted market. But only with huge inputs of energy (fertiliser, fuel, pesticides, herbicides, etc) in the form of oil.

Biodiesel suffers from the same problems. You need a whopping oil input to get the stuff out. Putting aside the usual arguements about environmental degredation, it doesn’t make a huge amount of sense in pure economic terms.

Your return on investment for oil (energy in for energy out) is about 30:1 (in a good, profitable well, anyway). For biodiesel, it’s about 3:1. For ethanol it’s 0.8:1 (i.e, it’s an energy sink).

If you think we can replace oil with biodiesel, this stat may give you pause; to grow enough oilseed to meet current demand you’d need a farm the size of Africa.

Then you might have a problem with water…

In the Hackett Neighbourhood Watch Newsletter there’s a few snippets rallying the anti-dragway movement, Dragwayaway (ooh! they even have a website http://www.dragwayaway.org.au).
There’s half a page about it where concerns about noise and well, noise are expressed.

I was under the impression that the general movement was also concerned about environmental impact and sacred Indigenous sites, guess I was mistaken.

Action is called upon from residents in various ways.
One way is to put pressure on community groups and Stanhope for a public meeting in which he will answer community questions.
While I think this is a good idea I’d say their chances of meeting with the Comrade are surely blown with that stupid little media stunt.
Sure, I’m no expert on politics or bureacracy but anyone with an inch of common sense knows that that is a silly bloody way to achieve anything.

ok…so it may have been one member, well I hope that member is severely reprimanded!

Yeah, biodiesel my ass. Where do you want to grow the stuff and with what water?

Dude, they’re growing cotton out there of all the crazy thing. No shortage of water. Just distorted markets.

Yeah, biodiesel my ass. Where do you want to grow the stuff and with what water?

Bonfire – peak oil isn’t psuedo science. It’s a perfectly good scientific theory that has been hijacked by cranks and used to suit an agenda.

Both sides ignore evidence that disagrees with their theory, not just the doomers.

As usual, things get polarised. One side says “everything is fine, we’ll never run out and we’ll be driving our V8’s into the brave new world”, while the other side says “we’re all going to die, society will collapse, and we’ll be back in the dark ages by 2020.”

I’m sure you’ll agree that history tends to show that we usually end up somewhere in-between the two.

peak oil is pseudo science.

ive been to several of their seminars and quite frankly a lot of what they say lacks any scientific base. they also ignore other data or science which conflicts with their pronouncements.

sicen the early 70’s when peak oil began their campaign science has improved. this has led to new reserves being discovered, depleted reserves being revisited with new technology to extract oil previously not economical to extract, technolgy developed to manufacture petrol from other natural resources (mineral snds, coal, shale etc).

soem of these softheads still believe that oil is decayed dinosaurs etc.

of course in their doom scenarios they also ignore the human factor. we are curious and adaptable creatures. we can replace oil with something else. dual fuel, electric, hydrogen – whatever. i can still stuff coal into my stanley steamer.

as to drag racing – they will also adapt. top fuellers run on alcohol.

Yes we are. I misinterpreted the scope of your earlier statement. There I go, shooting my mouth off again…

I think we’re agreeing Mr_Shab. I’m just saying that there was motor racing before there were petrol engines and there’ll be motor racing afterwards.

As near as can be told, pretty much the day after the axle was invented young men were seeing who could go faster.

Johnboy – The petrol’s not running out. Just the cheap petrol. Also – bio-diesel, ethanol and hydrogen can’t replace petrol in any practical sense, I’m afraid. We’re in very serious trouble, and a lot of things are going to have to change, no two ways about it.

But regardless of this, it won’t kill the drags. I’d forgotten they used methanol.

Anyway plenty of drag racers run on methanol and I’m sure more would if the petrol price went too high.

And even once the petroleum runs out there’s be bio-diesel and ethanol, hydrogen engines, and electric engines are capable of massive power if you can get current to them.

So i think the act of racing vehicles is going to be safe from peak oil.

What was the known petroleum reserve when the chariots were wheeling around the Circus Maximus?