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We're all willing to put up with dozens of repeat articles on cold fusion based on the dream that one day, we'll all be able to extend our middle fingers at ExxonMobilShellAramcoBushCoHalliburtonChevron.

You don't have to wait for that day. You can extend your middle figure at ExxonMobilShellAramcoBushCoHalliburtonChevron right now. There are many eco-communes set up that rely on very little fossil fuels and are very much unplugged from the car culture of the USA, and these eco-communes are even in the USA. Rebelling against the oil-driven capitalistic society is very much in line with the thoughts of many eco-communes, so I think you would find friends there.

Why sit around and dream when you can do something?

http://www.dancingrabbit.org/

Wrong!

There isn't enough extra (non food producing) arable land to support biofuel production of more than a fraction of our current consumption. Studies have shown that it takes around 25% of the land producing biofuel just to fuel the tractor... not much better than draft animals, much worse when you figure that tractors don't make tractors. The embodied energy of creating and maintaining the tractor as well as processing the crop into fuel (something draft animals do on their own as well) puts this estimate at closer to 50% of the land. Check out these reports at The Sunshine Farm especially the report on Energy in Agriculture. The Land Institute / Sunshine Farm is pro-biofuel BTW, the scepticism is all mine.

One statistic states that if all the available cropland in the US was used to grow biodiesel it would only supply about half of our needs... not to mention a lack of something to eat.

Some folks are concerned enough to do something about it. I live next door to Dancing Rabbit an eco-village that recognizes the issues around peak oil. I'm not in total agreement about their choice of solutions, but they are trying.

What if you want to print your own money (i.e.i, not copies of other money)? Many organizations and artists do this, using patterns found in typical national currencies. Would anti-counterfeiting software interfere with this totally legal activity?

Hydrogen power and fuel cells for automotive power have always seemed like a solution in search of a problem.

Biodiesel is a much better solution to the automotive power issue. Biodiesel:

• Requires very little modification to existing diesel vehicles -- typically only a few hundred dollars worth
• Comes from plant matter and is therefore renewable
• Does not produce any net CO2 into the atmosphere (no more CO2 is emitted than was consumed by the vegetation used in production)
• Has a much higher energy density than a hydrogen fuel cell ever will

I just don't see any dimension along which hydrogen is better than biodiesel. The only real app for fuel cells that I can think of is as a replacement for batteries, e.g., in laptops.

But beyond that, I just wanted to encourage folks to consider long-term solutions that don't necessarily involve buying the right car. If you have to buy a car now, go for it, but maybe as a part of that process you could take some time to write a letter to your government representative encouraging investment in mass transit, bicycle infrastructure (bike lanes, etc), and more broad support for environmentally friendly transportation methods (on land, air, and sea).

The energy and resources devoted to producing cars, even eco-friendly ones, and the infrastructure that supports them is still very significant in an unsustainable sort of way, and we won't be any better off in 20 years if we're all just solo drivers of SUVs that happen to be running on biodiesel.

Also, if you're going to join a motorist club, don't join AAA, use an org like Better World. Better World provides all the same features, but unlike AAA, they don't actively oppose funding for mass transit, clean air regulations, bike paths, etc.

But beyond that, I just wanted to encourage folks to consider long-term solutions that don't necessarily involve buying the right car. If you have to buy a car now, go for it, but maybe as a part of that process you could take some time to write a letter to your government representative encouraging investment in mass transit, bicycle infrastructure (bike lanes, etc), and more broad support for environmentally friendly transportation methods (on land, air, and sea).

The energy and resources devoted to producing cars, even eco-friendly ones, and the infrastructure that supports them is still very significant in an unsustainable sort of way, and we won't be any better off in 20 years if we're all just solo drivers of SUVs that happen to be running on biodiesel.

Also, if you're going to join a motorist club, don't join AAA, use an org like Better World. Better World provides all the same features, but unlike AAA, they don't actively oppose funding for mass transit, clean air regulations, bike paths, etc.

..yes that it is then called BioDiesel

And that is *NOT* what these locomotives will be burning... please dont try and muddy the conversation.

And commercially available in the US as well. My carsharing cooperative (the DRVC) in Rutledge, MO gets ours from Griffin Industries in Covington, KY.