Terrorist Free

Most gas stations in the U.S. sell three blends of gasoline. The regular is an unleaded low octane blend, usually the cheapest of the three blends. The premium blend is a higher octane fuel required by high performance engines that use a higher compression ratio. The higher octane prevents premature combustion at the higher pressure. The third blend is a left over from the days when gas station sold an older regular leaded blend in addition to the unleaded regular required by cars with catalytic converters. This tends to be a blend with an octane rating between regular and premium, without any particular reason for being sold other than the infrastructure for selling three blends exists.

Instead of selling a middle octane blend, gas stations should offer a blend that is only refined from North American crude oil: a Terrorist-Free gasoline. They should be able to charge a higher price than regular gasoline. This blend could have a higher octane and more additives, in fact it could be the exact same formula they sell now but with the paperwork to prove that it was refined from Crude Oil pumped from the U.S., Canada, or Mexico.

Just as consumer can choose a dolphin-safe tuna or a conflict free diamond, they should be able to prefer domestically produced gasoline over gasoline that may or may not be made from imported oil.

Marketing should be simple:
Help bring the troops home; buy terrorist-free gasoline.
If you want energy independence, just pay for it.

To the oil companies, I say, “Give America a choice. Sell Terrorist Free gasoline at every gas station.”

Energy Independence Now

While I am not friend to government spending in general, I do believe it makes sense in some cases for government to make investments that provide indirect benefits to the whole population.

One such investment that makes a lot of sense is investing in technologies that would reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Many alternative energy technologies exist to produce electricity but we already have relatively cheap electricity, so Photovoltaic (PV) and Wind, while renewable don't increase our energy independence. And while hybrid and electric vehicle will help eventually, turning over our vehicle fleet will take a very long time. We need something that will move the needle of energy dependence much quicker.

We need to invest in

• CNG for commercial vehicles
  
• biofuels from algae
  
• Solar thermochemical production of gasoline.
  

Changing our trains and trucks from diesel to compressed natural gas would lessen oil imports and make better use of a resource that we have in abundance now: natural gas. Much of the 'oil' resources that are available from deep water drilling in the Gulf is actually in the form of natural gas. We need money to encourage the installation of equipment to refuel CNG vehicles, tax breaks for purchase of commercial vehicles using CNG and subsides for converting existing vehicles to CNG. Commercial vehicles are a good focus because they comprise a smaller fleet than passenger vehicles and they tend to use more oil products per vehicle.

The second technology we need to pursue is hydrocarbons from algae. Unlike ethanol from food crops, growing algae doesn't compete for valuable farm land. It is the kind of operation that can occur in urban settings as well as rural. Since a key component of growing algae is carbon dioxide, it can use the exhaust from existing thermal plants to 'feed' the algae. There are also potential to use algae as part of the sewage treatment process to clean the water and produce hydrocarbons as a byproduct.

Recent algae links:

• http://www.brighterenergy.org/16288/news/transport/solazyme-wins-150000-gallon-navy-order-for-algal-biofuel/
  
• http://www.favstocks.com/department-of-energy-announces-57m-for-small-businesses-in-phase-iii-xlerator-program-algal-biofuels-advanced-vehicle-technologies-and-fuel-cells-included/1624809/
  
• http://www.nctimes.com/business/article_243b5d24-6bac-5b84-9ddf-4ce7dd50ba66.html
  

The last technology uses solar heat to power basic chemical reactions, splitting carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen. The carbon monoxide can be mixed with steam to produce various hydrocarbons. Electricity can also be produced from the waste heat of the chemical reaction. This is the ultimate solution: Sunlight + air + water = gasoline. The capital costs upfront are large but the running costs are very low, so the fuel produced can be very cheap.

Don't focus on the salaries; invest for the benefits to the wider economy. $1/ gallon for gasoline would create a lot of jobs. The money saved by consumers can either pay down debt or begin a new cycle of consumption. Even small amounts of cheap fuel would drive down the costs of existing sources as countries attempt to monetize their resources while they still can.

We have talked about energy independence for decades and it has been within our reach but we haven't been willing to pay the price for independence. The time to act is now, when we have spare labor and capital available and the cost of borrowing is low. All of the technologies are proven now; there are no new discoveries needed, just investment and engineering stand between us and a future with less dependence on foreign oil.