A few thoughts on progressive Energy Policy.

Sometimes I write some rather good posts on Warseer.com about all sorts of issues. I post them up here - it keeps my blog active as well as giving me an archive of thoughts.

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Let me put it this way. There is no good or real reason WHY we couldn't all be driving a hydrogen car (say) in the year 2020. The practical and economic reasons are placed upon us by burocracy, capitalism and economists. If you are including "limits of possibility", then we're doomed.

Example? Wilhelmian Germany. The real power behind the throne was the various cartels, leagues and alliances of the German upper classes (The ultimate Capitalist arrangement - faceless corporations in the shadows with a King puppet). They withstood pretty much everything that the world could throw at them. Including the First World War. The thing that did them in was the final defeat of Germany in 1945.

Last time I checked, we're doomed if World War Three broke out, so let's scratch off that theory of how to begin truly progessing from Oil.

The buisness practices of America, Russia, China and India are all based around the effective control of world Oil supplies. Many nations entire economies are based off of Oil - Saudi Arabia is a good example. So world-wide beurocratic change is effectively impossible (pragmatically, there is no way that these 4 countries can agree on Oil, similar to Austria and Russia on the Balkans. We must remember that the "United Nations" is really a myth - there has never been a time in history when mankind's nations have been truly united).

So without Beurocratic change, what alternative is there?

The eventual "running out" of Oil. Which will be utterly cataclysmic for all Oil based nations. No Oil = No Oil Economy. No Oil Economy = No Economy. No Economy = No Government.

Now, to me that looks like for most countries, things look pretty bleak.

Of course, this is where us Europeans come in. Unlike the UN, we actually have a legislative body - the EU. And therefore is is a hell of a lot easier to avoid beurocracy, cartels and all the rest.

Now, for the basis of a viable discussion about energy and that sort of thing, we must assume that we are only dealing with the EU. This way we can avoid the fatal error of trying to fit Capitalist and Progessive countries under one banner.

Now, is hydrogen power possible on a European scale? Let us check:

1) Plenty of Water - Check.
2) Money - Check.
3) Time - Check
4) Willingness to change - Check

As such, I'd guessimate that we could be seeing the first viable hydrogen powered cars (assuming that they sort out a way of having canisters that don't go boom) by about 2020, with hydrogen fuel pumps.

- Huw

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Sadly there is nothing much to talk about in the world of Politics today - that tends to happen on bank holidays!

First up is the fact that Collective Responsibility appears to be hindering any real progress on the Gordon Brown problem - all the cabinet ministers now are obliged to pop in and say that Gordon Brown is good. You have to feel sorry for MPs like Alistair Darling and David Milliband. Both are overshadowed by former members (Gordon Brown and Tony Blair respectively) having made life stupidly difficult. I strongly suspect that we will be seeing a reshuffle before 2009. And I strongly suspect that both of these perfectly able politicians are going to be chucked on their behinds thanks to not being able to stop the tides.

It is curious that Milliband keeps being bandied round as a possible replacement for Brown - maybe we're seeing a glimpse into the machinations of the Commons? I hope so. Labour may as well kiss their chances goodbye as long as Brown is leading the election campaign come 2010.

- Huw