[Stoves] A bit about shale energy

[Andrew C. Parker]

I will hope that things will change for the better in Africa, but it is a  
slim hope.

The irony for "Big Oil" hating environmentalists is that changing the  
source of fuel is not going to hurt big oil in the long run.  They own the  
distribution and retail infrastructure.

Electric vehicles are simply unworkable outside of short commutes (I could  
use an inexpensive, street legal golf cart, as much of my driving is under  
5 miles round-trip, and on flat, low-speed surface roads that meet Low  
Speed Vehicle requirements) and can never replace conventional liquid  
fueled vehicles, unless some breakthrough is made in battery or capacitor  
technology that does not require rare earth elements.

To keep closer to subject, I read that if biomass is mixed with coal,  
around 20 to 30 percent, in the gasification process, it reduces CO2  
production below that produced in refining oil -- if you're keeping  
score.  Another source of gas that can put-off the inevitable by a few  
hundred years.