Ironically, I think China will be the first to build superloop! That will be the more powerful kick at US than Musk did.

Rumor has it that once they’ve voted to repeal another 30, 40 times they’ll be ready to start working on less important issues like job creation, infrastructure improvements, education, all that minor stuff that concerns only people who aren’t rich like them.

That said, percentage depletion and any credits need to go.

Big Oil just celebrated 100 years this March of being massively babied by our so-called free market thanks to bought and paid for government of, by and for oil.

According to IRFA, the list of current oil specific tax subsidies includes the following:

Expensing of Intangible Drilling Costs

Percentage Depletion Allowance

Deduction for Tertiary Injectants

Geological and Geophysical Expenditures

Exception for passive loss limitations for oil and gas

Enhanced oil recovery credit

Marginal oil well credit

Consider that the next time you try to estimate actual energy costs.

No, you got it wrong.

From least use of energy to most use:

1)Evacuation tube AWSOME

2) High Speed rail powered by Renewable Energy generated electricity NOT AS EFFICIENT and HIGHER MAINTENANCE COSTS

3)High Speed rail powered by coal generated electricity SAME AS “2)” above but with environmental damage costs not justifying the investment UNLESS fossil fuel electricity source was going to be phased out with 5 years or less.

Not to shatter the dreamers, I think it would be really cool and should be pursued, but anyone saying this would happen anytime soon is lying.

You may want to do an NPV calculation on the capital spend vs the expected fuel consumption on this venture and then reconsider how important the fuel component is, regardless of source.

Everything. As long as electricity is the source of power for a train, as it is in the high speed rail type train, and any portion of said electricity comes from fossil fuels, it’s a bad deal. High speed rail will compete with other forms of mass transportation like the evacuated tube. Depending on the distance, one may be superior to another but over all, the evacuated tube is more efficient because it does not need a large electric motor, numerous tranformers and a power cable network to move it and the people in the evacuated tube. Like an elevator with counterweights only uses energy to move the weight differential the people on board represent, so it is with the evacuated tube capsule.

At this time, high speed rail needs electricity from coal power plants. That is not only stupid and dangerous to the environment, it’s inefficient as well. The energy to move the people should be limited to the capsule and the mass the people represent, not a large electric engine and all the multiple transformer and line costly infrastructure.

THIS is what it takes to set up a high speed rail network. Do the math.

http://www04.abb.com/global/seitp/seitp202.nsf/0/038fce86fdc0a3bcc12578730053b5a3/$file/high-speed+rail+art.pdf

“I have to admit that I favorite Roy O song though is Only the Lonely.”

What is it with you people who love to abbreviate things so as to sound campy or hip? It’s Roy Orbison and yeah, I’m glad you like that song because it has a lot to do with the future of fossil fuels (thanks for the good gag line).

[img]http://www.pic4ever.com/images/looksmiley.gif[/img]

Feel free to make your case as to why high speed rail is the best solution for transportation, especially in a country like ours where the population centers are spread apart, sprawling and difficult to obtain right of way through.

I have to admit that I favorite Roy O song though is Only the Lonely

The principle can be demonstrated in bicycle tire pressure versus the large inflatable structure. The tiny volume of the bicycle tire requires around 60 psi to keep the bicycle supported. An inflatable life saving device used to pull trapped people out from under cars or trucks used about 20 psi to lift much more weight. A large passenger capsule in a tunnel of 100 to several thousand km long would only need about 10 psi (atmospheric pressure at sea level is 14.5 psi) to get the capsule moving. The greater the differential, the greater the speed but you certainly do not need a vacuum to achieve air friction free high velocities. It is quite doable.

This aspect of air pressure behavior has aided in the design of inflatable wings for a human powered aircraft which remain rigid with a tiny fraction of pressure about atmospheric. We simply need to apply it. It is definitely not science fiction. You might say the bank deposit evacuated tube is a proof of concept for a much larger mechanism. This technology is already several decades old. Just research it. :icon_study:

You may be too young to remember, but there was this excellent rock and roll singer called Roy Orbison a long time ago. One of his songs, with a slight twist at the end, applies to the quixotic hope you fossil fuelers have of maintaining alive the public’s love affair with fossil fuels.

Just run-ning scared,

afraid to lose,

so afraid,

that you might choose…

The new version of the song ends like this:

You turned around, and walked away, From meee! lol!

Sell your fossil fuel stocks or be poor. And try to substantiate your claims for a change.

Have a nice day.

Typical phases of resistance to renewable energy, as described by Dr. Herman Scheer are as follows:

Phase 1 – Belittle & Deny the Renewable Energy Option

Phase 2 – Denounce & Mobilize Against the Renewable Energy Option

Phase 3 – Spread Doubt & Misrepresent the Challenges in the Disguise of General Support

(Note: reaching Phase 3 doesn’t mean that Phase 1 & 2 will disappear.)

Maybe some of this resistance can be won over by partnering with union workers like iron workers and electrical workers that will be gaining thousands and thousands of good paying jobs that can’t be outsourced. Certainly Civil, Mechanical and Electrical engineers will jump on board such a project. And then the environmental groups will most likely see the value. And then there will be the construction companies like Bechtel and Fluor Daniels and others who see multi-billion dollar projects up for bid around the country. And of course lets not forget some investors who just want to make a few million on a project. And lets not forget all of the vehicles/pods or whatever they end up being called that run inside these tubes. Is it possible that Boeing or Lockheed might want to build a few thousand of these?

Maybe – and this is where you really hit the nail on the head; this might be the defining battle of our lifetime if you happen to believe in a low or no carbon lifestyle. But looking on the bright side, some entirely new infrastructures will be needed, for example; new transportation systems or vehicles to make the last 5-100 miles to your destination possible. This just might be the thing that jump starts battery powered vehicle sales.

Your posting has real merit and I gave it a big like.