Fuel by Josh Tickell
Fuel by Josh Tickell is his story about fuel. How it has effected him, those around him, and the world, and what he is doing about. it.
There are numerous interviews with many people including celebrity activists such as Richard Branson, Wood Harrelson, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Larry Davis, Neil Young, and Robert Kennedy Jr.
Josh Tickell spent his childhood in Australia but went back to his mothers home state of Louisiana and was disturbed by what he saw. The people of Louisiana get alot of there food from the water and these waters had been contaminated from the oil industry. Louisiana creates more oil than any other state and the toxic waste from the oil industry is burned, dumped on land, or dumped in the water. This has led to a abnormally high death rate, miscarriages, and birth defects, and sickness.
After some investigation Josh Tickell finds that the Environmental Protection Agency, that is suppose to protect the environment in Louisiana, gets 90% of its funding from issuing permits to oil companies.
Throughout the movie the political ties to the big oil companies, and the corruption is revealed further.
Josh, believing that individuals are the ones that can make a difference goes on tour in his Veggie Van that runs on used cooking oil that he collects from fast food restaurants.
Josh keeps exploring the fuel industry, and alternative energy methods. The film takes him over 10 years to create, but it is well worth the wait. The message is that it is up to each and everyone of us to create change. We are killing our planet, and we must be accountable and stand up and tell our government what we want.
Fuel takes a look back in time to the days of Henry Ford. The Model T was designed to run on ethanol alchohol. Ethanol is made from corn and is essentially “Moonshine”. The ethanol fuel formula is Corn + Distillation + Fermentation = Ethanol.
Back in Fords time alcohol fuel had captured 25% of the fuel market in the midwest. Standard Oil, founded by John D, Rockefeller started funding and amendment known as prohibition. The prohibition law shut down all alcohol production including ethanol. For 12-13 years of prohibition Henry Ford continued to produce ethanol cars but finally gave it up.
Now days oil IS running out. It may not seem that way but we are using more oil all of the time, and oil is getting harder to find. We are going to more obscure places to find oil, drilling deeper for it, and spending more money to refine the lower quality oil that we now extract. We have to start using alternative sources of energy if we expect to leave a healthy planet for our children.
Many countries are using alternative energy sources. In Germany the use of Biodiesel is encouraged by tax brakes that make it cheaper than gasoline. Sweden is taking steps to be oil free by the year 2020. All over europe smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles are used.
It seems the United States is the one of the worst threats to the environment. The U.S. actually encouraged the sale of gas guzzling vehicles like the original hummer by offer tax brakes on these big vehicles. Sound crazy but why would they do that? The reasoning was to stimulate the economy by having us buy more fuel. It is time that we stop putting money ahead of health; Our health and the health of our planet. The thing is, it is economically viable to use alternative fuels. It is just a matter of priorities. If Sweden can do it than so can North America.
So what is the solution to our dependancy on oil? There are many alternatives, and we should use a combination of them to free ourselves from oil.
Instead of oil we can use Biodiesel or Electricity to power our vehicles. There are other alternatives such as hydrogen too.
So whats the deal with biodiesel? Some people say that it is no better than oil, that processing it is just as harmful, and that people will starve because we are using a food source for fuel.
I can tell you this: Biodiesel is nontoxic. It actually smells good. It creates less emissions than oil based fuel. It takes more enery to make gasoline than gas provides.
Biodiesel can be created with waste products. The best source of biodiesel is algae, and it can grow in waste water which means that any city that has a waste water treatment plant could essentially produce biodiesel.
What about electricity to fuel vehicles? We have the technology and it is totally viable. Using solar cells we can charge an electric vehicle. The sun is a huge source of free energy that we should be taking more advantage of. I highly recommend watching the movie “Who Killed The Electric Car”. That movie will open your eyes. “Fuel” is an excellent film that everyone should watch. It is educational and you will look at the world in a different way. Show it to your children, and tell your friends. Together, each of us, and all of us can make a difference if we truly want to. We have everything we need to live in a clean, healthy, peaceful world where everyone has more than they need. We can do it.
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