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Brian: Well stated.
I am, err, involved in the oil patch. That being said, I do understand very well that petroleum is a finite resource. The costs of bringing the product to market are increasing, the cheap, easy stuff is gone. I don't even want to get in to the subject of overstated reserves! I would agree strongly with your take on China and the potential for conflict.
I have a little Smart car for running around the city. Admittedly I bought it simply because I enjoy efficient machinery as much as anything else. Much of the time I travel using a small aircraft that burns less than 10GPH just on the shy side of 200 knots. Yes, I do have a couple of toys that can **** fuel at prodigious rates but they don't see that much activity. :-(
Looking forward, security and availability of supply are major issues, no matter on a national basis or bunkering a yacht in many areas of the world. Mr. Abramovich may feel secure enough in ongoing access to his fuel requirements to start another project that won't hit the water for 3 or 4 years but I'm not in his league.
There are renewables being developed that should be transparent replacements for diesel. Methyl Esters as one example currently being used by the US military in some applications.
Getting a hard answer from the marine powerplant manufacturers on compatability has been frustrating to say the least.
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