Fuel

Practical and inspirational, Fuel faces the facts of the energy crisis and provides workable alternatives to oil.

Diesel
Among the many fascinating insights from this well-made film are that award winning engineer Rudolph Diesel designed his diesel engines to use biofuel, not oil. Shortly after winning the Grand Prix in Paris 1900, Rudolph Diesel disappeared from a ship at sea.

Ford
Mass motor vehicle producer, Henry Ford, never intended his cars to operate on oil. They used an alcohol biofuel. John D. Rockefeller, who owned Standard Oil (which is today Exxon and Mobil), supported the prohibition against alcohol which caused a major crisis for Ford motor vehicles. After ten year of struggling to survive economically, Henry Ford was forced to switch to petrol engines. The next year the prohibition on alcohol was repealed.

Missions
From a Missionary perspective I am convinced that one of the practical mega moves needed in order to defeat radical Islam and fulfil the Great Commission, especially in the Muslim Middle East, is to move Western civilisation away from its dependence on oil.

Oil Funds Islam
One third of all money for oil in the Middle East goes to purchasing weapons of war. Effectively the Western world, including the Christian world, is funding the greatest persecutors of the Church and the most severe threat to civilisation by its continuing dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

"How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and the birds have perished." Jeremiah 12:4

Stewardship of Creation
The Cultural Mandate requires Christians to care for God's Creation. It is unacceptable to continue to be so over-dependent on oil. As Fuel clearly shows there are many viable, ecologically friendly and cost-effective alternatives available. Clean, renewable energy is accessible. We need to cultivate and care for the environment by recycling, reusing and renewing our natural resources.

Biofuel
The producer of Fuel, Josh Tickell, has for 11 years driven his diesel vehicles on used cooking oil and other biofuel. He points out that, without any changes necessary, all diesel engines can operate on biofuel.

Green Energy Solutions
In fact, Sweden already has the goal of moving to a completely oil free society by 2020. Germany established over 19,000 biofuel pumps. Because biofuel is not taxed in Germany, it is obviously more cost effective and therefore widely popular. Solar power, electric cars, biodiesel from algae and waste water, wind turbines, solar panels and plug-in hybrids are just some of the alternatives to oil presented in this fascinating film.

Practical Solutions
Other practical proposals for a more environmentally friendly society would include safe and efficient public transportation and separate bicycle friendly paths, such as in Holland. Much can be done to improve energy efficiency, to recycle and to use alternative fuel. Christian compassion and strategic thinking in terms of fulfilling the Great Commission, along with our stewardship of nature and concern to protect the environment, should make every Christian enthusiastic supporters of alternatives to oil. Other interesting innovative suggestions are tidal-power, hydro-electrical power, vertical farms, and greening the cities by having trees and plants on rooftops of high rises.

Reservations
While I wouldn't agree with everything said in this film, over 90% of it is excellent and good common sense. Amongst the inaccurate comments I noticed was one man stating that placing a man on the moon was proof of “American genius”. Well, actually it was German genius from Peenamünde. Dr. Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from Peenamünde, were the ones who invented and developed jet engines, rockets and the entire Apollo space programme.

Outdated Technology
Considering that German scientists were sending the first rockets beyond the earths atmosphere in the early 1940s, it is simply unacceptable that we are still stuck with John D. Rockefeller's and the Arab sheikh's oil, more than a century later. Rudolph Diesel, over 112 years ago, had a ecologically friendly biofuel for his diesel engines. Henry Ford wanted his Model-Ts to be run on ethanol/alcohol. Surely we can all do much better than continuing to subsidise radical Islam, fund terrorism, and pollute the planet?

Further Information
More information is available from Green Truth and on www.greentruth.co.za. You can watch the trailer here. Help promote the film by clicking here. More information is available from info@greentruth.co.za.

Dr. Peter Hammond

Frontline Fellowship
P O Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
E-mail: mission@frontline.org.za
Website: ​www.frontlinemissionsa.org