Alaska's oil reserves 90% less than previously estimated

[overthebow]

Oreo celebrates what he perceives to be bad news for the US.

Pretty fucked up, no?

Shut your ass pipe, you worthless fuck.

 

[overthebow]

Yeah, but what do you get if you drill Palin?

Oil or gas?

 

[unregistered]

 

[thør]

Drill, baby, drill?

I blame the Navy. They had it last.

 

[bluntforcemama]

Who cares about oil? We should be more worried about finding alternative energy instead.

 

[Weird Harold]

Who cares about oil? We should be more worried about finding alternative energy instead.

You should. The odds are pretty good that the chair you're sitting in and the keyboard you're typing on were made from oil.

Which is reason enough to stop burning fossil hydrocarbons as fuel.

 

[pete]

we care about oil, since all the cars, trucks, planes and buses we use kinda need oil to run.

alternative energy is a good idea to think about, but there's no infrastructure in place to support it yet. so in the meantime, let's make with the black stuff, yeah?

 

[bluntforcemama]

You should. The odds are pretty good that the chair you're sitting in and the keyboard you're typing on were made from oil.

Which is reason enough to stop burning fossil hydrocarbons as fuel.

Well, I don't, Harold. So quit being a know-it-all and try a happy pill.

 

[bluntforcemama]

we care about oil, since all the cars, trucks, planes and buses we use kinda need oil to run.

alternative energy is a good idea to think about, but there's no infrastructure in place to support it yet. so in the meantime, let's make with the black stuff, yeah?

Create the infrastructure! Quit wasting your time on a porn board. I'm sure you have some talent in other areas.

 

[pete]

hey i gave the homeless guy half a bagel on my way into starbucks. flaming christ, what more do you want from me?!?

 

[KingOrfeo]

alternative energy is a good idea to think about, but there's no infrastructure in place to support it yet.

More importantly, there are no grounds for confidence that "alternative energy" can adequately substitute for petroleum as the basis for an easy-motoring economy.

 

[bluntforcemama]

hey i gave the homeless guy half a bagel on my way into starbucks. flaming christ, what more do you want from me?!?

That's not too bad. Did you give him half your latte, too? Because that would be totes prime.

 

[pete]

More importantly, there are no grounds for confidence that "alternative energy" can adequately substitute for petroleum as the basis for an easy-motoring economy.

rightly so. economic theory tells us that only when the current resource is actually on the verge of depletion will alternatives be discovered and utililzed

 

[pete]

That's not too bad. Did you give him half your latte, too? Because that would be totes prime.

actually no, he was kinda scary. so i tossed the bagel in his general direction rather than actually come near his stinkyness. i think if the homeless really want to improve their chances for charity, they'll clean up a little better

 

[KRCummings]

Olive oil is wonderful for cholesterol.

 

[Weird Harold]

we care about oil, since all the cars, trucks, planes and buses we use kinda need oil to run.

False!

Not every truck and bus need oil to run; significant numbers of both trucks and buses run on electricity or natural gas. Those that are not electric or natural gas powered just need supply of some liquid hydrocarbon Everything else, currently are fueled by fuels derived from oil, will run just fine on fuel derived from non-oil sources. Oil is just cheaper, not required

alternative energy is a good idea to think about, but there's no infrastructure in place to support it yet. so in the meantime, let's make with the black stuff, yeah?

Again, False! Well mostly false.

The two biggest in-service alternative energy applications are Electricity and Natural Gas -- both of which have substantial, expandable, infrastructure in place. The existing refined fuel distribution systems don't care what the refined fuel in them is derived from -- Soy-based bio-diesel will flow through a diesel fuel pipline just fine. Gasoline derived from micro algae has the same chemical properties as gasoline derived from light, sweet crude and will flow through a gasoline pipline just fine.

What is lacking is the production facilities for sufficient quantities of refined fuels not derived from oil -- the connections to existing piplines would be part of building up the production capacity.

 

[Weird Harold]

More importantly, there are no grounds for confidence that "alternative energy" can adequately substitute for petroleum as the basis for an easy-motoring economy.

Not substitute completely, no.

Alternative energy CAN greatly reduce the amount of liquid hydrocarbons consumed by some sectors of the transportation industry. For example, it might be possible to save as much as 30% of the fuel oil used by railroads and divert it to powering deisel SUVs through suburbia. (just a rough guess that 30% or rail traffic runs through prime real estate for wind/solar/hydro/geo power -- all that is needed to convert existing rail hardware is a catenary pickup or third rail shoe and the alternative electricity generation hardware.)

 

[KRCummings]

Paul Newman made this fantastic olive oil and vinegar dressing. One of the best I've had.

 

[KingOrfeo]

rightly so. economic theory tells us that only when the current resource is actually on the verge of depletion will alternatives be discovered and utililzed

Economic theory does not, however, tell us that there are alternatives. Nor, in this case, does physics or chemistry.

 

[trysail]

Economic theory does not, however, tell us that there are alternatives. Nor, in this case, does physics or chemistry.

Mein Gott. It sounds like you're less worried about the unproved hypothesis of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming ( "CAGW" ) than about freezing in the dark.

Take a chill pill— relax and let the price system allocate resources. Stop trying to save the world.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Mein Gott. It sounds like you're less worried about the unproved hypothesis of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming ( "CAGW" ) than about freezing in the dark.

Take a chill pill— relax and let the price system allocate resources. Stop trying to save the world.

No, what I'm worried about is the collapse of industrial civilization for lack of fuel to run it. And price-system allocation might or might not be able to forestall that. Since price-system allocation can't change the laws of physics.

If the survival of industrial civilization depended on the invention of a faster-than-light-drive, then industrial civilization would die, no matter how much money and how many brilliant minds were devoted to R&D.

 

[trysail]

No, what I'm worried about is the collapse of industrial civilization for lack of fuel to run it. And price-system allocation might or might not be able to forestall that. Since price-system allocation can't change the laws of physics.

If the survival of industrial civilization depended on the invention of a faster-than-light-drive, then industrial civilization would die, no matter how much money and how many brilliant minds were devoted to R&D.

You need a better understanding of geology, geophysics, the size of the earth, and mineral economics. "Reserves" are created by prices. There are huge quantities of hydrocarbons that do not qualify as "reserves" because they are not economic at current prices. Some of the large international energy companies disclose the extent of their "unbooked" reserves ( i.e., hydrocarbons that they know exist but will not be currently extracted because they're too expensive for any number of reasons including quality, lack of infrastructure, etc. ). For companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and LUKoil, the ratio of "unbooked reserves" to SEC-defined reserves ( or, alternatively, Society of Petroleum Engineers { "SPE"} defined reserves ) can range anywhere from 3:1 all the way to 5:1. Most Americans think of ExxonMobil as being the world's largest non-governmental owner of hydrocarbon reserves; Russia's Gazprom SEC-defined reserves are 5× those of ExxonMobil's.


I once asked a Mobil geologist ( this was before its acquisition by Exxon ) if there was any possibility of running short of natural gas ( i.e., methane ) in the forseeable future. He smiled and replied, "The reason the world's round is 'cause it's full of gas."


The amount of all the petroleum extracted from the earth each year is less than 1 cubic mile.

 

[firespin]

Economic theory does not, however, tell us that there are alternatives. Nor, in this case, does physics or chemistry.

You moron.

We're on the threshold of the lowest real natural gas prices any of us have seen in our lifetimes. Enough gas sourced domestically to meet all of our current gas demand for 100 years, so in practice, anything that burns will be converted to use gas.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124104549891270585.html

Ten years from now we'll wonder why we worried about peak oil. You could look it up.

Even now, here's how reserves are going:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/hist_chart/RNGR21NUS_1a.jpg

 

[KRCummings]

No, what I'm worried about is the collapse of industrial civilization for lack of fuel to run it. And price-system allocation might or might not be able to forestall that. Since price-system allocation can't change the laws of physics.

If the survival of industrial civilization depended on the invention of a faster-than-light-drive, then industrial civilization would die, no matter how much money and how many brilliant minds were devoted to R&D.

I don't get this. What are you talking about? What laws of physics?

 

[firespin]

I don't get this. What are you talking about? What laws of physics?

He's assuming that there is no substitute for oil, and that the world will run out soon.

But your first question is useful for almost any of his posts. I swear, for a guy who thinks he's smart, he posts more incredibly stupid stuff than anybody since Drixxx or Ishmael.