Greenhouse Mending

Nuclear Fission, Take 2: The Thorium–Hydrocarbon Economy  (Part 1 of several) Enrico Fermi was one of the key scientists in the Manhattan Project, the American project that developed the nuclear fission bombs used to end World War II. He led the team that built the pile and operated the first manmade self-sustaining fission reactor. Fermi famously opined that there should only be nuclear fission power reactors if the technology were forgiving enough that workers would have time to discuss any breakdowns over a cup of coffee before taking action. Thorium fission reactors (at least a few proposed designs) could be that more forgiving technology. They also have advantages in lower ore requirements, less processing required, hotter operation (hence potentially greater operating efficiency), less energetic neutrons, greater safety, considerably less waste storage mass, and considerably less waste storage time. In addition, the high temperatures possible for thorium reactors opens...

One Big Fracking Debate The on-line New Scientist included a January 11, 2012 post of Fracking Risk is Exaggerated,” http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21341-fracking-risk-is-exaggerated.html. In brief, a British geologist said that the concerns about toxic leaks and induced earthquakes were overblown. The quoted geologist said that methane deposits are deep underground and the leaks into groundwater would usually be small. Furthermore, there is already natural methane contamination of a number of existing wells. As far as earthquakes, these would be minor shakes comparable to those caused by subterranean coal mining. That led Townhall.com columnist John Ransom to opine, “Scientists Discover Gassy Liberal Pseudo-Science,” at http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnransom/2012/01/21/scientists_discover_gassy_liberal_pseudoscience. Ransom went on to comment on errors in Al Gore’s, An Inconvenient Truth and in Gasland by Josh Fox. Ransom continues by suggesting that such po...

An Elephant in the North Sea Lundin Petroleum put out a press release on November 28, 2011:      http://www.lundin-petroleum.com/Press/pr_norway_28-11-11_e.html The Oil Drum picked up the story on December 28, 2011 under the title “A Monster from the Deep”:      http://www.theoildrum.com/node/8746 The story is about the largest oil deposit ever discovered in the North Sea. It is apparently one of those “elephant fields” that need to be discovered to hold off peak oil. Granted, several more would be required to hold it off. Still, it was expected that the North Sea was a declining oil province. If the North Sea can be resuscitated, what’s next … the North Dakota oil cartel?

Alternate Energy Investments up, But May Go Way Down “Renewable Power Trumps Fossils for First Time as UN Talks Stall” headlined a Bloomberg.com article of November 24. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-25/fossil-fuels-beaten-by-renewables-for-first-time-as-climate-talks-founder.html (Alex Morales) The good news for greens was that last year [presumably calendar year 2010] green energies of wind, sun, waves, and biomass received $187 billion in vestments while conventional energy sources of natural gas, oil, and coal only received $157 billion. The bad news for greens is that green-energy investments may decline severely in 2012. The article noted two interlocking issues, economic crisis and stalled climate negotiations. One good economic crisis was that billions of dollars of green-energy subsidies drove prices down; good for consumers but tough on fledgling companies. However, economic problems in many countries may drastically lower energy investments in the next several ...

Propane Fracking—Another Possible Step Toward Energy Revolution Hydrofracturing, fracking, is a revolutionary technique that is extracting increasing amounts of natural gas that was previously not obtainable from shales. two problems have been that the technique required large amounts of water to do the fracturing, and much of the water comes back highly salty and polluted in other ways. What if hydrofracturing could be done without … the hydro? One technique, still only used a few times in Canada, replaces water with propane refrigerated to liquid. As contract with the rock in the well warms the gelled propane, it expands back to a gas and generates the pressure to cause the needed fracturing. The propane is more expensive than water, but it has two major advantages. First, the tonnage of propane required is significantly less than water, so the infrastructure footprint of supply trucks is much less. Second, and more important, there is no stream of contaminated brine to deal...

The New York Times Predicts American Wildcatter Redux “The New York Times (Finally) Discovers the Shale Age.” That was the headline in the EnerGeoPolotics website. http://energeopolitics.com/2011/09/22/new-york-times-finally-discovers-the-shale-age/ Indeed, the article linked to a Times article entitled, “New Fields May Propel Americas to the Top of Oil Companies Lists.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/world/americas/recent-discoveries-put-americas-back-in-oil-companies-sights.html?_r=2 Simon Romero’s September 18, 2011, article (print version Sept. 20) was optimistic about increased oil and gas available to both North and South American Countries. The article suggested that the Americas may return to the role of energy exporter, which was the state of things until the 1960s. What is more amazing about the article is that it comes from The New York Times, the premier bastion of politically correct peak oil, diminishing expectations, and alternative energy, while at the same ...

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch … Especially If It’s Running the Car The New York Times echoed a murmuring discontent about biofuels: diverting too many crops from food to fuel increases hunger Elizabeth Renthal’s April 6 article, “Rush to Use Crops as Fuel Raises Food Prices and Hunger Fears,” starts with cassava chips being exported to China for fuel. T Then, it zooms out to the bigger picture of not just cassava, but corn, sugar cane, and palm oil all going in larger measure to biofuel production. The exact correlation to prices is vague, but biofuel production has significantly raised food prices around the world. The index of food prices has never been higher, and there is a strong correlation with riots and overthrows of governments. Practical suggestions have been that biofuel targets be made flexible so that production would be decreased in response to spikes in food prices. In fact, China made such a response. Biofuel from corn caused such an alarming rise in the food p...