Some thoughts on Peak Oil
Whether Peragro was a real time traveler or not, he did raise our, or at least my, awareness of the peak oil situation.
According to the latest issue of Popular Science, there is still debate within the scientific community about when peak oil will occur.
The most pessimistic outlook is from the Association for the Study of Peak Oil, a group of European scientists who believe peak oil production will occur in 2008. Their predictions are based upon current oil extraction technologies and the increasing demand from developing economies such as China.
Others, such as Leonardo Maugeri of the Italian energy company, Eni, and John Felmy of the American Petroleum Institute argue that ?peak oil production estimates are so far off that for all practical purposes we might as well act as if oil will flow forever.? (popsci Aug 2004) Their arguments are based on emerging technologies in oil extraction, such as new seismic survey techniques to find possible oil hotspots, as well as flexible coil drilling equipment to extract more of the oil from existing wells. It is interesting to note that today we can only extract about 35% of the oil from existing wells. These new techniques should allow extraction of about 50 to 60%.
Which argument is correct? I wish I knew. I have very little trust in the large oil companies and the Dubyament to tell us the truth. It would not surprise me at all to learn that peak oil is a fiction aimed at scaring investors on Wall Street into driving up the price of crude oil and passing that cost of that fear onto us, the consumers.
Even if the arguments from Eni and the API are correct, I feel that work should be done on finding new and alternative, renewable energy sources. One thing I?ve run across that I?ve found very impressive is solar energy. There is a company based in the UK that sells solar panels. Not the old, ugly solar panels from the 70?s. These are roof mounted and designed to look like slate with a bluish tint. They are also supposed to be easy enough to install that the average roofing contractor can install and wire them, and can provide about half of the average household energy requirements. (You can find company info at http://www.solarcentury.com ) Right now, though, the cost is prohibitive, at least for me. To provide half of the energy needs for a 1,400 square foot home the cost is about $14,000.
Another technology that I suppose could be combined with solar is wind. I saw somewhere, and I?ll have to try to find it again, a vertical wind powered generator. I think this would be better than the conventional, propeller type generators for a couple of reasons. For one, they would be easier on wildlife, fewer incidents of sliced bird, for another they are much more pleasing to the eye. If I can find the article I read, I believe it was stated that they are even more efficient.
Now, for all of you educated big brains out there, start thinking of alternative forms of energy. Try to think of the world around us, what is already there, and how we can use it to our advantage. The simpler the better. One thing that has always fascinated me, and I think could be used as energy is magnetism. Its already there, is there a way to harness magnetic energy? I don?t know, what do you all think?
EDIT: Had to fix the link
Whether Peragro was a real time traveler or not, he did raise our, or at least my, awareness of the peak oil situation.
According to the latest issue of Popular Science, there is still debate within the scientific community about when peak oil will occur.
The most pessimistic outlook is from the Association for the Study of Peak Oil, a group of European scientists who believe peak oil production will occur in 2008. Their predictions are based upon current oil extraction technologies and the increasing demand from developing economies such as China.
Others, such as Leonardo Maugeri of the Italian energy company, Eni, and John Felmy of the American Petroleum Institute argue that ?peak oil production estimates are so far off that for all practical purposes we might as well act as if oil will flow forever.? (popsci Aug 2004) Their arguments are based on emerging technologies in oil extraction, such as new seismic survey techniques to find possible oil hotspots, as well as flexible coil drilling equipment to extract more of the oil from existing wells. It is interesting to note that today we can only extract about 35% of the oil from existing wells. These new techniques should allow extraction of about 50 to 60%.
Which argument is correct? I wish I knew. I have very little trust in the large oil companies and the Dubyament to tell us the truth. It would not surprise me at all to learn that peak oil is a fiction aimed at scaring investors on Wall Street into driving up the price of crude oil and passing that cost of that fear onto us, the consumers.
Even if the arguments from Eni and the API are correct, I feel that work should be done on finding new and alternative, renewable energy sources. One thing I?ve run across that I?ve found very impressive is solar energy. There is a company based in the UK that sells solar panels. Not the old, ugly solar panels from the 70?s. These are roof mounted and designed to look like slate with a bluish tint. They are also supposed to be easy enough to install that the average roofing contractor can install and wire them, and can provide about half of the average household energy requirements. (You can find company info at http://www.solarcentury.com ) Right now, though, the cost is prohibitive, at least for me. To provide half of the energy needs for a 1,400 square foot home the cost is about $14,000.
Another technology that I suppose could be combined with solar is wind. I saw somewhere, and I?ll have to try to find it again, a vertical wind powered generator. I think this would be better than the conventional, propeller type generators for a couple of reasons. For one, they would be easier on wildlife, fewer incidents of sliced bird, for another they are much more pleasing to the eye. If I can find the article I read, I believe it was stated that they are even more efficient.
Now, for all of you educated big brains out there, start thinking of alternative forms of energy. Try to think of the world around us, what is already there, and how we can use it to our advantage. The simpler the better. One thing that has always fascinated me, and I think could be used as energy is magnetism. Its already there, is there a way to harness magnetic energy? I don?t know, what do you all think?
EDIT: Had to fix the link