Drumbeat: April 15, 2011
Posted by Leanan on April 15, 2011 - 10:22am
Small-scale farmers increasingly at risk from 'global land grabbing'
New research on the global rush for agricultural land shows small-scale farmers increasingly at risk as land deals ignore local tenure rights.Fresh evidence from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the former Soviet Union was presented last week at an international conference on "global land grabbing" convened by the Land Deal Politics Initiative and hosted by the Future Agricultures Consortium at the University of Sussex, where researchers revealed documentation of land deals amounting to over 80m hectares – almost twice what was previously estimated.
Review of IMF analysis, "Oil Scarcity, Growth, and Global Imbalances"
The International Monetary Fund recently released its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), April 2011. Chapter 3 of this document is titled, "Oil Scarcity, Growth, and Global Imbalances" (36 pgs).As far as this author is aware, the IMF has not done any previous work on peak oil, and the new Outlook seems to be the first acknowledgment by the IMF that the peaking of global oil production is a situation which could be both imminent and serious.
Nepal is burning all its export earnings on petroleum from India.
Chile focuses on non-hydro resources to avert energy crisis
According to a report by the Agence France Presse (AFP), Chile could face electricity rationing because of this year’s low rainfall. In an effort to avoid this, the South American nation is busy exploring alternative energy sources.
A New Pickens Plan: Good for The U.S. or Just for T. Boone?
Three years after unveiling his plan for U.S. energy independence, which won praise from environmentalists for its reliance on wind power, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens is back with a proposal to convert the U.S. trucking fleet to natural gas. But as his new plan gains traction, questions arise over how green it really is.
Nations Going Global on Drilling Standards
Drilling regulators from a dozen countries on Thursday agreed to form a working group that could eventually develop global offshore drilling standards.Interior Secretary Ken Salazar suggested the idea at the end of a daylong summit on offshore drilling safety that focused on learning lessons from last year's Deepwater Horizon disaster, including a need for better ways to rein in runaway underwater wells.
'Fracking' Deemed Eco-Safe at Hearing
Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud told key U.S. senators that his agency's record on protecting water from pollution makes it clear that states, not the federal government, should regulate hydraulic fracturing.
Africa poised to become energy powerhouse
Africa could hold the key to solving the world’s looming energy crisis but unlocking the continent’s vast potential will not be easy.As supplies of oil and gas from traditional sources diminish, international energy companies are pushing into increasingly volatile and environmentally-sensitive territory in their scramble to meet demand.
Japan's crisis is a wake-up call for region
The Fukushima nuclear disaster could force Arab countries to reconsider their strategies to balance energy use, as was the case in America and Europe.
Japan energy crisis may force Sony to halt work
Sony Corporation is contemplating temporarily shutting down its Japan premises and is considering changing its staff's working hours, to comply with energy-saving targets set by the Japanese government following the tsunami last month.
MSCI report paints grim picture for nuclear industry
The nuclear industry's future looks challenging after the Fukushima Daichii plant disaster in March, which saw its operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) lose 36% of its share price in the first 10 days of the crisis, according to MSCI ESG Research.The report 'Implications of the Japanese Nuclear Disaster: An ESG Research Perspective', by Douglas Cogan and Jerome Le Page, says a much-anticipated nuclear renaissance could be curtailed as the world absorbs the lessons from the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.
Kurt Cobb - The Road to Fukushima: The Nuclear Industry's Wrong Turn
Nuclear researchers knew long ago that reactor designs now in wide use had already been bested in safety by another design. Why did the industry turn its back on that design?
Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors
WATERFORD, Conn. — Who's afraid of nuclear power? Not the American people, judging by where they choose to live.A new map of data from the 2010 U.S. Census shows that the number of people living within the 10-mile emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants rose by 17 percent in the past decade, compared with an overall increase of less than 10 percent in the U.S. population.
Michael Klare: The planet strikes back
It's not enough to think of Eaarth as an impotent casualty of humanity's predations. It is also a complex organic system with many potent defenses against alien intervention -- defenses it is already wielding to devastating effect when it comes to human societies. And keep this in mind: we are only at the beginning of this process.To grasp our present situation, however, it's necessary to distinguish between naturally recurring planetary disturbances and the planetary responses to human intervention. Both need a fresh look, so let's start with what Earth has always been capable of before we turn to the responses of Eaarth, the avenger.
For the lack of a few billion dollars, a BP renaissance falls apart
Why at this point does it look like Bob Dudley's 11th-hour effort to resurrect BP's global image has failed? Because he and his Russian oligarch partners could not bridge more or less a $10 billion difference in their respective valuations of their joint Russian oil company, according to people in the deal: BP offered $27 billion to buy out their Russian partners, who wanted about $35 billion.
San Bruno blast: PG&E repair job turned frantic
The events leading up to last year's deadly natural-gas explosion in San Bruno may have been set in motion when a repair crew "jostled" an electrical wire at Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s Milpitas terminal, causing a power breakdown and a pressure surge on the utility's Peninsula pipelines, crew members told federal and state investigators.
China calls on enriching Sino-Angolan partnership
BEIJING - Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met here on Friday with Manuel Domingos Vicente, President and Chief Executive Officer of Angola's state-owned oil company Sonangol, calling on the two sides to work together to further enrich the Sino-Angolan strategic partnership.
John Michael Greer - Alternatives to nihilism, part 1: a dog named Boo
It’s easy to make fun of the excesses and eccentricities of the era: the air of well-scrubbed, fresh-faced innocence, say, that was so assiduously cultivated by the exact equivalents of those who now cultivate an equally artificial aura of sullen despair. Still, the 15% drop in America’s petroleum consumption that took place between 1975 and 1985, coupled with equally sharp declines in other forms of energy use, might suggest that the John Denver fans of that time, with their granny glasses and dogs sporting brightly colored bandannas in place of collars, had something going for them that today’s supposedly more sophisticated culture has not been able to match so far. The shift from the one to the other set of cultural themes may have more to do with that difference in outcomes than is often recognized, and that possibility is one that needs to be explored.
Richard Heinberg: Specialization and globalization: Genies at our command
Most of the specialization that has occurred since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution depended upon the availability of cheap energy. With cheap energy, it makes sense to replace human muscle-powered labor with the “labor” of fuel-fed machines, and it is possible to invent an enormous number of different kinds of machines to do different tasks. Tending and operating those machines requires specialized skills, so more mechanization tends to lead to more specialization.But take away cheap energy and it becomes more cost-effective to do a growing number of tasks locally and with muscle power once again. As energy gets increasingly expensive, a countertrend is therefore likely to emerge: generalization. Like our ancestors of a century ago or more, most of us will need the kinds of knowledge and skill that can be adapted to a wide range of practical tasks.
Food price hikes could push millions to poverty
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- As global food prices rise near record highs, the World Bank warned Thursday that further spikes could push millions more people deeper into poverty.The organization that loans money to developing nations said its global food price index was up 36% in March from levels a year earlier. The increase was driven by sharp boosts in prices for corn, wheat, soybeans and other staples.
Vegetable bandits strike as food prices soar
The high price of produce, especially for tomatoes after the deep winter freezes, has attracted more than heightened attention from consumers. A ring of sophisticated vegetable bandits was watching, too.Late last month, a gang of thieves stole six tractor-trailer loads of tomatoes and a truck full of cucumbers from Florida growers. They also stole a truckload of frozen meat. The total value of the illegal haul: about $300,000.
Gas spike feeds inflation pain
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- High gas prices caused inflation to rise at the fastest pace in more than a year in March.The Consumer Price Index, the government's key inflation measure, rose 2.7% in March over year-earlier levels, according to Friday's report from the Labor Department. It was the biggest 12-month jump since December of 2009.
Gasoline averaging $4 a gallon in 5 states
NEW YORK — The average price of gasoline is now above $4 per gallon in five states, and it could rise to that level in New York and Washington, D.C., this weekend.The $4 mark is a tough reminder for American drivers. The last time they saw prices that high was in the summer of 2008, just before the economy went into a tailspin. Retail surveys show that motorists are already starting to buy less fuel, yet the government still expects pump prices to keep climbing this summer.
'Freedom!': Thousands rally, demand further reform in Syria
BEIRUT — Thousands of people chanting "Freedom!" held protests in several Syrian cities Friday, demanding far greater reforms than the limited concessions offered by President Bashar Assad over the past four weeks, witnesses said.
Shell resumes operation in a Nigerian oilfield
Royal Dutch Shell Plc.'s Nigerian subsidiary says it has resumed operation in a 200,000 barrel-per-day oil field in Africa's top oil producer.Shell's Nigeria-based spokesman told The Associated Press Thursday that it would "ramp up production over the coming weeks" in its Bonga deep-water oil field.
France to ditch NATO, embrace Russia if National Front comes to power
The ultra-right National Front will pull France out of NATO and forge a privileged partnership with Russia if it wins next year's presidential election, its leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday."I believe that France's interests are in Europe, but in Great Europe, especially including its partnership with Russia," she said during a party congress.
TNK-BP Russian partners seek offer from BP on Rosneft deal
MOSCOW (AFP) – BP's Russian partners in TNK-BP said Friday that they were awaiting proposals from BP over its stalled Rosneft deal and denied plans to exit the oil giant's local joint venture.
Ukraine state gas company head charged over Gazprom deal
The head of Ukraine's state-owned gas company, Naftogaz, has been charged with abuse of office over the 2009 contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom, prosecutors say.
Australia’s Gas May Be Targets for Chinese Buyers, Wood Mackenzie Says
China’s national oil companies are likely to target Australian natural gas assets in 2011 through purchases of stakes in projects, according to Wood Mackenzie.
Rand Paul Crusades Against Energy Efficiency Standards
"I think that to be consistent with a free society, we should make them voluntary," Paul said of the standards, before launching the committee into a discussion of Ayn Rand's 1937 novel "Anthem" about individual choice.Paul described a scene from the novel in which the protagonist discovers the incandescent light bulb and "he naively thinks that electricity and the brilliance of light would be an advantage for society." But when the protagonist takes the light bulb to the society's elders, they crush it "beneath the bootheel of the collective," Paul said.
Duke plans world's biggest battery
Duke Energy Renewables plans to spend $44 million to install a 36-megawatt battery system at its Notrees Wind Project in Texas.It will be the world’s largest power storage system for a wind farm once it is installed late next year, says Duke Renewables spokesman Greg Efthimiou. It’s also the one of the largest used for any kind of power storage.
High Costs Linked to Gaps Around Air-Conditioners
After embracing environmentally friendly construction, Martin Dunn, a developer of affordable housing in the city, made a frustrating discovery: the energy that he hoped to save with improved insulation and efficient boilers was being siphoned off through gaps around the air-conditioners in apartment windows.The warm air was escaping, substantially raising his utility bills. “It defeats the purpose of all the other improvements you’ve done,” he said.
How do we prepare for our future?
As Americans and the world at large move toward a future in which the energy that powers our vehicles, our homes and our workplaces becomes more scarce and more expensive, more effort will have to be spent in producing the energy that remains available.That will require more land and a greater proportion of society's total labor and investment, says an author, Richard Heinberg, who says societies are also doing poorly at preparing for that future.
Commission passes Sustainability Plan
Madison, WI - Following an abundance of public input, a city committee approved a preliminary plan outlining the city’s sustainability initiatives with a five to three vote at a meeting Wednesday evening.
In Minn., copper mining runs afoul of wild rice
MINNEAPOLIS – Wild rice is sacred to the Ojibwe of Minnesota, but that may not be enough to protect it from the promise of jobs that a new copper-nickel mining industry would bring to the state.Lawmakers and business interests are working to loosen Minnesota's water quality standards to make it easier to start copper mining in the northeastern part of the state, but it could come at an environmental price. The fight is being closely watched by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, who fear that weaker standards could wipe out important natural stands of wild rice that provide food and medicine.
T.V.A. Agrees to Shutter 18 Generators That Use Coal
In a sweeping legal settlement, the Tennessee Valley Authority has agreed for the first time to reduce its overall capacity to generate coal-fired electricity, promising to close 18 of its coal-burning generators over the next six years while spending $3 billion to $5 billion on pollution controls on any remaining units that use coal.The accord, announced Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency, will bring about one of the most significant cuts in coal-fired power generation by any utility that relies heavily on coal in its fuel mix. The closings will eliminate 16 percent of the authority’s coal-fired capacity, and the accord holds out the prospect that some or all of another 18 units will shut down as well, for a total loss of as much as a third of the authority’s coal-burning capacity.
Oil Heads for First Weekly Loss in a Month Amid Inflation, Demand Concern
Oil headed for its first weekly decline in New York in a month, amid concern that this year’s rally in prices is stoking inflation and starting to erode demand for fuel.Futures pared earlier gains after Chinese data showed that inflation in the world’s biggest energy user accelerated in March to the fastest pace since 2008. Total U.S. crude inventories rose 1.63 million barrels to 359.3 million last week as refiners slowed processing rates, the Energy Department said on April 13. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s chief said the alliance needs more attack jets to target Libyan ground forces as Muammar Qaddafi’s troops continue their attacks.
High gas prices hurting confidence, changing habits
WASHINGTON — Rising U.S. gasoline prices have damaged confidence in the country's future and forced Americans to change their spending habits and lifestyles, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday found.The proportion of people who believe the United States is on the wrong track jumped 5 points to 69 percent from March, the poll found, the highest wrong-track figure in an Ipsos poll since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.
More than six of every 10 Americans have cut back on other expenses and reduced their driving as a result of the rising gas prices caused by tumult in North Africa and the Middle East.
Iran says oil price 'logical', 'good for us'
Friday there was no reason to consider global crude prices too high and described the oil market, which has been boosted by unrest in the Middle East, as "not extraordinary"."The price depends on the oil market ...If you consider the price ...in the past 40 years, what we have today is a logical price," Massoud Mirkazemi told a news conference on the first day of an oil and gas conference in Tehran.
China March oil demand up 11 pct on year, but off peak
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's implied oil demand grew by double digits for the sixth consecutive month in March, but was down from February as refineries scaled back runs on maintenance and soaring crude costs.A jump in inflation to a 32-month high and strong first quarter growth reported on Friday underline how China's booming economy is pushing oil use.
Singapore Airlines raises fuel surcharge as crude prices surge
SINGAPORE - Singapore Airlines Ltd. says it will raise fuel surcharges for its flights after jet fuel prices increased more than 30 per cent since the beginning of the year.
Contemplating the turmoil in the Middle East and the fears that it will spread and infect the price of oil, it is sobering to think back 40 years to the start of the 1970s.The oil price in 1970 was no more than two dollars a barrel, less than one fiftieth of the $100 price it has been hovering at in recent weeks (it went much higher in 2008).
And then there is the fascinating question of whether oil discoveries have peaked … so that we are now finding new oil at a slower rate than we are consuming it. The Peak Oil argument is vigorously debated, but it may well be that in a carbon averse world, we have used up the easy energy finds and the rest are going to be much more difficult to get at.
Preparing for $3+ per litre fuel
Australians will inevitably have to face the reality of higher fuel prices. Since the late 1940's when war-time fuel rationing ended and most people began driving cars, we have come to think of cheap abundant fuel as a right. Governments' policies have reduced fuel taxes far below real costs. Many of us now have a habit of driving alone in large over-powered cars (average occupancy 1.3 people and fuel consumption 11L/ 100 km). Our car fleet fuel consumption and emissions are quadruple what they would be if everyone used small efficient vehicles and carried an extra passenger.
Criticism flares up over gas waste
Fuel subsidies, international sanctions and fractious politics are among the reasons the Middle East continues to flare more gas than any other region except Russia.
Obama says U.S. must be cautious about oil reserve
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, in an ABC interview aired on Friday, said the United States must be "very careful" about releasing oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a time of uncertainty in the Middle East."We are monitoring the situation very closely. The strategic petroleum reserve was designed for when oil actually shuts off," Obama told ABC.
Republicans push bills to boost offshore oil drilling
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Wednesday pushed a trio of bills through a congressional committee that would boost offshore oil drilling and ease some regulations on oil companies.Republicans said the bills would reverse the Obama administration energy policy of the last two years that they claimed has reduced domestic oil production and made the United States more reliant on foreign suppliers and vulnerable to oil price spikes.
AP: Pa. accused of rubber-stamping gas permits
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Pennsylvania environmental regulators say they spend as little as 35 minutes reviewing each of the thousands of applications for natural gas well permits they get each year from drillers intent on tapping the state's lucrative and vast Marcellus Shale reserves.And the regulators say they do not give any additional scrutiny to requests to drill near high-quality streams and rivers even though the waterways are protected by state and federal law.
Time for energy suppliers to prove they are not the bad guys
The energy industry has been ineffective in framing the public debate on the role of energy and the environment. It is time we collectively took the bull by the horns and turned this narrative around in our favour.
Qaddafi Taunts West as NATO Seeks More Attack Planes
A request by NATO’s chief for more ground attack aircraft to target Muammar Qaddafi’s forces was rejected by the U.S. and France as the Libyan leader was shown on state television pumping his fists in the air through the open sunroof of a silver SUV in Tripoli.
Gadhafi's daughter sends defiant message
TRIPOLI, Libya – From her father's compound, struck by U.S. bombs exactly 25 years ago, Moammar Gadhafi's daughter sent a defiant message early Friday: Libya was not defeated by airstrikes then and won't be defeated now, she told a cheering crowd.
While the Saudi elite looks nervously abroad, a revolution is happening
The Saudi regime is under siege. To the west, its heaviest regional ally, the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, has been ousted. To its north, Syria and Jordan are gripped by a wave of protests which shows no sign of receding. On its southern border, unrest in Yemen and Oman rages on. And troops have been dispatched to Bahrain to salvage its influence over the tiny kingdom exerted through the Khalifa clan, and prevent the contagion from spreading to Saudi Arabia's turbulent eastern provinces, the repository of both its biggest oil reserves and largest Shia population.
Arab People strive for Political Change and New Leadership
The oil-based economy is not for ever and peak oil stage is already in place. Therefore, the illusion of prosperity is seen as short lived concept of the few living in palaces not viable with the people. History tells us that all the Arab glory and progress was intermittently linked with the message of Islam and following the Divine system as a way of life. That led the Arabs to achieve success in Southern Europe for more than 800 years of the Islamic civilization in Al-Andulus- Spain. The Arabs were the most advanced civilization in Europe while the European were enriched in witchcraft, slavery, dynastic warfare and gladiatorial games and torture- these were the competing identities of those who subsequently occupied the Islamic world by force, not by democratic persuasion. The Arab rulers are greedy and ignorant and not equipped with knowledge and wisdom to have public communication and establish people to people contacts and relationships.
Japan, Oil and the Fragility of Globalization
Sometimes it takes an earthquake followed by tsunami accompanied by a nuclear meltdown to catch people's attention.Improbable events not only make the world go around but expose what is rotten.
And I suspect the Great Sendai Earthquake will go down in the annals of human history as just one of a series of unfortunate events that helped to illuminate the world's downward energy spiral.
Nuclear Cleanup Plans Hinge on Unknowns
TOKYO — Even before the troubled Fukushima nuclear plant has been brought under control, two conglomerates vying for contracts in an eventual cleanup are estimating that the effort could take 10 years — or 30.
Tokyo Electric to boost power supply, still short of demand
TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co said it will be able to supply more electricity than previously expected during the peak summer months by using gas turbines and tapping hydro power, but it will still be short of projected demand.Japan is scrambling to ease a power shortage that could hobble the economy after last month's devastating earthquake and tsunami shut down several nuclear and thermal stations including Tokyo Electric's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Dai-ichi Life:will consider if Tokyo Elec asks for loan
(Reuters) - The president of Japan's Dai-ichi Life Insurance , the top shareholder in beleaguered nuclear operator Tokyo Electric Power Co , said on Friday his company would give serious consideration if the power utility asked for a loan.
Japan nuke plant operator to compensate evacuees
TOKYO – The operator of Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear plant said Friday it would pay an initial $12,000 for each household forced to evacuate because of leaking radiation — a handout some of the displaced slammed as too little.
Merkel Faces Nuclear Exit Bill as States Exert Pressure After Japan Crisis
Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a bid by members of the upper house of parliament to force her to abandon nuclear power as she tries to rally German state leaders behind an overhaul of energy policy by the middle of May.
T.V.A. Considers Improvements for 6 U.S. Nuclear Reactors
WASHINGTON — The Tennessee Valley Authority said Thursday it was considering millions of dollars of improvements to protect its six nuclear reactors from earthquakes and floods.
Peak Uranium - And Other Threats To Nuclear Power
We have nearly all heard about Peak Oil despite doubts on very basic elements like how we define “oil” compared with oil condensed from natural gas, but the possibility of there simply not being enough uranium to keep present and planned reactor fleets going is new.The case for Peak Uranium is made by several nuclear experts, such as Dr Michael Dittmar of CERN.
Resistance to Jaitapur Nuclear Plant Grows in India
While the government vows to push ahead — citing India’s energy needs — Indian newspapers recently reported that the environment minister wrote Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to question the wisdom of large nuclear installations. And a group of 50 Indian scientists, academics and activists has called for a moratorium on new projects. “The Japanese nuclear crisis is a wake-up call for India,” they wrote in an open letter.
BP Alaska president pleads for lower state taxes
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Alaska must lower its state oil production taxes to attract the investment needed to boost dwindling flow in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, the president of BP's Alaska unit told a pro-industry group Thursday.
A year on, Gulf still grapples with BP oil spill
VENICE, La./WAVELAND, Miss. (Reuters) – When a BP oil rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico last April, killing 11 workers, authorities first reported that no crude was leaking into the ocean.They were wrong.
Search for tar balls, answers a year after BP oil spill
GRAND ISLE, Louisiana (AFP) – A year after the worst maritime oil spill in history sullied the US Gulf Coast, men armed with shovels and a big yellow excavator are still digging up the sandy beach of Grand Isle, Louisiana in search of sticky tar balls."We'd like to tell people it's over, but the oil will still wash up every time it storms," said Jay LaFont, Grand Isle's deputy mayor.
Factbox: Gulf oil spill was among world's worst
(Reuters) - April 20 marks the first anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that spewed more than 4 million barrels of oil (168 million gallons/636 million liters) into the ocean in three months in the world's worst ever accidental offshore oil accident.Here are some other major oil spills and leakages:
Factbox: BP's oil spill cleanup response in numbers
(Reuters) - Last year on April 20, BP's deepwater Macondo well ruptured in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and spilling more than 4 million barrels (168 million gallons/636 million liters) of crude oil into the sea. It took three months for the company to plug the well and efforts to clean-up the oil continue. Below is a breakdown of the year-long response by the numbers:
Factbox: Oil spill claims paid total $3.8 billion
(Reuters) - The Gulf Coast Claims Facility, created to compensate people and businesses for damages related to BP Plc's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, has paid $3.8 billion in claims since the organization took over the process from the oil company on August 23.
BP faces angry oil spill protesters at AGM
LONDON (Reuters) – BP's annual shareholder meeting was disrupted by campaigners protesting against the oil giant's role in the Gulf of Mexico spill, while investors registered their disapproval with big votes against directors.
AP Enterprise: Experts fear another oil disaster
NEW ORLEANS – With everything Big Oil and the government have learned in the year since the Gulf of Mexico disaster, could it happen again? Absolutely, according to an Associated Press examination of the industry and interviews with experts on the perils of deep-sea drilling.The government has given the OK for oil exploration in treacherously deep waters to resume, saying it is confident such drilling can be done safely. The industry has given similar assurances. But there are still serious questions in some quarters about whether the lessons of the BP oil spill have been applied.
Oil spill victim feels forgotten
BATON ROUGE — The panic attacks have mostly stopped, and the debilitating pain has thinned to longing and a dull ache.But the hurt lingers for Michelle Jones, who lost her husband, Gordon Jones, to the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig a year ago next Wednesday.
Glencore turns to familiar names for board roles
LONDON (Reuters) – Glencore, the Swiss commodity trader, named former BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward to lead a five-strong team of independent directors, as it launched a flotation that could top $12 billion.
Options for a new energy scenario
Even if the finite nature of the resource stocks is not the only factor that influences oil prices, speculation also plays a role in this process: peak oil, that is the point in time when oil production cannot be increased despite maximum efforts, will be reached in the near to medium-term future – indeed, some analysts believe that it has already been reached. This development is further exacerbated by the increasing energy hunger of the emerging states, particularly in Asia, with their large populations. Moreover, the energy problem is irrevocably linked with that of global warming. All of the available data point to the fact that anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, a large proportion of which are generated by the combustion of fossil fuels, contribute considerably to climate change.
Sunnyside Neighbors Preparing for the 'Long Emergency'
In the wake of the tragic earthquakes and resulting tsunami in Japan, many in Oregon have expressed concern about what to do if a similar disaster were to strike here. But what is to be done about disasters that don’t unfold so suddenly? Neighborhood and citywide groups have been preparing not just for conventional natural disasters but also for the gradual, somewhat unknowable effects of climate change. When it comes to long-term disasters, these groups stress the importance of traditional emergency preparedness, but they also place great emphasis on the group responsibility of communities to gather and plan together.
California tosses out solar power plant lawsuit
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California's supreme court refused to consider a lawsuit filed by an influential environmental group seeking to delay construction of a solar plant because it might harm rare plant and animal species.
ARPA-E Is Poised to Put Products on the Grid
ARPA-E, the government’s incubator for high-risk energy inventions, has its first graduate in the electricity area — a new energy storage technology — and on Thursday it announced a preliminary agreement to get it tested.
Europe can make 30% emissions cuts, EU figures show
A 30% cut in greenhouse gas emissions is possible by 2020 if Europe meets its efficiency targets, according to the maths used by Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard.But no-one in the Commission will say this publicly for two reasons.
Weather Satellites on the Chopping Block
As my colleagues Eric Lichtblau, Ron Nixon and I report in summary form in Thursday morning’s paper, the budget deal moving through Capitol Hill slashes funds that the Obama administration requested for a satellite program considered vital for the nation’s weather forecasting. That raises the prospect of less accurate forecasts and other problems, some of them potentially life-threatening, starting in 2016.
The best remedy for the price of gas
By requiring automakers to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 6% a year, the Obama administration could help clean the air, slash our oil addiction and save American motorists billions.
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Re: Weather Satellites on the Chopping Block
So, do the R's want to kill the messenger? Out of sight, out of mind?
E. Swanson
Yup.
President Obama has proposed that several agencies be combined into a new agency in NOAA dealing with climate. The R's don't want to do that. HERE's a link to the testimony by Jane Lubchenco at Wednesday's hearing in the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee on NOAA 2012 funding...
E. Swanson
Sadly, the trend we are seeing in reduced comprehension of science, amongst other topics, is largely due to the way people now get elected by PR and marketing, as opposed to on their own real merits.
Anyone can run for office as long as they have the financial backing to do so, in other words, spout the viewpoint of the donor, irrespective of whether they have the real ability to perform in the job.
Government by infomercial...
The big problem with cutting the satellite funding in particular is that as the climate changes and weather volatility increases it becomes critical to have as much data as possible to evaluate trends and characterize exactly what is going on in narrow geographic areas - and when you throw in the fact that much of the predicted impact due to CC is to the country's "breadbasket" - this becomes a matter of national food supply security. I'm sure there are some old-timer farmers out there who rely on their senses, how many bugs are out, what the cows are doing - all kinds of other natural indicators as to what their weather prospects are... but probably the majority are heavily tied into having precise long term weather forecasts afforded them largely due to satellite imagery and analyses.
The idiots pushing for this can't even reach a level of sophistication in scientific reasoning to evaluate the situation from this perspective. Of course I guess that would first require acknowledgement that climate change was a problem in the first place.
RE producers also rely on good forcasts, especially wind and solar.
Plus there are other things that can be witnessed from space that I'm sure they'd rather keep a lid on...
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/hobet.php?src=eo...
Some RE producers do.
For biomass, biogas, geothermal, and small hydro, not so much.
That has been my rallying point. A mathematician named Mumford wrote a challenge paper called "The Dawning of the Age of Stochasticity". In it he said that conventional logic has become too unwieldy for certain problems and that a new logic based on probability theory would become important.
This generalizes the predicate logic question of "if the wind blows, then energy can be collected" and "if the wind doesn't blow, tough luck".
The hope that we have is to be able to anticipate predicting better how nature works with something like Mumford calls "stochastic predicate calculus". I would think that this goes in line with smart-grid like energy distribution networks or some other yet-to-be-discovered approach to harness the entropy of nature.
So it is partially about doing better forecasts. Some serious mathematicians, well above my level, are working on these problems at the Azimuth Project blog and the N-Category Cafe blog (they coined the new logic "Progic"). The is what John Carlos Baez recently said :
I can't follow most of the math myself but I am watching for any fruits of their labor and translate it to applied math. (so for people that complain about my math, you don't know the half of it)
I am all for changing the constitution to start to have officials chosen like jurors are for jury duty!
You could also go to the old British system used in the House of Lords - where it was hereditary. As much as it was criticised, it had the unique characteristic that the process could not be influenced by anyone - there was no rigging of the selection process, no vote buying etc. Lords could be ejected from the house under certain circumstances e.g if they were convicted of criminal activity), so they could not quite do anything. This system of government existed for many centuries, and covered Britains best years from 1700-1900.
Not so great for the poor people, of course, but the current system doesn't seem to be doing them any favours either.
You still have to solve the corruption issue, "I'll do you a favor if you make the decision favorable to me"... But, at least you avoid the problems of buying votes (of citizens) with primises -especially ones that are unrealistic, and by destroying the opponents reputation by whatever means fair or foul, etc, etc.
But, the random draft, isn't such a bad system, at least statistically it is proportional representation. If the representatives votes were truely secret the representatives could concentrate on policy, rather than looking to the folks back home as if they are doing their bidding etc. But, the average intelectual quality of the reps would probably be alarming rare. At least with the royalist system, future kings, and ministers are trained and educated for the task from birth. The most extreme case (I think) was Hirohito, they built an entire school to educate a single man.
This system would guarantee that society gets the governance it deserves, and it would certainly promote education!
Indeed, in both ancient Athens (the model democracy so often cited) and the republic of Venice (a very long lived semi-democratic nation in an era of religion-enforced despotism), a random component played a large role in the
attempt to minimize corruption of election mechanisms. Not that either system was totally infallible, but they both experienced considerable success in
using random lotteries to choose initial candidates for various elections, as well as second-round elections after another random selection.
Both systems did recognize a distinction between wealthy, middle class, and
lower-class citizens, affording different priveleges and obligations to each,
but the same basic legal rights to all citizens. For example in Athens,
certain positions were only open to members of the wealthy class (who had to
pay a higher tax as part of qualifying as members of this class, btw). There
was a random selection process for choosing who held some of those positions
from year to year. Evading one's duty when selected could ultimately
result in confiscation of one's property and expulsion from the wealthy class- most of the positions were not compensated and it was expected that
the office-holder would carry out his duties at his own personal expense
for the year.
One can still find in museums some of the machines invented in Athens to
try to ensure fair random selections- that is how commonly the concept was
applied.
This has been a concern of mine for a while. Going forward, funds for weather and other satellite upgrades and replacements will be tougher to get. While GPS is likely critical (military, law enforcement, all that) other systems for research, etc. will likely see cuts. When the commercial satellite TV systems start failing I'll take it as a sign that our economy is circling the lower part of the drain, though these telecom birds may outlast us. Folks need their TVs, right up to the end.
I would hope an equal amount of cuts were made for the federal funding of disaster recovery and recovery of the bodies from (the largely Republican) areas of tornado alley and hurricane landfall zones.
They truly do want this country back to the 1800's. And their backers will be right there cheering them on despite the fact that they live in ground zero for feeling the impacts from these cuts.
Oh well - I'm sure God will warn them if there's really a weather related threat.
More spy satellites and bombs. Less information about the weather. I guess we will have to really on Europe and Asia for information. The US is becoming a trash heap of a place.
R's seem to be kind of wanting bad things to happen without us knowing ahead of time. I guess by this logic we should decommission all spy satellites. Mother Nature is going to wreck the planet far worse than any military could (I guess unless we all nuke each other someday.)
'R' and 'D' are obfuscations meant to divide and conquer the people. Why do you all play into this ploy? Judge each on his/her merit rather than broad-brushing. It really diminishes your credibility as critical thinkers. IMHO.
The Rs are doing the cutting. So of course they would pick on the Rs. The Rs are in fact anti science. The Rs in fact do not want to do anything about global warming. The Rs want to abolish medicare. The Rs wanted to stop funding planned parenthood. The Rs just cut EPA by 16%. So what the hell are you talking about. The country is divided not because their is some conspiracy to divide it.
I see. And you've just proven my point. You like whining into the echo chamber you create by squelching reasonable debate. Have at it, you win.
I didn't know I had such power. Debate away.
...what the hell are you talking about...
I think he's talking about all the voters who identify with certain alleged ideals of their party and vote accordingly, with no real investigation into what the party is really doing. He's talking about stupid kneejerk tribal partisanship that makes people attack and defend political actions and issues not on their merit but on their source. He's talking about how politicians on both sides of the isle get elected by apeing ideals they don't believe in and pushing hot-button issues that bring out the base but don't contribute to any real change.
M - Well put. But of course you have now identified yourself as an R hack. Of course I don't believe that but I just wanted to get a front row position of the forming mob of angry villagers.
TORCHES UP!!!
Edited for clarity.
"We are your champions."
"They are the problem."
Now, unless I draw a line somewhere, you can not tell the difference, can you?
A Hutu has a number of cows.
A Tutsi has a different number of cows.
This defines them.
It is an old line drawn by their colonizers.
It divides the people to this day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Rwanda
It would seem the R's ARE anti science. Case in point
Environment takes the hit in US budget deal
Science is heresy against the almighty power of God.
Make your case that R's actually understand the complexity of a planet with 6 billion people on it and I will listen to you.
What percentage of currently serving elected officials have previous careers or education, in science or engineering?
I suspect very few... in any government... any where.
I suspect very few... in any government... any where.
Actually, one country is dominated by engineers - the country that now makes everything for everyone else, is buildinbg more wind and soalr power than anyone else, building more rail, etc etc.
[source http://www.newsweek.com/2009/09/07/right-brain.html ]
Note that the party president who presided over the construction of the world's largest hydro project is a hydraulic engineer!
Have engineers for leaders and engineering things will get done. Have lawyers for leaders, and, well, you will have lawyer things get done, like lots of well worded arguing, endless debates, system gaming and drafting of documents that are 10x longer than they need to be and no one can understand them. Does that sound at all like the US today?
What does the future hold for China? The article goes on;
Will these guys take China to the US level of inefficiency and paralysed government? Maybe, but China has a history of violently overthrowing of governments, for various reasons, so I don't think they will get too far out of line.
Wikipedia has a list of all the US presidents by occupation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_...)
24 of the 44 presidents were lawyers!
Next biggest group is military, 11 of 44, including six of the last 11, from Eisenhower onwards.
Fiver farmers, and all of one engineer (Herbert Hoover)
You get what you elect.
Very intersting comment. I was going th challege the Chinese Commie party being dominated by technical people thing -but you backed it up, can't argue with the facts.
Of course in the US case, the one engineer is a horrid example. And Hoover was supposedly one of the best of his generation, but he totally blew the economics thing, presiding over a disastrous economic collapse/freefall. So the argument for social science to feature prominently makes eminent sense, after all what government does is social engineering. And law and regulation writing, is a like like lawyering as well. So I think we get stuck with needing significant representation from those fields.
Errr - Make that 7 billion.
All play into the ploy?
Not all of us. Some here understand something called the Hegelian Dialectic.
"In Hegelian philosophy the conflict of political 'right' and political 'left', or thesis and antithesis in Hegelian terms, is essential to the forward movement of history and historical change itself. Conflict between thesis and antithesis brings about a synthesis or new historical situation."
You make a wild demand you can't get. Then you can 'compromise' to what you want as a simple example.
Both sides are playing a game. One that the citizens have little chance of progress because "the game" is one sided - the rules are slanted in the direction of those in power.
As an example of the one sided nature:
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/04/us-failed-state-because-it-wont.html
If we spend another billion dollars, are we going to get new weather satellites for our money this time?
If we spend another $382 billion on a defense program will we get that fighter. LOL
Same old tired BS. Yes weather satellites are expensive but not nearly as overpriced as the Joint strike fighter program.
The real question is which of the two provide better long term security in terms of real bang for the buck.
My money is on the weather satellites, granted living in South Florida, perhaps I have a bigger stake in better hurricane tracking... Those strike fighters ain't worth a whole lot as defense against a Cat 5 and those can cause a lot of devastation on the ground.
No joke. Seems the South gets the shaft if hurricane tracking loses any capability in this cutback.
When have we ever failed to get value from weather satellites?
Most weather satellites are only a few hundred million, and we all gain value from them everyday, even in non-hurricane areas. Spending on sats and models are why forecasts are now reasonably accurate a week out, and why we can have some planning for hurricanes, winter storms, and severe weather of all sorts.
I am quite sure there is some waste somewhere in NOAA, as with any gov't agency. I am also quite sure it provides more value to the average American than most gov't agencies -- almost everybody like to know the forecast.
Several important weather satellites are quite old, and well past their expected lifetime. Ideally, we'd replace them with better units. At the least, we should plan to replace them with SOMETHING, as we must for GPS as well.
"When have we ever failed to get value from weather satellites?"
Didn't the last two launches fail and destroy the satellites before they made it to orbit?
Launches are always risky, but that's why you build extras and insure. Launch issues are relatively independent of the payload value, IMHO.
Yes. But with good weather data, any Joe with good statistical data analysis skills can determine that global warming is real. So destroy the ability to acquire data, and you are back to comparing today's weather against garndma's stories, and the fact of serious change can be lost. Besides those evul climate scientists, didn't know whose ideological ox to gore, and whose to support, and are just getting what they deserve!
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/11/30/northrop-viirs-ahead-finally/
For the entire life of the npoes project. They spent our money and deliverred nothing.
Quest for ‘Holy Grail’ of Super Corn Intensifies on Fertilizer Price Surge
Tee hee. They can plant the low nitrogen corn next to the perennial wheat, just across the way from the Bt potatoes.
You hit a raw nerve.
I can not understand the push, and especially the backers, for perennial wheat. These are the greens and organics at a local land grant university, where I understand the researchers are attracted by salaries of up to a quarter million.
The trick is increase yields (by grain size and #/stalk) while maintaining traditional wheat milling characteristics. And have the plant grow year round.
Back up. The first two are the ecological thrust of annuals. Scatter a bunch of potent seeds every year before expiring. Whereas perennials get several yrs to accomplish their reproduction. This perennial wheat is Frankenstein genetic manipulation of the worst order. Absurd. What happens when this cat gets loose? Next up will probably be bones in honey bees, shrimp, other invertebrates.
I hear the rationale--decreased erosion(the most often cited by the greens), lower costs for the farmer. It remains to be seen how herbicide benefits shake out. Probably a wash if it's Roundup Ready (Tm). The erosion edge could be eliminated by forgoing production on marginal or sloping land. You might graze it, maintain the soil bank. Never happen... but I doubt the farmer will actually see lower final costs, after all the proprietary ones are tabulated.
Hey, no offense intended. Breeding a giant tropical grass that produces absurdly large seeds (Zea mays) to NOT be a heavy nitrogen feeder seems about as likely as re-engineering an annual into a perennial, just like you pointed out. Especially since pretty much the one group with the technical skills, money, and complete lack of morals (Monsanto) to maybe pull it off is well known for inserting terminator genes into plants to prevent seed saving. The whole point is to get the suckers hooked, so they have to come back to you year after year and pay your prices.
So I'm not looking for either anytime soon.
Opinions, Opinions, Opinions.
It's not Monsanto in this case. This is serious land stewardship by someone who totally understands the reality of PO. If you want to learn about perennial wheat, you'll need to check out The Land Institute and by all means, read Wes Jackson. You can find him at http://www.landinstitute.org
Addressed below. I am well acquainted with WSU, their organic and traditional ag departments, and Wes Jackson's work.
Painting with a broad brush, it was marriage made down below. Farmers disdain ranchers, they like winters free for the beach. And anything cutting meat production works well for the others. Throw in the Washington Wheat Commission to sanctify this unlikely union, and they are off.
And somehow the 'evergrow' wheat will:
1) Prevent other things from growing (thus no need for weed suppression)
2) Be harvest-able with eq which will not compress the soil so there is no need to till.
Perrennial wheat is an old-fasioned cross breeding project that it is unlikely Monsanto has much interest in:
http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2001/10/15/3dab14e76d9ba
Yields are significantly lower than annual wheat (as would be expected) and it appears to be aimed at getting a useful crop into fields at serious risk of erosion.
Replanting is expected every 3-5 years so the soil can be aerated and the stand replenished.
I never said that Monsanto has an interest or is involved. It would surprise me if they were researching these primary stages, they like selling seed, not cutting their own demand.
But looking ahead to weed infestations, as will certainly occur without tillage, it leaves mainly the 2-4D class to work with. Which won't cut it for so much of the problem-quack grasses, among others. So the evolution to Roundup Ready is a no brainer.
Washington State University has teamed with Wes Jackson's Land Institute for some of their research. Jackson started the venture back in the 70's concomitant with his publication of "New Roots for Agriculture". The goal was perennial "grain", along the lines of Amaranth, as I saw it was more a matter of changing consumer preference. I believe they also worked awhile with northern crested wheat, a perennial and not a wheat at all. It is my understanding that relying on old time cross breeding techniques have been long abandoned at the new hi tech WSU.
The target geography for the wheat is the Palouse, a region of N Idaho and eastern Washington with noted average yields at least double the natural average, often near 100 bu/ac. It is very hilly, extremely fertile topography, and most of it is farmed. FOR THE YIELDS. Getting farmers to switch voluntarily will be iffy at best. Over the last decade or so, much of the problem north slopes susceptible to sloughing, and other steep slopes, were switched to CRP and other soil banking practices. The most obvious switch would be continue cash grain on the less margin-able land, and grazing the slopes. If you believe as I that government will be getting out of CRP, the grazing alternative is by far the most sensible. Concentrate your breeding on existing perennials.
I said that, or at least implied it. And it looks like I may have been wrong. If so, thanks for the info. Monsanto is still the devil, though.
From the Article: Over a Barrel (part 2)
"And then there is the fascinating question of whether oil discoveries have peaked … so that we are now finding new oil at a slower rate than we are consuming it. The Peak Oil argument is vigorously debated, but it may well be that in a carbon averse world, we have used up the easy energy finds and the rest are going to be much more difficult to get at. "
Someone need s to explain to the BBC (and their editors) that yes indeed oil discoveries have peaked - and a long time ago. The BBC seems to think that the peaking of discoveries is being vigorously debated.
Such is modern journalism.
Yes TE, and pictures being better than words, someone should send them Colin Campbell's graph.
I have seen the graph many time and think it is really good.
I have a suggestion for improvements and think it would be really great to add a different color on the surplus discovery since the mid eighties backwards representing the over production since the mid eighties.
Since I have the only physically realistic model that maps discovery to production, I could try this but first I have to understand what you are saying. It certainly doesn't match to what I understand. The time lag between discovery and production is modeled as a stochastic flow and where the "over production" occurs and what meaning that has is debatable.
What would be more interesting in my opinion is if you could 'fill' in the blank (white) area under the production curve by 'subtracting' from the past 'overproduction'. Hence giving a crude visual representation of how much of the discoveries we've consumed so far. (And, of course, an idea of how long we can expect to live off our fat reserves in the future..)
This is an interesting one which shows how the logistic sigmoid comes from dispersive discovery.
Million ways to slice the analysis because it models the actual behavioral process of oil discovery.
Nice graph. So I presume the year of original discovery is taken as around 1850 or so?
Around that time, 1858 is the official start.
No one ever thinks about the Logistic as being comprised of individual curves that don't possess a logistic shape, but that is actually what happens. This explains why conventional oil depletion analysis is so screwed up and everyone relies on heuristics. It will take years before people start figuring this out and why I show lots of persistence.
Compare this with production. The extraction/production will also extend the tails.
Hmm, that is quite interesting. I guess the 'macro' explanation would be that if you imagine the earth to be a point source for the finite oil resource and with a singular society drawing on that resource then the logistic is fine, but if you drill down and look too closely at any one area then, a bit like with quantum dynamics, you're chasing a lost cause.
Overall the earth will behave pretty much like an ideal resource and a perfect supply/demand economy but the time lags/socio-political factors mean it can sometimes be hard to see the woods for the trees.
Anyone have good contact info for the Beeb - particularly for Peter Day, the apparent author - so that we can send Colin's chart, as Debbie suggests? The BBC website is an impenentrable labyrinth...
There are plenty of people at the BBC who get it indeed some are on TOD and have even posted occasionally but as the BBC's Andrew Marr said: "Peak Oil - that's a poisoned chalice" so it only gets minimal airtime.
"Do you really think that's wise sir?" - Wilson
"Don't Panic Captain Mainwaring." - Jones
"We're Doomed!" - Frazer
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dad%27s_Army
This was good for a chuckle !!
"Wind turbine suffers catastrophic failure; no one is irradiated"
http://www.grist.org/list/2011-04-14-wind-turbine-suffers-catastrophic-f...
Don in Maine
Gary Taubes has a new article in the NY Times:
Is Sugar Toxic?
He thinks it's likely that sugar causes not just obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, but some cancers, like breast and colon.
Too much sugar indeed. Te corn syrup thing is likely linked to excess sugars and not specifically to corn syrup per se.
There is a specific biochemical pathway involving insulin and excess sugar, which leads to insulin tolerance and damage to insulin secreting cells and so forth.
But yes, gluttony is the general problem and excess sugar from corn is the other.
But like I said it is not the corn per se. It is the excess sugar.
Indeed, what Taubes believes is that sugar causes gluttony. It screws up your metabolism so the normal satiation cues no longer work.
In a calorie- and salt-poor environment where life expectancy if you managed to reach adulthood was maybe 40, a predisposition to stuff yourself on grease, salt, and sugar whenever they were available was a Good Thing from an evolutionary perspective. In a calorie- and salt-rich environment where you can reasonably expect to make it to 80, not so much.
Up top: T.V.A. Agrees to Shutter 18 Generators That Use Coal
This is great news for us; folks in the Southeastern US mountains. One of the primary reasons I went off grid 15+ years ago was to put my money and commitment where my mouth was. The emissions from these plants blow east and settle/rain out into our deep valleys, the acid fog wraps the higher peaks in a blanket of death for the evergreens, and the smog levels reach critical levels on hot summer days. Mercury levels have caused authorities to issue fish consumption alerts for our supposedly pristine lakes and streams.
My mother's estate left a chunk of change to this cause; I wish she was around to declair a victory. It took years of legal action to force TVA to this point and I hope they don't wiggle out of this agreement as they've tended to do in the past.
On a related note, I've posted recently about a number of PV farms being built in our area; 5-10 acre sections on south facing slopes. Over a megawatt installed so far this year. The NIMBYs are really bitching, writing to the paper and demanding zoning changes (something they've always opposed) to ban installation of these facilities. This is something that TVA and our local electric utility have 'dragged their feet' on (to put it nicely) for years. One wonders if this lawsuit isn't partly responsible for the turnaround, making it viable for RE producers to "get'er done'.
Yesterday I composed a snarky response to some NIMBYs who've written to the local paper opposing PV installations. It seems a revision is in order...glad I didn't hit the send button yet.
Hard work, stubborn persistence and patience do pay off sometimes. There may not be a Santa Clause, but the Easter Bunny came early this year! That said, still keeping our guard up.....
A little help, Leanan, others: my text (comment sections only) suddenly turned all bold. Is this a local problem or are others having this issue? Thanks!
I am getting that too.
Thanks. Good to know it's not just me for a change ;-)
The left sidebar is also centered behind the comments. Shoo, bugs!
Yep, me too. Looks weird.
Me too. Not only looks weird, but how to highlight something now ?
as do italics.
Looks fine to me.
Report the problem to tech support. Note what OS and browser you are using.
I fixed it. Try reloading the page in your browser and it should be OK.
You sure did - thanks!
Fixed. Thanks, SuperG. BTW, I named a mutt after you. He's a smart pup ;-)
China's forex reserves pass 3 trillion USD for first time
According zfacts.com today, the National debt passed through $14.5 trillion and will add another $100 billion every 22 and 1/2 days . Add Fannie, Freddie, FHA, and Fed off book debts and losses and the National debt ratio is well above 100% of GDP.
What's a $100 billion among friends?
Who can count that high? I can't balance my checkbook as it is.
15/4/2011
Ford cuts jobs in Australia - more signs of peak oil
http://www.crudeoilpeak.com/?p=3006
13/4/2011
Australia's fuel import vulnerability increases as Sydney's Clyde refinery is closing
http://www.crudeoilpeak.com/?p=2980
Excellent article in July 2010 Harper's on wheat speculation and how that's made the price of wheat shoot up.
"The food bubble:
How Wall Street starved millions and got away with it"
http://harpers.org/archive/2010/07/0083022
You need a password unfortunately, but it's an excellent piece. Although we face many "real" (physical not economic) problems in feeding people, I have no doubt that the Earth has the capacity to feed its human population if we did any number of things more wisely. There doesn't seem to be incentive for the people in control to do so, and I fear that many aren't even bright enough to see threats let alone solutions.
How is the food bubble different than the oil bubble as far as speculation goes? Food is going to get more expensive regardless of speculation or not. Climate change,peak oil, population, less phosphate, drowth, and heat will cause that. Even if the Earth had the capacity, do we build up the population further so the crash can be greater? And what about those species who suffer when we put more land into production?
Human beings are not smarter than yeast. Boy, I miss the yeast guy.
The full article is here, I think. Skip the first three paragraphs, they're from the blogger who posted the piece.
No-tax-hike pledge creates Republican rift, potential roadblock to deficit deal
This story is about a proposal to eliminate the blender's tax credit for ethanol mixed with gasoline. The story points to claims that this tax credit amounts to about $5 Billion a year and that some 40% of the corn crop is used to produce the ethanol. But, here's a funny comment from the author of the bill (PDF):
With all due respect to Senator Coburn, I think he needs to take some time learning the meaning of "efficiency", not that his confusion is unusual among politicians. Because ethanol has a higher octane rating than regular gasoline, engines which are designed to take advantage of this higher octane are actually more efficient than comparable gas engines...
E. Swanson
Which is nice, if you have one of those engines.
I suspect that there are many of them out there. For example, any car engine which is designed to run on "premium" gasoline likely utilizes a knock sensor, which adjusts the engine parameters, such as spark advance, to minimize knock. My 1990 Ford Taurus had that system. Adding ethanol to the gasoline allows that engine to operate with greater spark advance. Newer engines with variable valve timing can also take advantage of the higher octane rating. The 2012 Ford Escort has a 2.0 liter engine with variable valve timing, which has a mechanical compression ratio of 12:1. And, these are designed to run on regular gas. The 2011 Fiesta has a 1.6 liter engine with an 11:1 compression ratio, also incorporating variable valve timing...
E. Swanson
For example, any car engine which is designed to run on "premium" gasoline likely utilizes a knock sensor, which adjusts the engine parameters, such as spark advance, to minimize knock. My 1990 Ford Taurus had that system. Adding ethanol to the gasoline allows that engine to operate with greater spark advance.
Yes, but don't you realize that, when the refinery adds ethanol to gasoline, they cut back on the other higher octane components in the gasoline to save (them) money? The octane rating of the ethanol-enhanced premium gasoline is the same as non-ethanol premium was, but the energy density is less, and therefore you need to burn more of it to go the same distance. Clever, isn't it.
Premium gasoline is for suckers. Always buy a car that runs on regular, and always run it on regular. (And I'm speaking as someone who used to work for the oil company that invented premium gasoline.)
In the case of driving an older car that has no knock sensor, I respectfully disagree.
The small additional cost of 91+octane fuel is risk management against having to do costly engine repair if a piston head fail due to preignition.
http://www.sdsefi.com/meltdown.htm
That's why I said, "Buy a car that runs on regular." Modern cars are much more tolerant of detonation than the old ones, particularly since the knock sensors in the electronic ignitions will back the timing off if they detect pre-ignition.
If you have an older car, it's best to make sure that you use the fuel it is designed for (frequently leaded gas), the timing is set right, and you keep the cylinders free of carbon and other deposits.
Of course, the older cars aren't very tolerant of ethanol in the fuel, either.
At $2.20 per gallon ethanol fuel is equal to the futures market price of gasoline of $3.26--2.2/.68 = ~$3.23.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp
I don't think boaters use E10.
It's true that you can only go 2/3rds as far on E100 as E0, but nobody in the US can put E0 in their cars anyways(you can in Brazil).
It appears that the price of ethanol is pegged to the price of gasoline by Big Oil which is forced to buy it, so there isn't really a competitive situation between fuels and the price/efficiency argument is phony.
Coburn is just mouthing anti-ethanol rhetoric on behalf of his Big Oil masters, who are currently sitting on a lot of overpriced
Canadian crude.
Maybe they could reduce the tax credit by 50% for the rest of the year. That step would save over a billion dollars. The tax credit is scheduled to expire at the end of 2011.
It just goes to show that the Republican's are not serious about deficit reduction. There is simply no reason to have the blenders tax credit. There is already a law which requires blenders to use ethanol. In other words we are giving people a tax credit to obey the law.
he is indeed wrong in his "definition" of efficiency, but octane has nothing to do with the mistake he is making.
Ethanol, of course, has only 68% of the energy content per gallon, of gasoline. When used in an engine it burns at the same efficiency, or slightly better, than gasoline, and in a purpose built engine, can burn much more efficiently than gasoline.
But, since he doesn't understand these simple differences, he misses the point that using more ethanol fuel is not necessarily using more energy - and it can, with the right engine, mean using less.
I'd like to think they understand taxes and money better than thermodynamics, but I don;t think that's the case either.
BD
I have some experience with racing engines and I can say that the big difference between Ethanol as a fuel to gasoline is that for an ICE it needs to be atomized at 4:1 vs 13:1 for gasoline. That will tell you that you will never get the same MPG no matter what the CR or timing is set to. Modern engines with computer controlled fuel ratios can run the ethanol mix but your migeage will go down. Try to run a carbuerated gasoline engine on ethanol and it will be way lean. I will give it ten minutes under load before it locks up.
That will tell you that you will never get the same MPG no matter what the CR or timing is set to.
I don't know about that.
Here is an engine thermal efficiency map for a VW Jetta diesel engine, (CR19.:1) converted to run on ethanol (and methanol) with port fuel injection. This map is for the engine running on E100;
{full report here:http://www.methanol.org/pdf/ISAF-XV-EPA.pdf}
You can see it tops out 41% thermal efficiency (equal to the peak efficiency on diesel fuel before the mods) .
For gasoline engines, they are normally about 28% peak efficiency,though the Prius gets 33%.
So gasoline gets 28%x 33GJ/L = 9.24 GJ of work output
Ethanol gets 41% x 22GJ/L =9.02 GJ of work. So that is pretty close to the same MPG.
It can be done, its just they they haven't.
Engine developer Ricardo has come pretty close though;
http://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2010/01/28/an-eth...
They compared the 6L engine that got 13.7mpg in a GMC 3500 PU to their high compression ethanol boosted one and got a mileage of 12.2 on E85, so that is getting close. It used 20% less btu's/mile, so the engine is clearly much more efficient. Also produced more torque/litre than the gasoline or diesel engined versions.
So the solutions are out there...
You could make a similar comparison for natural gas -- higher compression, but less torque and horsepower. At current low CNG prices though (less than $1 per gallon-equivalent), the "win" goes to CNG hands-down. Now go for a CNG diesel and you'd really have something.
Civic CNG
Engine Type In-Line 4-Cylinder
Engine Block/Cylinder Head Aluminum-Alloy
Displacement (cc) 1799
Horsepower @ rpm (SAE net) 113 @ 6300
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm) 109 @ 4300
Bore and Stroke (mm) 81 x 87.3
Compression Ratio 12.5:1
Valve Train 16-Valve SOHC i-VTEC®
Civic Gas
Engine Type In-Line 4-Cylinder
Engine Block/Cylinder Head Aluminum-Alloy
Displacement (cc) 1799
Horsepower @ rpm (SAE net) 140 @ 6300
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm) 128 @ 4300
Redline (rpm) 6800
Bore and Stroke (mm) 81 x 87.3
Compression Ratio 10.5:1
Valve Train 16-Valve SOHC i-VTEC®
the Civic is a good side by side comparison, but it does not show the true potential for CNG, because you still have a gasoline engine. If it was a diesel with CR of 17:1 or better, then you are optimising for the high octane properties of CNG. Other fuels that have high octane and can handle diesel compression ratios are propane, butane, methanol, ethanol, hydrogen, coal gas, wood gas.
Here is a great real world example from Australia of what can be achieved with dual fueling diesel trucks with CNG;
[ from here; http://www.cleanairpower.com/index.php ]
I should note those are 2005 fuel prices, when NG and oil were similar prices, today, NG is quite a bit cheaper (or less expensive anyway)
Still, the cost per vehicle was about $51k and a 1.5yr payback in 2005 - probably less than a year in 2011.
I really don't know what the US is waiting for?
The regulations greatly limit innovation in this arena in the US. Type testing, roughly equal to those of primary manufacturing, is required for all CNG conversions, and applies only year by year. Thus, kits can target only high=runner fleet vehicles that can carry the conversion AND kit compliance costs that must be carried.
To my knowledge, only the Civic has a factory CNG option, and it can't be dual-fuel as that would prevent its tax benefit.
You can readily get CNG kits for small engines, as they are intended for back-up generators and so forth. There are probably parts available to roll-your-own too, but most people won't do that.
The regulations greatly limit innovation in this arena in the US
Ha! You could apply that to any number of "arenas", though energy efficiency is probably the best example.
My impression of the US (from an outsider's viewpoint) is that all the innovation goes into gaming various government systems, rather than trying to game the physical system.
so having the Civic be a dual fuel car, which might greatly enhance the saleability of the only NG car on the market, is restricted because of some government regulation, thus limiting the effectiveness of the gov policy (adoption of Ng vehicles)
The US is the most bureaucratic place I have worked in (all the English speaking countries), and it is no wonder that innovation is stifled.
The Civic GX, by the way, is not really a "factory option", they take a normal Civic to a different place (different State, I think) and then do the conversion. That is why it is so expensive.
I have seen a DIY NG conversion for a stationary engine - fairly simple, but an auto is a whole different ball game.
It will happen eventually, but if it had been given even 1/10 th support of ethanol, there would be a lot of cng vehicles on the road today.
I recall visiting France, many years ago, and noticed some of the archetypal Citroen H vans having a set of long gas cylinders on the roof. Does anyone know if these were LPG or CNG?
NAOM
There was a question on the physics stackoverflow site a couple of weeks back asking about the wavedisk engine, that can supposedly get 65percent efficiency. I didn't understand the reasoning however.
The real story here is not whether Senator Coburn understands engine technology and efficiency, but that Grover Norquist is calling the shots on Republican tax policy, and has forced them into the position where any change that increases the taxes paid by anyone is a tax increase. And that the PTB behind Norquist will mount a primary challenge against any Republican in Congress who supports such a change.
Norquist came right out and admitted it the other day: a particular tax credit may be the stupidest public policy possible, but it must not be repealed because it results in someone paying more taxes.
9 Reasons the Rich Get Richer:
http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-13680-9-reasons-the-rich-get-rich...
x - Maybe I view the world too simplistically but I thought there was only one reason the rich got richer: they have money to invest. Rather difficult for a poor man to tie up his excess capital in a mutual fund when it's all tied up in paying his rent and feeding his kids. On top of that he can't earn his way to being rich: if he had marketable job skills that would garner a high wage he would already have that job and not be in the poor category in the first place.
There's always the entrepreneur route: the vast majority of affluent folks that I know who started life with little or nothing did so by investing a ton of seat equity in their small businesses or struggled to get an education and then grew from there in a high paying job. I can’t think of one of the dozens of affluent folks I know who inherited their wealth. Heck…my owner is a for real billionaire and he started out as a college professor. Made his money the old fashioned way: being damn smart.
I get your point, Rockman, but you seem to be putting too much emphasis on the story's headline. The article itself isn't really about how 'the rich get richer,' or how they 'got so rich' in the first place, but about how modern US tax laws and loopholes, relative to pre-Reagan "trickle down" tax laws, help 'the rich get richer.'
It certainly doesn't dispute the fact that lower taxes on the rich allow them to invest more and thus increase their wealth. It merely questions whether that increase 'trickles down' to the rest of us.' The "9 ways" listed are:
Yes. The rich have captured the rule making parts of the system and are gaming it to their class advantage. They have also substantially captured the media information outlets, so they endlessly promote memes and ideologies that are designed to increase the adavantage of the wealthy with respect to the less wealthy. It is now reaching the point where massive cuts in the education system threaten the ability of the the children of the middle and lower classes to obtain the human capital needed to compete against the sons and daughters of the wealthy. One of their means of accomplishing this is to defund government, by cutting their own taxes, then scream like mad when the defict gets out of control, and use that "crisis" to further gut programs for the lower and middle classes. Then more tax cuts cause they've sold the meme that that will revive the now ailing economy, and the process repeats....
I guess it repeats until the rich cannot get what they need from a bunch of uneducated poor people.
For example, how will those hospitals run with all the fancy equipment, meds, technicians, and doctors.
When an uneducated poor person injects the wrong thing into a rich person, I guess the rich person dies.
Seems eventually rich people will meet complexity and complexity will win.
I disagree.
The truly rich understand that all they need is ownership of assets and some people willing to be chauffers and butlers. Gain this, and you and your children are set.
It's actually one of the unstated goals of the ruling classes to return us back to the way things were in the early 20th century. Nothing less than the repeal of the entire welfare state, and all its associated complexity, is their goal.
50% of the "jobs" in society are worthless and the rich understand that better than anyone.
Do you remember the good old days?
An empty stomach and a tear-stained face
Do you remember how it used to be?
The walking dead in the factory
I won't talk because
It's not as it was
You don't want the sack
Then don't doff your cap
{we are not going back} don't back pedal down a broken track
{we are not going back} "i'm alright jack" is an easy trap
{we are not going back} no more need for wearing all black
{we are not going back} "i'm alright jack" is an easy trap
- lyrics from We Are Not Going Back by The Housemartins (UK)
Real per-student K-12 spending doubled in the past couple of decades. Reading and math scores barely moved. Education spending ought to be halved, at least.
Ab-so-lut-ly!!!!!!!!
See, the way it works: the institutions are degraded until they are worse than useless. The regulatory agencies and programs of all sorts were salted with completely inappropriate people as favors, gifts, trades, and nepotism. This destroys the ability of the government entity to do its task. Soon the people are screaming for its demise, the destruction of the infrastructure, the safety net. It has been done before, in other countries.
You want an impoverished, stupid populace. Look! The quality of new military recruits is going up! The price of a girl is plummeting! And all these eager applications for dangerous part-time slave-labor positions with no rights and no medical! Wwondeerrrrfullllll!
_______________________________________
George Carlin: "They don't give..."
("You think the schools are the way they are by accident?")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtgfzzwoyK4
Top three inflated costs:
1. Energy
2. Medical care
3. College tuition
Charted in this article http://dshort.com/inflation/gasoline-update.html
Yeah shutter all educational institutions. LOL. Sounds like a plan. Hitler burned books.
Should be interesting how these Tea Party people begin to burn down our educational system, working very hard for their plutocratic masters.
The rich have captured the rule making parts of the system and are gaming it to their class advantage.
And this is all "out in the open" and part of the law making efforts - so not only is the effort 'legal' but its not 'secret'. Thus no one can call it a Conspiracy and thus have a Theory about it.
Yet, if few read the paperwork of the law making efforts....doesn't it function like a secret to you if you did not know about it?
I thought there was only one reason the rich got richer: they have money to invest. Rather difficult for a poor man to tie up his excess capital in a mutual fund when it's all tied up in paying his rent and feeding his kids.
That's true - it takes money to make money - you have to have that pile of spare money that you can put into that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when it comes along.
In addition, if you can afford to lose the money, you can afford to put it into high-risk, high payoff investments, which pay off bigger than low-risk investments that the average investor has to stick to.
And, as one millionaire said, "It was basically just luck that I made a fortune - but somehow, the harder I worked, the luckier I got!"
I can’t think of one of the dozens of affluent folks I know who inherited their wealth.
It's the old, "Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" syndrome. The first generation is smart, works hard, and puts all their money into the business. The second generation is less smart, doesn't work as hard, and buys fast cars and expensive homes. The third generation flunks out of college, doesn't work at all, and spends their inheritance on drugs, women, and rock music. Once the money runs out, they're reduced to sweeping floors at Wal-Mart, if they're lucky.
Hard work may be a necessary component of becoming rich, but it is far from sufficient.
I think that phenomenon is largely a myth.
The reason people don't know anybody with inherited wealth is because we're peasants. I don't mean that to offend; it's just the way it is.
99.9% or more of people in society will have zero to little contact with those who inherit great fortunes, except if you work for them directly.
Work for a corporation, and you are of course working for them, but it's very indirect with lots of buffers in between.
99.9% or more of people in society will have zero to little contact with those who inherit great fortunes, except if you work for them directly.
My solution was to go and have a few drinks at the Petroleum Club. You can rub shoulders with lots of incredibly wealthy people. They might even spill their drink on you if they get too drunk. Of course, you have to know who they are, because they don't wear badges saying, "I am incredibly wealthy". They just like to hang out and shoot the bull with the other guys.
Another place to meet incredibly rich and powerful people was my local Safeway store, but that was just because they were too cheap to hire someone to do their grocery shopping for them. Again, you had to know who they were, and you had to live in the right place.
The people who run the big corporations are not the people who have the money. They are the people who work for the people who have the money.
Yeah.
I know a lot of people with inherited debts, of one form or another, or another.
America now has less class mobility than Europe. I see how it works in my own family. My parents were college educated 90-95th percentile income sortof folks. They were able to pass on the desire to learn, and gave their kids appropriate heed starts, such as teaching the kids to read before they go to school, rather than counting on the state to do it. Then managing to get the kids through college without them having to go into debt etc. So I ended at about the same place educationally and class wise (as did my sisters). And my kids got about the same degree of advantage, and their classmates a bit further down the class scale didn't, so that they are at a disadvantage... So, it looks like there is a lot of social inertia, for people to end up in roughly the same situation they were born into.
Sure a few are able to jump the que. Maybe more in oil and gas then in some other fields. But, by and large it is difficult to move up.
One of the knocks put on modern macroeconomics is its heavy use of "representative agent" models. As a first year grad student, I asked the macro prof why such models were used so heavily, and if it was fair to make public policy recommendations on the basis of models that didn't include the concepts of "rich" and "poor". He said I might get a lot of rationalizations from other profs, but that in his opinion, it boiled down to two things:
In particular, the assumptions guaranteed that there would be single solutions to the optimization problems the models set up. More realistic models might have multiple solutions, as well as creating other complications.
When economists do things like that, they have no right to call economics a Science. If Einstein had taken that approach, he would never have discovered quantum physics, because it was one of those "complicating multiple solutions"
It made it possible for economists to ignore the philosophical issues that arise from considering income/wealth distributions across the population, or at least, the problems inherent in teaching the philosophical aspects of income distribution.
And if they are going to ignore relevant philosophical issues, then economics is not a philosophy either. By selectively eliminating all the important real world "complications" they then make their practice (for it is now neither a Science nor an Art) quite irrelevant to the real world - which almost every non economist would agree with.
At least Jeffrey Rubin does not conveniently ignore these complications - he recognises that they are the basis of the problems.
A world of averages and ideal models is not the world we live in.
Someone once said that "Economics is politics poorly disguised as science". The occasional vigorous defenses of economics on this site have never come close to convincing me otherwise.
That's why any talk of "dramatically" cutting the budget and spending as pushed by the Paul Ryans of the world is such BS. My standard question - once all their economic fantasies come to fruition - basically service industry jobs only, no pesky gov't regulation, no taxes whatsoever on corporations or wealthy since they are such "engines" for the economy, and of course no stupid spending on any kind of safety net (oh sorry - entitlements), well, what then ? What is the endgame for all this ? Are we now a fantasy land hyper-uber productive economy where 120 people accumulate every penny in the country - while the totally disenfranchised sit idly by until it's time to just keel over ? At which point the value in the cell (with either a + or -) they formally occupied in the spreadsheet is simply deleted. This seems to be the type of linear thinking that governs these proposals but I think they will discover in a very decisive manner just what happens when their "world of averages and ideal models" disintegrates...
Oh, but the totally disenfranchised will be only 2.8% in 2028 as predicted by Paul Ryan. Not enough to worry about!
http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-unemployment-estimate-2011-4#ix...
Therefore the field of econophysics, which is essentially finding behaviors that explain the statistical distributions. These guys aren't afraid of the math because a lot of it comes from simple models. I can follow it and easily explain the income and wealth distribution based on a few fundamental principles.
An article in USA Today: Gas prices could soon break July 2008 record
Who of you believes regular gasoline will surpass $4.11 per gallon ($1.086 per liter) by Memorial Day?
Andrea Mitchell was just talkin' about the $5 gas she bought on the way to work.
Even the rich folks are noticing this.
Are the Gas Stations going to need to purchase number"6" for their signs?
Remember seeing upside down 2's on signs to make enough 5s on the signs. Going be good for the sign people to sell the next digit I guess.
Well 6 is nice you can make it from an upside down 9 so maybe they will have enough 9s. LMAO
Well, the "Philips 66" stations shouldn't have that problem
Maybe they will soon be "Philips $6.60" stations?
I'm waiting for $6.66. THAT might get the attention of the Right.
Lloyd
I bet even the "evil" [for Rockman] oil companies will not play with the devil's call sign. After digging too deep in the GOM, they figure they better not stir the monsters below. I remember in Lord of the Rings a great quote about how the Dwarfs aroused the Balrog:
"The dwarves delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum... shadow and flame."
— Saruman
"Well 6 is nice you can make it from an upside down 9 so maybe they will have enough 9s."
"I'm waiting for $6.66. THAT might get the attention of the Right."
It'll never get to $6.66. It may get to $6.65.9, or $6.69.9, but never $6.66. They love their nines too much ($19.99, $x.x9.9, etc), so there will always be nines.
And Nine Tenths! Think of all the oneth's of a cent saved on every gallon of gasoline purchased over a lifetime! It must add up to... not much.
PS
Love the Balrog, but I'd guess the LOTR character most likely to come from an oil well is the one ring.
If you drive to vacation places or just to the "boonies", the price of gasoline can be much higher than in town.
Example: Death Valley, California. Gas at $5.27/gl. in 2008. $5.55 today.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/your_scene_blog/2008/05/the-gas-prices.html
http://www.automallusa.net/08/california/inyo/death-valley/gas-prices.html
No shortage of 9 mpg vehicles waiting in line....
People must feel that gas prices are getting too high. I'm starting to receive emails suggesting the way to "solve" the price run-up is to avoid buying gas on a specific day that they mention.
They used to have a feature here like that - betting whether prices would go up or down by a given amount.
Energy - Easy Answers Department
http://www.counterpunch.org/thomson04152011.html
"...if you want to keep your two-thousand-square-foot house sexually nuclear..."
Is there any way to translate that into coherent English?
He is admittedly not writing in a straight forward manner. But if you read the article you'll see why.
The translation in Oil Drum lingo would probably be - "if you want to keep BAU"
Shaman,
O wow. Love that essay. What a marvelous writing style. thanks
Obama decides we must be 'very careful' in cracking open the SPR(strategic petroleum reserves) a big flip from a few months ago but doesn't say why.
The why is obvious.
It's an expression to Big Oil of his sympathy and a reason why they shouldn't spend a gazillion dollars against him in the 2012 election.
From now on it's all about being re-elected.
Unfortunately, this means no policy making for the next year and a half.
Heck maj...he's got my vote. But, then again, I was raised in La. so vote buying is nothing new to me. I sold out for a po'boy sandwich once.
Well, he hasn't got mine, though I'll probably vote for him
against any of the current crop of GOOPers.
I'd like to see him primaried by somebody like Feingold(or Huey Long--hey, he built a lot of roads and schools).
I was always 'mild about Barry'.
When they asked Rev. Jeremiah Wright about Obama he merely said
'he's a politician'.
I don't really think our 'evolutionary' system works correctly( i.e doesn't help us to evolve).
We probably should have a Constitutional Convention and throw out most of the garbage that passes for government.
Obama is not a leader, he's a consensus builder which is what our system aims at but not what the country needs.
Maybe he is doing it because it is the right thing to do. I think it is the right thing to do so I don't care what his motivation is. And I don't think you know what his motivation is. The political thing to do would be to release it in the hope that it would drive down gas prices. Rest assured he has already been blamed for high gas prices and this blame will intensify as we get nearer the next election.
My complaint is that prices are too low and would like to see them at least ten dollars a gallon driven by gas taxes. And btw, we are not paying for all our roads and maintenance with the highway gas tax, which it should be.
I think big oil will spends a gazillion against him regardless.
tstreet, we may have $10 per gallon gas in the future, but I don't think it is going to be significantly driven by gas tax increases.
I feel we missed the boat in the past when we did not raise gas taxes when gas was lower priced. We could still raise gas taxes, but as Leanan noted recently it would be political suicide. Even the modest 15 cents per gallon tax increase, phased in over several years, that was recommended by the President's bipartisan deficit reduction committee would have been a step in the right direction.
"The strategic petroleum reserve was designed for when oil actually shuts off," Obama told ABC".
So we know the day is coming. What good is a few extra months supply ? Really, what's the point. If we wait until oil actually shuts off, the common man is never going to see the benefit anyway. It will only go to the rich who can afford it.
Let's party now like it's 1999. Could I have my share now, all 2.3 barrels. LOL
cookie - Let me clue you in to what many of us believe: the SPR doesn't exist for the benefit of the "common man". Its primary bneficiary will be the Dept of Defense.
Hence the name.
Whatever his political motivation may be, policywise, it only makes sense to make withdrawals if you think the price spike is going to be transitory. If you think the price will relentlessly rise because of PO concerns, then a drawdown can only bring temporary relief, and the benefits of waiting are greater than the benefits of immediately tapping it.
Oil Movements is finally out with its latest report.
Middle East Crude-Murban supported by rebound in gas oil cracks
That is the lowest level in months. We were missing the report for April 2nd. Now we find out it was way down there as well. Deliveries were 24.19 mb/d for the four weeks ending February 12th. We are down 1.36 mb/d from that level.
Ron P.
Oddness at the edge....
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-04-solar-power-cells-hidden-magnetic.html
http://jap.aip.org/resource/1/japiau/v109/i6/p064903_s1
The effect is demonstrated at 10,000,000 Watts per square centimeter.
Lasers have reached petawatt power levels in short pulses measured in attoseconds. New and strange events can be made to happen under the impact of these beams.
Another fascinating emerging field deals with surface plasmons. These are bunches of electrons running around on metals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petawatt#Multiples
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_%28time%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_%28power%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_plasmons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_optical_transmission
But this one is really fun:
http://www2.engr.arizona.edu/~ziolkows/research/papers/Metamaterial_Rese...
But when Rand, who "naively thinks that electricity and the brilliance of light would be an advantage for society," presents his discovery to the elders of the Great Regulatory Collective, they crush it beneath their collective boot heel, and Rand is forced to...
Oh. I confused your comment with the Rand Paul / Ayn Rand light bulb analogy from today's Drumbeat.
The discovery you're referring to was discussed in the comments here very recently, but I can't find it. I think someone showed that the intensity of light required is far greater than we can generate by focusing sunlight and in any case would melt any glass we can currently produce.
But I read the article you linked and it seems Rand understands that but believes less intense light would work...
Rand understands that but believes less intense light would work
No, he HOPES there is a material which would allow lesser photon rate. The same way the superconductor researchers hope for a high temp superconductor and are looking for one.
Storms spawn tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama
Anecdotally, I can report that my order of package bees is stuck somewhere on I-80, in Nebraska, due to ice storms. People are trying to de-ice the road at the moment.
In the previous Drumbeat, I posted the following link in a comment about the Harvard/Monitor Group scandal. It got EPU'd, as they say [the thread died with the posting of the current Drumbeat, and my comment dissapeared into an Evil Parallel Universe where no one pays any attention to me. Okay, that's the current evil universe, but whatever]. Here's the link, along with its youtube 'video description':
The dialogue is in Arabic, so I can't tell whether the video description is accurate or not. In a comment on another site, the video's uploader described the scene starting at about 1:30.
Again, I can't vouch for the accuracy of that interpretation. But it's the fear Gaddafi inspires, his bullying manner and tone, and the reaction of his security and the crowds that's interesting. On the other hand, like Conan O'Brien showed, maybe something gets lost in non-translation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF6tipZDs4k
you do have to consider something- what ruler of what 'free' western country would dare walk the streets , bodyguards or not, and challenge people in the streets? no, in our fine western 'democracies' the rulers travel in bulletproof limos or helicopters.
just a thought..
Yes. Probably something to do with the fact that anyone taking a potshot at a Western leader will, at worst, be tried in court and sentenced to life. Whereas taking a potshot at a despot could result in torture and execution - not just of yourself but of your entire family. Not too many willing to risk that.
"Geiger counters ineffective for checking food, water"
"The ministry recommends using tools known as scintillation counters"
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110416f1.html
"QinetiQ North America Robots Advance to Fukushima Nuclear Emergency Site"
http://www.redorbit.com/news/politics/2030574/qinetiq_north_america_robo...
---------------------------
goodmanj:
_______________________
On the other-hand, the corporations interest in pursuing nuclear could wither:
"Germany debates how to dump nuclear power"
""We all want to exit nuclear energy as soon as possible and make the switch to supplying via renewable energy,""
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/15/us-germany-nuclear-idUSTRE73E2...
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,757371,00.html
"Siemens Rethinks Nuclear Ambitions"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870454780457626095384577764...
"Peak Uranium - And Other Threats To Nuclear Power"
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article27549.html
"To be sure the USA and Russia have good reason to continue “recycling” atomic weapons and recovering reactor fuel from them."
"In fact this source of “cut down” fuel, produced from atom bomb warheads is completely unable to cover more than around 9 percent of current total civil reactor fuel needs (about 68 000 tons in 2010)"
The case for Peak Uranium is made by several nuclear experts, such as Dr Michael Dittmar of CERN
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24414/
_________________________________
Goodmanj and I were having a discussion on direction. I took the nihilist position that nuclear was unavoidable because of the level of corporate ownership and captivity of the American media, legislative bodies, and regulatory agencies coupled with the view that the populace have become sheep.
Fukushima open thread 04/11.
On, DOG NAMED BOO (first chapter)
Being from the a Flower Child,I really appreciate, the reference to my generation,
in the Farming,land grab piece, above. It is all but, glaring that we, are,
the only ones, who, asked, "What the Hell Happened." And as, a result of this, we know,
What the hell happened. We, are also, the ones who, have a clue how to fix it.
Historically, is has been the people with the coveted, physical science, bachelors,
degrees(reference to the coveted, overly priced sustainable degree college mills)
that, messed things up in the first place. Things have not changed.
Small-scale farmers increasingly at risk from 'global land grabbing'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/apr/15...
a dog named Boo
http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2011-04-13/alternatives-nihilism-p...
Your text got lost in the middle of the threads.
The "Post a Comment" at the bottom of the whole page
will make a new and unique position for your words
among the flows of others.
From today's Toronto Star Print Edition (the online version is dated Monday):
Industry transparency needed on shale gas emissions
http://www.thestar.com/business/cleanbreak/article/974833--industry-tran...
Lloyd
Of course there is no worthwhile information, like HOW the 8% is being lost. Why would an industry focused on profit readily allow 8% of its valuable product to disappear?
I could see if it were an oil well with no gas infrastructure that gas would be a nuisance, but for a gas well it would seem to be of prime value.
Discernment is tricky when you really can't trust either side of the discussion.
You don't think the assertion that 8% is being lost is worthwhile?
Here's the source:
http://mgx.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/howarth.pdf
Sure it is, and I would assume if it verifies then there will be an industry push to recover it. That's a lot of "free" money to let slip through their fingers. It is noteworthy that conventional wells are claimed to have only slightly lower loss.
I'm pretty sure that oil wells don't leak 8 barrels of every 100 onto the ground, yet they operate at similar pressures and technologies, right?
Again, I can see the broad average being skewed by wells that flare or don't care, but for gas well drilled specifically for gas, this seems like a wastefully high number.
Well, crude oil has a density of many hundreds of kg/m3, methane is about .7 (at 0 C.) and sea-level air is about 1.3 (round numbers, no attempt at precision).
In any case, the referenced study was done at Cornell and Ithaca is in the center of the cyclone over fracking the Marcellus, so the story will undoubtedly keep getting more interesting.
k - Let me offer some reality that both supports and negates what the study seems to imply. Though it doesn't say it outright but it seems to imply NG is leaking to the surface via the induced fractures themselves. I won't offer the support (way to long) but that's physically impossible.
So let’s focus on actual NG emissions. When drilling any well NG is brought to the surface via the drilling mud used to bring the rock cuttings to the surface. This happens in every well drilled to some extent. But typically the volume is absolutely insignificant. Better to worry about methane released from all the livestock in the world.
But on rare occasions a well can blow out and emit a significant volume of NG. But typically such a wild flow is ignited for safety reasons. Now let’s talk about NG emissions during testing a frac'd SG well: it does happen to some extent but only relatively small amounts. If it were a large volume it would be flared for safety reasons. Now during production operations some NG can be released. Obviously if this were a large volume the company would fix it because it would represent lost revenue. But a small leak might not be economical to capture and it would escape.
OTOH I absolutely reject their percent release figure. I'm not saying they are right, wrong, too high, too low. I'm saying there is no way to measure those volumes let alone estimate them. Think about it: you can measure the amount of NG flowing through the well head. But if some escapes to the atmosphere how do you measure that? Other than putting up a giant dome of the entire production site to capture and measure the NG? Never seen that done and I'm sure I never will.
Of course some NG will be released during the drilling, testing, producing and transportation. And a lot of NG is released to the atmosphere from leaking stoves and BBQ grills. As well as from every living mammal on the planet. And a heck of a lot of methane from decomposing vegetation.
So it comes down to benefit vs. cost. So accept those emissions or don't. NG losses from the system will happen. Just like millions of gallons of oil will be spilled on the ground yearly from leaking autos around the world. And if you want a real shock: research the amount of methane released just from the sheep in New Zealand. Honestly...folks would be amazed to know.
And for the sake of full disclosure I would financially benefit should no more shale gas wells be frac'd and produced. I sell conventional NG for a living. The SG production reduces how much I can gouge consumers. It also increases my drilling costs. I truly hate the shale gas plays.
Good, thoughtful response, as usual, Rock.
Now I'll have to read more than the abstract. ;^)
In reality, the serious opposition to fracking is focused more on groundwater issues and treatment/disposal of fracking fluid. In NY and, increasingly, PA it's serious opposition.
I'll tell them to redouble their efforts, because we want ROCKMAN to have full leverage for maximum gouging.
If we do a simple thought experiment. Drilling and testing wastes say a week worth of production at the wells initial rate. Since a SG well depletes in a couple of years, that represents a much high percentage of total production then for a conventional well whose depletion is much lower. So it might be reasonable to assume that the percentage of leaks production would be much higher for SG.
Rockman--Here is an excerpt from the article:
Apparently this is just one of many avenues that can bring methane to the surface.
-best
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/15/bp-control-science-gul...
Hundreds protest in Saudi
namlive
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I have raised the same questions in another thread. At TMI I would analyze for Sr-90 and tritium. I dare say they are present in in levels that exceed all standards. The amount of Sr-90 is about the same as Cs-137. Cs-137, I-131 are easy to detect. You just grab a sample, throw it on a GeLi push a button and the computer magically gives you a read out. However you cannot do that with either Sr-90/Y-90 or tritium. You must have specialized counting equipment and perform chemical separations, that are never done at nuclear utilities. This has to outsourced. It is true that Sr-90 does not go airborne as fast as Cs-137, but Y-90 does and gives you funky results unless you are aware of it. The short lived Y-90 daughter product is typically mis-identified as being natural when not with Sr-90.
However, whenthey have vast amounts of accident water pouring/seeping into the ocean, there is no filtering mechanism for Sr-90. It will be in anything that absorbs calcium such as shells, coral reefs, and bones. It is a travesty that no one at the IAEA is mentioning this. This leads me to suspect that no one at the IAEA knows what is needed to detect Sr-90.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/7751#comment-790496
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RADIATION DETECTOR THEORY
Page 42
A typical Ge(Li) detector system consists of a vacuum enclosed Ge(Li) crystal which is coaxial in shape and attached to a copper cold finger through an agate insulator. The crystal is under a vacuum to prevent frost forming on the crystal, and damage caused by impurities in the air. The cold finger is immersed in liquid nitrogen in a dewar.
http://www.nukeworker.com/study/hp/rct/pdf/core_1-13.pdf
Gamma counting - very good! They use high-purity Germanium now in place of the old GeLi's. Don't have to worry about keeping them cold.