nakedjaybird

Why Is Congress Agnostic About Natural Gas?

PS - to be clear: CO2 reduction will be an unintended consequence of the real solution(s), just as CO2 creation became an unintended consequence previously.

Now let's talk about REAL PROGESS WITH REAL POLIICY to get us there.

First policy: leave ALL the fossil energy where it is; stored forever, if need be, to the best of our ability.

Second policy: implement existing and develop and execute as many as possible (AMAP) alternatives as soon as possible (ASAP) in both POWER GENERATION and TRANSPORTATION the Electricfy America and Alternatives themes.

If you want to know how to do that, go into the achives and read my earlier published comments in SA about the less than 10 point plan.

Or, watch China.

Why Is Congress Agnostic About Natural Gas?

Fitz - first off; CO2 reduction is certainly not the first and foremost goal to attract REAL investors, entrapraneuers, independent thinkers, etc. That is nothing more than more wish-washy liberal driven mish-mash.

So let's start again....................

Why Is Congress Agnostic About Natural Gas?

Jack and AO, et.al. - many of the same arguments can be made by the cleaner coal guys and the electrify America crowd.

We can use our coal; we can use our gas. In the end, both are irreplaceably GONE! Both gone, in what 100-300 years at current consumption??

For the past 30 years we have been practicing the policy of using someone else's oil; that worked. But we didn't solve our real problems; or develop the alternative solutions to when the wells went dry. Or did we?

We could still electrify the rails and the interstate hiways using current technology. And we could produce biofuels for the airplanes and many road machines. And we have many ways to produce more electricity, sans additional coal and nat gas capacity.

What we need are some clearheaded, CLEAN, policy makers; some not concerned about the bribers and punishers (what bread butterer's become when they stop buttering your bread!). Sounds like we need some INDEPENDENTS - if there are any such things in existence.

The best independents I've even known are the entrepreneurs that had a good idea and the backing to strike forth with a concept and product that made sense and money - that worked when all the policy makers did not exist or get in the way of PROGRESS. Sort of like a Ford, Westinghouse, or Bell, or.........where's the current free and clear thinker, unencumbered.......??

Making Natural Gas Transportation a Reality

Sorry Fitz - I'd still rather have Steven Chu leading the way than you and your NG mantra for transportation.

All we need for an effective short term and long term reduction of 5-7 million barrels/day in oil consumption is to permanently implement the equibalent responses to the 1973 Oil Embargo:

1) for people (and some goods) movement: car-pooling, van-pooling, busses and transit systems for the folks within beltways; teleconferening, elimination of marketing jaunts; minimizing use of private planes and maximize full commerical flights; High speed trains; more rails (100% electric); install electrified ferries within interstate right of ways (local intra and express interstate).

2) for cargo and goods movement: put it on the steel wheeled rails and barges and get it off the rubber tired interstates.

3) electrify every end use.

4) install AMAP solar and wind.

So come on, next embargo; teach the folks a second time. Only keep the fixes in place and/or improve on them for permancey.

Book Review: Robert Hefner's 'The Grand Energy Transition'

Hey Fitz - great that Hef know the differences. Now to get the simplistic more accurate. As for it being over my head, I'd like to think that I'd recognize it first, and also admit it, second.

Book Review: Robert Hefner's 'The Grand Energy Transition'

Fitz - goodness gracious. By the time Hefner writes his second book, God forbid, he may put natural gas into the fossil fuel category along with coal gas. Of course that will have to be after he realizes the sun is FUSION at it's best, not a ball of burning hydrogen.....duh? Careful who you read and what they are pumping....!

America Needs a Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure

And as far as not caring about CO2 emissions; their reduction is an unintended consequense of solar and wind generation and natural consequense of burning less oil, coal and gas (FOSSIL, by definition), even as biofuel (RENEWABLE ALTERNATIVE, by definition) burning incorporating 80% heat recovery hybrids remains to produce 1/5 the CO2 directly produced today, not to mention the additional indirect reduction due no longer participating in the complete exploration, mining, drilliing, processing, transportation, reclimation industries associated with oil, gas and coal; and we have not yet begun to talk about the reduced CO2 when we are doing electric transportaion --- so no, I don't worry about CO2 production. It becomes what it should be, an inconsequential unintended consequence of the "why-worry" ilk.

Nearly non-existent with right-thinking.

America Needs a Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure

Hey Fitz - there was no name-calling; only descriptions and definitions. This I probably shouldn't say, but if the shoe fits, wear it.

America Needs a Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure

Fitz - either your definition of "alternative" is flawed or your mission is flawed.

You want to be half pregnant, and it doesn't work (unless, of course, you really don't want to be pregnant; and it that's the case, then you have to change your mission).

Right-thinking requires much consistency.

And by the way, I don't really care about the "spewing out of CO2". I'm not a greenie, global warming advocate; I'm a real, honest, truth-believing, free-enterprising, capitalistic scientist.

And, yes, I'm for not polluting good clean air AMAP - for which the US has done more than enough (more or less) vis-a-vis what it should now teach to developing nations.

I do care about our addiction(s) only in that it is to oil, gas and coal; I'd rather be addicted to solar, wind and biofuels, and of course the electric economy AMAP, and ASAP.

There must be consistency in that right-thinking also, of which I have never, ever lost sight. Well, I'm not perfectly flawless - but in this case more right than wrong.

And furthermore, let me help out one of your misconceptions: when one says STOP!, the ASAP and AMAP must also be considered; with technical fesibility being utmost (DUH!), and economic feasibility less so, and profitability further down the list; that is how most fundamental major change takes place.

Not unlike starting with pregnancy, babes, children, maturity, and finally (hopefully) independent productive citizens, with right-thinking well-embedded; and not a bunch of dependent, leaching, bloodsucking, parasitic, whining, socialistic, communistic, free-lunch, slothful, wrong-is-right, rights-advocating bums.

Peace, and carry on.

America Needs a Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure

Oh Fitz- I forgot. The existing rail trains are already electrified hybrids - they just use diesel fuel which could easliy be biodiesel (if not pure electric).

And if you've been staying current, airplanes are about to become hybrids.

America Needs a Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure

Coolsool and ilk - big oil has rightfully reduced domestic oil production from north of 10 mbd to 6 mdb while consumption increased to 19 mbd.

Right thinking reduced the production and burning of our own more and more difficult to produce oil (it has not bubbled-up at the surface for 100 years - shortly after Drake started digging).

Dumb thinking (greed is dumb thinking) increased consumption to 19 mbd.

Now you want to repeat history with natural gas.

Right thinking would say let's use the easy stuff (like lumber was cut until the hills were bare; picking coal from hillside outcroppings; scooping oil from bubbling pools at the surface; capturing the natural gas that was causing the bubbles in the oil pools; cutting whale blubbler oil where appropriate; Dutch windmills; early US farmers/ranchers windmills; cow pies!!; neanderthal solar.........). Do the easy smart thing (even if it takes an energy tax, like Europe, etc., to lock-in persuasion with good LEADERSHIP for and by the people).

The easiest switch for automobiles and commercial trucks and all the ones Fitz mentioned is to go to biofuel (cellulosic) and biodiesel hybrids.

Renewable feedstock crops we can currently grow on the surface using exisitng resources of equipment and trained labor on the farms. The processing equipment may have to be modified a little but the commplete distribution system infrastructure exists (even along the exisitng interstates, if need be).

First, with biofuel/biodiesel hybrids economy we automatically need 1/2 to 1/3 of the gasoline consumption Fitz keeps talking about. Even less again if we put more interstate cargo on electrifed rails, and beltway people on electrified transit systems, and the high speed trains along the east and west coast or NY-Chicago, etc., INSTEAD OF LAS VEGAS TO LA - there must be enough cactus along that route to play the velcro stick-em game to hang the politicians and friends that put that expediture into the spending bill!!).

Sceondly, we have 34 million acres of idle land (7%) in the US, which we pay farmers $3,000,000,000, yes 3 billion, every year to NOT FARM IT. That $3 billion is just a part of the $13 Billion we pay farmers every year in subsidies. Over the past 12 years the Govt has given nearly $100 Billion of subsidies to farmers (and too much of it to do NOTHING, and the most to do CORN! right-thinking says go cellulosic!!).

So let's give the farmers/producers some of those subsides to work the land and grow cellulosic biofuel and biodiesel for hybrids, ships, trains, planes, trucks and off-road construction equipment, including farm equipment (which is approaching perpetual motion). Hey, farmwork even puts real shovels to work.

Now, if we also stop subsidizing other "neanderthal" ideas and focus just on the BEST, like the rest of my above "cut and paste" plan indicates (yes, sometimes repeated messages begin to be accepted as truth - only repeating history!!!).

Anyhow, can you imagine how much we could subsidize the right things if we stopped spending money on oil shale, tar sands, coal liquifaction and gasification, deep drilling exploration and production methods, for oil, gas and coal?

And then, if we actually made the switch of asset and resource utilization from industry and government (well, actually, my dollars, both!) to the BEST plan (again, like mine, above), we'd be independent and energy free forever within a decade.

Right-thinking required!!

America Needs a Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure

koolsool - answer? The right-thinkers!

America Needs a Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure

The issue is appropriately identifying a purposeful need, seeding it's BEST ultimate solution(s) with endorsement and support until it functions on its own, providing opportuntiy for TRUE, PURE competition, if competition is called for.

Welfare is welfare; gifts are gifts: no competiion called for (other than for the welfare or gift).

Where one starts determines where he ends up; the start is very critical.

America Needs a Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure

Lance - you're right - we should transition to renewables ASAP/AMAP, which means with "time is of the essense" priorities and that being like we did the Manhattan Project - no holds barred (eg., no roadblocks by naysayers, et.al.).

So here's the plan and the basis:


Basis: Try again for the facts, here:

https://eed.llnl.gov/f...

This figure

https://eed.llnl.gov/f...

is my basis for good energy planning for the US with the overall goals of:

I) eliminating wasted energy (56 of 97 Quads, or 58% of total US consumption is lost), and

II) leaving natural energy resources stored in the ground until we REALLY need them, while maximizing readily available and free forever solar and wind, and other alternatives (while eliminating trillions of foreign payments).

1. Reduce wasted energy in ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION (26 Quads or 68% of power generation energy is lost).

1.1. Promote Solar PV and Wind.

1.2. Promote pumped/stored hydro (and end-use storage technologies to handle the variability of 1.1. generation).

1.3. Permit steam-to-electricity generation only in combined cycle plants where low pressure steam is utilized (even if thermal solar; AND nuclear[?]. Nuclear is dense enough and safe enough to promote block heating in cities as in Europe, or process industrialized areas?)

1.4. Stop burning coal (and the networked supporting industries from mining, transportation, pollution, reclamation, maintenance, etc., without causing a depression - like, put them to work building solar and wind farms, and the new interstate power grid and ferries of 1.7 below; same for the oil, gas and auto guys, etc.). Do 1.1. and 1.7.

1.5. Stop burning natural gas. Do 1.1. and 1.2.

1.6. Don't even think about processing any tar sands, oil shale, or coal gasification and liquefaction methods which are ultimately burned for POWER GENERATION or TRANSPORTATION after adding cost (not to mention all the networked industry complexities as mentioned above for coal). Consider these only "when there is no other way" situations: like we run out of crude oil and need plastics.

1.7. Construct the new upgraded electric power grid in, above, below, or alongside the existing interstate highway right-of-ways which lead to major cities (where energy is used while passing thru the hinterlands within 50-100 miles of future solar and wind power farms).

1.7.1. Integrate within these same interstate right-of-ways ELECTRIFIED FERRIES for cargo, vehicles and people, both two-way high speed interstate express and two-way local intrastate travel.

2. Reduce wasted energy in TRANSPORTATION (21 Quads or 80% of transportation energy is WASTED):

2.1. Do 1.7. and 1.7.1. for intra- and interstate travel.

2.2. Promote local transit systems within congested urban beltways, linked to the interstate highway system of 1.7.

2.3. Promote hybrid and electric vehicles for personal commuting, local fleet service and commercial delivery.

2.4 Promote biofuels for hybrids, ground, air and water transportation.

Much of the above is currently valid for developing countries which are repeating the mistakes the US made which hopefully can be redirected - be it because of air pollution [China, India], government edict, new alternatives, etc.).

Much of the above already exists in Europe, Japan, and some even in China, so it can be done. It may take a permanent energy tax on crude oil, coal, and nat. gas to fund the above; and as wasted energy is reduced, the tax goes away. A wonder we've not seen.

America Needs a Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure

And the answer is: leave the NG stored in the ground and use free, readily and forever available renewable alternatives like solar and wind, plus grow the biofuels.