| Author |
Message |
    
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 457
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 8:14 pm: | 
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Here's the bad news. This pipeline, and its reserve of oil was supplying 20% of U.S. oil. Some of it did go to Japan but most of it stayed here. The shutdown is of concern because gas prices will rise. However, it it expected to resume pumping by December.
Now for the really bad news: THE ENTIRE SUPPLY OF OIL FROM THE NORTH SLOPE RESERVE IS EXPECTED TO GO DRY BY 2011. This means that we will get relief in a couple of months but it will be of a short duration.
This is from the company's own projections. Also, N.P.R. listeners have heard reports about the Saudi reserves having peaked or about ready to peak. Hang on to your wallets. |
daylaborer
Citizen
Username: Upondaroof
Post Number: 872
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 8:37 pm: |
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"Now for the really bad news: THE ENTIRE SUPPLY OF OIL FROM THE NORTH SLOPE RESERVE IS EXPECTED TO GO DRY BY 2011."
Well its about time don't ya think? How much oil is there on this planet anyway?
We've run through wood, coal, nuclear and now oil and screwed our environment big time. Whats next? |
Lydia
Supporter
Username: Lydial
Post Number: 2107
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 8:53 pm: |
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The bad news has been coming for decades - my parents brought me along on marches protesting nuclear power in the early '70's.
Somewhere along the way the millions of people who supported wind power and solar power were marginalized as nutty tree huggers.
So here we are.
BIllions of dollars have gone into continuing to dig up new sources of non-renewable fuel and we're in a very bad spot.
2011.
Very bad. |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 3672
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 9:32 pm: |
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2011 is going to be some kind of year ... isn't that the year that the current estate tax law sunsets also? (Not that I don't think it will be extended in some fashion, but the political dramas around that should be very interesting.)
Actually, I suspect that the oil reserves are good for a bit longer than that, particularly in the middle east, but the basic premise is valid. It's only a finite amount and we're burning through it rather recklessly. |
oots
Citizen
Username: Oots
Post Number: 452
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 9:39 pm: |
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Day:
we have as much coal as saudi has oil-its just dirty!
oots |
hch
Citizen
Username: Hch
Post Number: 330
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 10:32 pm: |
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Day:
As oots said there is lots of coal, as well as lots of wood. How do you run out of nuclear power? |
Glock 17
Citizen
Username: Glock17
Post Number: 1709
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 10:52 pm: |
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You don't. You run out of places to put the the waste...and then you run out of living people. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 5425
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 11:12 pm: |
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There is a finite amount of uranium on Earth, just like there's a finite amount of oil. You run out by, well, running out. Breeders and fusion reactors are unfortunately still in the science-fiction stage. |
daylaborer
Citizen
Username: Upondaroof
Post Number: 873
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 8:14 am: |
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"Day:
As oots said there is lots of coal, as well as lots of wood. How do you run out of nuclear power?"
There used to be lots more, but that wasn't my point as Glock 17 was so kind to point out. We've run through a lot of energy sources much to the detriment of our environment. Let's hope that we start getting serious about wind, solar and water power before we're all gasping and glowing. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4641
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 9:42 am: |
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"You don't. You run out of places to put the the waste...and then you run out of living people."
That simply isn't true. If there was a consensus on safe handling of nuclear waste, we could do it. I will admit that the terrorist angle deserves special consideration, but absent terrorism, there are ways to manage the nuclear waste problem. |
Glock 17
Citizen
Username: Glock17
Post Number: 1727
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 12:26 pm: |
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dumping it into the sun? Shooting it off into random directions in space? Aiming it at pluto? |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4645
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 12:31 pm: |
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Those are more expensive solutions but carry the risk of a launch failure that scatters radioactive debris over a wide area.
A more mundane option is to store the stuff in a location protected from the weather until it becomes harmless. The most dangerous stuff decays most rapidly. |
Glock 17
Citizen
Username: Glock17
Post Number: 1728
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 12:32 pm: |
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deosn't that take millions of years?! |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4646
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 1:19 pm: |
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Not millions, thousands. |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 2595
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 1:31 pm: |
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"THE ENTIRE SUPPLY OF OIL FROM THE NORTH SLOPE RESERVE IS EXPECTED TO GO DRY BY 2011"
I can't find that anywhere. And find it hard to believe that they would spend any money on the pipeline then. Then can just Tanker it out in the summer months.
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Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 2239
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 1:36 pm: |
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Any realistic analysis of the Saudi oil reserves (and there have been a dozen realistic ones done, if not more) show the peak occurring within 2005-2007.
Then the extraction really starts to become fun.
Of course, it should be of no concern to the citizens of this country, since we all know that even if we are addicted to oil, the magical solution (energy supplied by either fairy dust or prairie dust) will soon be announced by the WH. |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 2240
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 1:39 pm: |
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Brett:
Why not spend that money? What they receive in return is gravy.
It's like the makers of Claritin spending a ton of money to keep a generic off the market for 6-9 months: the worldwide revenue during the 6-9 month period is stupendous. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4648
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 1:52 pm: |
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The flow of oil isn't going to abruptly stop anytime soon. What will happen is that energy will become increasingly expensive going forward. Alternatives will be found - some good (solar, wind), some not so good (more use of coal). The increase in prices will be like the stock market - short-term irrational, long-term rational. There will be price spikes due to real and perceived international crises and natural disasters. |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 2596
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 2:05 pm: |
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Why is it gravy? If the oil is going to run out in 2011, they should spend the least amount of money extracting that oil, because once it’s gone, they get no more revenue? The pipe line is the quickest way to get the oil out, but tankers are cheaper then repairing 16 miles of pipe. Either way all the oil gets sold. |
notehead
Supporter
Username: Notehead
Post Number: 3690
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 2:41 pm: |
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One of the more creative solutions I've seen for storing spent fuel rods was in a Scientific American article at least 15 years ago, where the authors proposed encasing portions of the radioactive material in some kind of incredibly tough ceramic and then depositing it VERY far beneath the ocean floor. As I recall, the ceramic wouldn't break down until the radioactivity was virtually gone. The biggest problem with the plan, as the authors noted, was that it called for leaving the stuff in international territory, which would require agreements that would be just about impossible to obtain.
But, as Tom points out, and as was mentioned in a government document I posted several months ago, there is simply not enough obtainable uranium in the entire planet to provide energy via nuclear fission for very long. If uranium was the world's only source of fuel, it would run out within about 10 years. And, there is NO way we'll be able to construct enough nuclear plants quickly enough to replace the declining supply of oil anyway.
I'm not waiting for someone else to solve this problem for me. We're putting solar on our house when we rebuild our second floor in a few years. All of MOL's liberals (and a few of you other folks) are welcome to drop by for a hot shower or a cold drink when you can't afford grid power any more. |
Hoops
Citizen
Username: Hoops
Post Number: 1830
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 3:09 pm: |
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that might be this winter...
I prefer to shower in the morning, but I can accomodate your schedule.  |
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