Energy Crisis

Subject: Fw: energy crisis
Some interesting ideas

No mention of Nuclear Power?

A luncheon seminar on the Oil Industry was held earlier this week at the Junior League and sponsored by the University of Texas Ex Students Association. The panel consisted of lawyers, Petroleum Engineers and Oil Company Executives. The audience included people from Houston 's energy sector.

Below are some salient points that came out of the meeting:

1) By 2015, China will consume more oil than the United States . India will be not far behind.

2) The United States currently imports 60% of its oil. Two thirds of that comes from Canada , Mexico and South America .

3) WHY ETHANOL IS NOT THE ANSWER TO OUR ENERGY PROBLEMS

a) It takes more energy to create ethanol than it produces.
b) Ethanol absorbs water and cannot be shipped by pipeline.
c) Two cycle outboard boat engines are being destroyed by ethanol
d) Fuel tanks made of fiberglass are rotting from ethanol
e) Ethanol added to gasoline lowers the octane rating and the mileage
f) Ethanol rots rubber fuel lines and carburetor parts that were not formulated to pass ethanol.
g) The demand for corn for ethanol has some unintended consequences. Farmers will sell all their corn to oil companies and cattle ranchers will have to raise the price of beef to cover the increase in feed stock prices.
h) There is a large and growing "Dead Zone" in the Gulf of Mexico caused by runoff of fertilizer from cornfields into the Mississippi River.
i) There is no real "Savings" here. Your taxes go to pay subsidies to corn farmers and oil companies. We are not talking "Ma and Pa Kettle" here.

* Archer Daniels Midland: is a multi-billion dollar farm operation.
* Exxon/Mobil: just posted the largest quarterly corporate profits in US History.

4) Most of the oil people there felt we are at "Peak Oil," That from now on, new sources and new methods will be needed to keep up with voracious demand. They recommended a book called Twilight in the Desert by Matt Simmons. He says that demand will increase by 60% over current levels by 2030.

5) Saudi Arabia has only 32 wells and no exploration. (No need for it, the wells are prolific)

6) Possible future sources of oil

a) The Reforma Trend. 70 billion barrels. Runs in a crescent shape from Southern Mexico though Belize and Guatemala and ends in Cuba.
b) The Barrett Shale, inside the Ft Worth City Limits
c) Canadian Oil Sands. More oil than Saudi Arabia but the cost to recover a barrel is equal to the current market price of a barrel.
d) Fractured gas recovery. Possible with chemical treatment. Problem is that the wells are layered and run many miles in all directions. Determining mineral rights is very difficult.
e) The ANWAR. (Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska/Canada) Exploration and production in this area is totally prohibited at this time
f) Offshore oil rigs on the California Coast. Hippies and environmental wackos have passed laws prohibiting any "Unsightly" offshore rigs. There are huge petroleum reserves off the California Coast
g) Deep water rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The Ixtoc 1 field off the Yucatan Peninsula alone could produce a ten year supply for the USA.

7) What about wind power?

a) Many legal questions are unanswered.
b) Which is superior, wind rights or mineral rights?
c) Wind farms were defeated by votes in the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island areas by hippies, yachtsmen and Sierra Club types who basically approve of alternative energy, as long as it's "Not in my back yard" (NIMBY).

8) What about coal?

a) The USA still has lots of coal.
b) There were new coal-fired electric plants planned for Texas but the hippies stopped them. The executives showed up for the meeting in Austin where the streets were lined with protesters and impressed the mob by arriving in Toyota Prius cars.
c) Coal heavily pollutes the air with carbon dioxide and Sulfur. There is no clean way to burn coal.

9) What about Liquid Natural Gas (LNG)?

a) The plants to make it are extremely expensive.
b) It is smarter and safer to just use gas out of the ground in direct applications

10) What about the compact "Pigtail" fluorescent light bulbs that screw in?

a) They contain mercury vapor inside them. Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man.
b) There is only one hazardous waste collection site in Houston that accepts mercury. All flourescent bulbs should be taken there for disposal.

11) How are airlines changing in reaction to high fuel prices?

a) Fewer drinks and meals to save weight.
b) Not painting a plane saves 1,000 pounds.
c) Not using reverse thrusters on landings. Increases the risk of tire blowouts and fires caused by overheated brakes
d) Airports are lengthening runways to minimize the use of reverse thrusters which consume huge amounts of fuel.
e) More use of tractors (Mules) to get the airplanes out to the runways for takeoff
f) More pilot training in Link Trainers than in the air.

12) We're from the Government and we're here to help you.

Some Sad Government Statistics:

a) No new refineries have been built in the last 30 years in the USA because of onerous laws and restrictions and pervasive harassment by the EPA, ADA, NOAA, DOE, OSHA, etc. etc, etc.
b) All 50 states have different laws regulating the formula of gasoline sold in their state. The refining of gasoline is far more complicated than it was even ten years ago.

13) What is likely to happen if a certain woman democrat is elected president and the Democrats keep control of the house and the senate in 2008.

a) Democrats view the oil industry as a huge cash cow with deep pockets to provide them with an enormous slush fund to pay for ill-conceived social welfare programs and money for illegal aliens.
b) To appeal to the "Little guy", the democrats will prove their merit by"Soaking it to the rich oil companies who have exploited you for so many years under the Republicans."

1] The Oil Depletion Allowance will be eliminated entirely and there will be no incentive to drill for oil in the USA.
2] The dems will force the major oil companies to break up into smaller ones.
3] Much of US Oil production is on federal land and the oil companies pay a royalty. The dems would double or triple the royalties to add to their feeding trough of cash. Again, this would make us more dependent on middle eastern oil as US exploration would cease.
4] Democrat hippie tree-hugging environmental wackos would demand unrealistic minimum mileage on new cars and put US automakers out of business. They would also demand exotic super-clean gasoline that would cost a fortune to produce.

14) The probable energy outcome from a total democrat election victory in 2008 of the white house and both seats of congress:

a) The price of gasoline would go to $6 the first year and $10 by the end of her first term.
b) All US automakers will be forced out of business by unreasonable demands on fuel economy requirements.
c) The possession or sale of an SUV will be outlawed.
d) The Windfall Profits Tax will be re-instituted against oil companies.
e) The middle eastern countries, seeing that the democrats have made us 100% dependent on their oil, will seize that opportunity to create a very bad situation.
f) There will be a move for the US Govt to nationalize the oil industry.

(If you like the way they run the Post office; you'll love the way they run your corner gas station!)

There will never be a more important time to vote than the 2008 National Elections.