Posted by Jim Hickey | Posted in our energy future | Posted on 24-08-2009
Sounds like T. Boone Pickens might have lost again ….
Isn’t amazing how quickly things can change. Just one short year ago, fuel prices were soaring and the emphasis on alternative energy was in the stratosphere along with them.
This summer it’s a completely different story.
Though thoughts of alternative energy systems haven’t completely diminished, it has definitely started to drift off to the sidelines.
Why?
First of all … The Economy ….
When people are suddenly being pressured with increasing costs, lay-offs or threats of lay-offs, stagnating salaries and so forth, it is difficult to be as enthusiastic about a topic like alternative energy. Add in the fact that financing for alternative energy programs ran into the same funding issues as everything else, many projects were pushed to the back burner for the moment.
Then couple the fall in oil prices (> $120/barrel in ’08 to <$70/barrel in ’09) and lower prices at the pump thus easing the financial burden on summer travelers and it is easy to see why most people are starting to slip into complacency about our energy situation.
Now I am not saying we have completely forgotten about our energy situation but there are definitely more pressing things on our minds at the moment. The one thing we can not afford to do is become completely complacent with foreign oil since the root of the problem (our dependence on it contributes to the financial burden on our economy) is still very much alive.
I became even more concerned today when I came across a news story posted on the Associated Press (AP) website about a significant oil discovery off the coast of Brazil.
The AP reported oil exploration companies had found a field believed to contain up to 8 billion barrels of oil in a region where the total recoverable oil estimates range up to 100 billion barrels.
Those are awfully big numbers aren’t they!
Perhaps or maybe they are just a little deceptive ….
First of all, the 100 billion barrel figure is the high-end estimate and there could be substantially less recoverable oil present given the location (deep water and difficult drilling conditions). Secondly, let’s consider the quantity of oil present with the current daily global use of oil (85,897,000 barrels/day).
100,000,000,000 barrels/85,897,000 barrels/day = 1,164 DAYS
1,164 days/365 days/year = ~3.2 YEARS
Although the numbers may appear impressive (and in some respects they are), the high-end estimates only adds a few years into the global oil reserve. If it turns out recoverable oil is more towards the low end of the range (50 billion barrels) it would only add 1.6 years into the global oil reserves. Oh and one other thing, Brazil is a foreign country and therefore that is foreign oil as well!
Just remember, even though the economic burden imposed by petro-fuel costs have been somewhat alleviated from the recent past and there are claims by many people associated with the petroleum industry of huge finds to keep us going, the numbers just don’t add up!
Support viable alternative energy projects when ever you have the chance!
