Energy Everywhere
With the price of oil dropping briefly below $120 a barrel today, are we still in an energy crisis? Certainly so, this momentary lull in the price increase is because of a reduction in consumption combined with favorable environmental factors. Imagine if American’s start to see a reduction in the pumps? The immediate psychological concern would be to to take advantage of the cheap prices therefore boosting demand. Senator McCain is still pushing his plan for drilling which according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll is not what the American people want:
I am using this poll with the disclaimer that it does not represent the views of everyone but with a personal belief on my part that most Americans realize drilling for oil is a short term solution.Drilling for oil is at the most, part of American’s energy mix in the long term:
The Energy Information Administration says that once opened, leasing would not begin until 2012, production would not begin until 2017 and would not be of sufficient scale until 2030 to have any impact on the US oil or natural gas market. By this time offshore oil drilling would add approximately 250,000 barrels a day to the U.S. market, against an overall current demand of about 21 million barrels.
It would take 9 years until we see benefits from any offshore oil drilling and by that time, the increasing global demand would have negated any positive effects from such drilling. What is the solution? I have advocated in previous posts the Pickens Plan which I still stand by however Mr. Pickens plan does still not address the fundamental issue of increasing exponential demand and inadequate supply. If I had to take a stab at an answer, I would say the solution relies heavily on increasing funding for the development of new energy technologies. My personal pick of these technologies would be nuclear fusion where the Korean’s are pioneering real fusion conditions:
Korean scientists have successfully demonstrated a Korean-made “artificial sun” nuclear fusion reactor for first time, becoming one of the world’s first research reactors to create plasma.
Talking about fusion today would take the better part of the evening therefore I will leave that for another day. Summarizing we know that American’s want alternative energy, they realize offshore oil drilling is a long term solution and will support the candidate with the right energy plan. The problem is who has the right energy plan for America? I will let you decide as you know where my support lies 
August 05 2008 09:59 pm | American Politics
August 6th, 2008 at 1:35 am
That’s an interesting poll, Crian. I’ve heard numbers that differ greatly; perhaps it’s how the question is asked. Certainly Speaker Pelosi thinks the House would vote for it if it came up for a vote; that’s why she’s determined that it won’t come to a vote.
I don’t think it would take as long as the EIA claims if we went about it in a determined way.
The real problem with “renewables” is that either they don’t work in a reliable manner (wind, solar) or that they cost more energy than they provide (biofuels). The Danes have built wind farms sufficient to provide 60 percent of their needs. Because of the wind’s unpredictable nature, they’re actually getting about 3 percent of their power from the wind. What’s more, it’s very expensive, and doesn’t reduce carbon, because you have to have conventional (coal) generators running on standby in case the wind gets too weak–or too strong.
Solar’s great, if you’re living where there ain’t many clouds, and you can store enough in batteries for times when the sun doesn’t shine. That pretty much rules out northern Europe. What’s more, the wonderful new thin-film photovoltaics seem to have a nasty side effect. The ditches of the villages near the plant in China that makes the film seem to be suddenly be contaminated with silicon tetrachloride. I wonder how that happens?
Fusion will be great, if and when; till then we’re gonna need coal and oil.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I agree Gordon, it would depend on how the questions are asked but I prior to this poll I was under the impression that the majority of Americans supported drilling.
Even if they went at it in a determined way, maybe they could cut the time in half? what would be the motivation of any oil company to speed up the process when they could reap the benefits of $100+ barrel of oil
Renewables are not the most reliable solution, you won’t hear any argument from me but they need to form a bigger part of America’s energy mix. On biofuels, I remember watching a discovery channel documentary using trash as biofuel. We have only hit the tip of the iceberg when it comes to biofuel, certainly more R&D is needed.
Actually my neighbor has solar here in Ireland, doesn’t work that great though as you would know. I never heard about the China story but that is terrible, thanks for the info.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Solar will work great here in Texas and we’re planning on putting up solar panels, Crian. We are also thinking about a wind turbine because we also have a lot of wind.
Both my hubby and I agree that we should use all options including drilling. We’ve sat around on our fanny’s ignoring this problem for far too long. This is what hapens whe we become too dependent on other countries.
Off topic: Thanks for going over to You Tube and flagging that video. You are indeed a fair-minded liberal.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I have heard a few stories about the Texas sunshine, let me know when you and your husband get that setup, would love to see some pictures posted as well as details about effeciency
No problem on the video, you made a good point and I know you would do the same if it was an Obama video.
August 7th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Crian,
I think most Americans do support drilling. If it were asked as a yes/no question, I think it would come out that way.
The Chinese manufacturers have been known to cut corners. When you can just bribe the local party hack to look the other way, it’s easy and cheap.
Gayle has the right idea, I think. Solar and wind are going to be small-scale solutions. Trying to tie wind and solar into the grid is horribly complicated and expensive–and we would still have to have standby capability to replace them.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Hey Gordon, you are right if the question was asked simply like that, most people would say yes. Would that be the right choice though or is that just the public accepting the various time lines/facts put out by the media?
Alternative Energy may be expensive for the moment but the technology is constantly improving and the government as well as private enterprise needs to continue to plow money into these fields for the long term benefit of America.