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Three thoughts about peak oil |
[Fossil Fuel] |
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Posted on April 20, 2009 @ 06:51:00 AM by Paul Meagher
Lately, I've been thinking about three aspects of the peak oil phenomenon:
- Currently we are being asked to voluntarily limit our use of fossil fuels. We are also looking at ways to cap or tax fossil fuel usage. I wonder, however, if in the next 10 years these will be non-issues because of peak oil? As crude reserves continue to dwindle and crude prices go through the roof, won't the cold-hard-facts of supply limitation do a better job of controlling usage than any voluntary scheme we will come up with?
- If we start to see dramatic effects of the peak oil phenomenon in the next 10 years, should we start thinking now about whether a car is a good investment? Will car ownership go the way of the dodo bird when the effects of peak oil starts to hit (e.g., high fuel costs, limitations in supply, rationing, etc...). If so, are the car companies facing an even tougher future than we are even imagining now? Recession may be the least of their worries going forward.
- As environmentalists should we regard peak oil as a good thing or a bad thing? Certainly if we had unlimited supplies of oil we would burn it in increasing quantities and threaten our own survival so in that respect I think we have to be thankful that our supply of oil is limited. We simply lack the political institutions now to curb our national self-interests. Peak oil is probably the only reality check that will work to help curb our fossil fuel usage; however, there is the worry that coal will fill this void in the near term (via the Fischer-Tropsch process for auto feuls) and hasten our demise (although the "clean coal" propogandists would like us to believe otherwise).
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Diesel rationing in Alberta |
[Fossil Fuel] |
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Posted on October 20, 2008 @ 12:30:00 PM by Paul Meagher
It is a bit ironic that Alberta, a leading petroleum production region, is having diesel shortages. The apparent reason is that three refineries in the provinces diesel supply-chain decided to shut down for a month of maintenance at the same time. "Maintenance" is probably another term for an attempt by some big market players to influence the market cost of diesel? Alberta uses an enormous amount of diesel to extract unconventional crude oil so that sector is getting worried. The prosperous province of Alberta is an economy unto itself, however, truckers need to deliver goods through that province and truckers are getting increasingly worried about whether they can find an open diesel pump en route through this region. Could shut east-west down food delivery routes in Canada if the situation escalates.
One estimate is that it takes around 30-35% of a barrel of oil to produce a barrel of unconvential crude oil. If you are producing alot of oil, this means you are consuming alot of it as well. The shortages are also leading to a jump in diesel theft.
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