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Page added on August 4, 2015
A Helium-3 and Oil Timeline: Is There a Conspiracy Between the U.S. Government and the Fossil Fuels Industry?
While doing research for my book A Truth Stranger Than Fiction, I found a lot of material on helium-3 and oil, some of which suggested the existence of a conspiracy between the U.S. government and the fossil fuels industry to suppress development of helium-3 and moon mining so that the resources in the Bakken Formation might be exploited.
Rather than connect the dots for you, what follows below is a simple list of important dates and events related to domestic oil production, the Bakken Formation, helium-3, moon mining and NASA. I present these dates and events for your consideration, along with some primary sources, so you can decide for yourself whether or not such a conspiracy exists.
For more information on helium-3, fossil fuels, moon mining and related topics, I suggest you visit a page I’ve set up with all of the primary sources I consulted while writing my book. Here is the page: “Helium-3: Further Reading.”
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A Helium-3 and Oil Timeline:
1953 – Discovery of the Bakken Formation: an oil- and natural gas-rich shale deposit beneath North Dakota, Eastern Montana, and parts of Southern Canada.
1956 – M. King Hubbert posits his “Peak Oil” theory.
1969 – Apollo 11 mission returns from moon with rock and soil samples that show existence of helium-3 on moon.
1970 – The date posited by “Peak Oil” theorists for peak oil production; according to Hubbert, production will fall off after this date.
1973-74 – OPEC oil embargo/crisis in U.S.
1983 – An article in the MIT Technology Review states that “fusion as it is now being developed will almost certainly be too expensive and unreliable for commercial use.”
1991 – The University of Wisconsin Fusion Technology Institute seeks federal funding for helium-3 fusion research and is denied.
1995 – The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that the Bakken Formation holds approximately 151 million barrels of oil.
2004 – President G.W. Bush announces plans for return to moon and moon colonization.
2006 – NASA details plans for moon colonization program.
2006 – The University of Wisconsin Fusion Technology Institute reports that helium-3 fusion research is progressing and that helium-3 from the moon would be a viable energy source.
2007 – An article in the MIT Technology Review (24 years after the 1983 article) states, “Lab experiments suggest that future fusion reactors could use helium-3 gathered from the moon.”
2008 – The USGS releases a report stating that the Bakken Formation contains 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of oil (this is 25 times the amount estimated in 1995).
2008 – U.S. average gasoline prices hit their highest point: $4.11/gallon.
2010 – President Obama unveils a new plan for NASA and space exploration that does NOT include returning to the moon.
2013 – The USGS releases yet another new estimate stating that the Bakken Formation contains 7.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
2014 – The PR website for the Bakken Formation, Bakken.com, publishes an article titled, “Moon Mining: Foolishness or the Future of Energy?”
20 Comments on "A Helium-3 and Oil Timeline: Is There a Conspiracy Between the U.S. Government and the Fossil Fuels Industry?"
paulo1 on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 7:14 am
My neighbour keeps looking over at our house and I think he buried some money on our property and forgot just where? I have been looking, myself, and might get a buddy over with a metal detector. But, and this is just a question, what if they are both involved and in cahoots to keep everything to themselves? The used to be friends up until last year
Foolishness?, or the future of my family’s security?
Lawfish1964 on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 7:34 am
I’m with you, Paulo. I think my neighbor is after my tin-foil hat.
penury on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 9:00 am
Never attribute something to a conspiracy which can actually be shown to be stupidity. Or something like that.
rockman on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 9:42 am
Moon mining? LOL. Talk about cornucopianism pushed to a truly insane level. All one as to do is consider the $trillion that NASA has spent on all of it’s efforts and to ultimately do what: have a small number of astronauts wonder around the moon for a few days at a time, pick up some rocks and fly home.
Like all cornucopians: anything is possible…as long as you don’t factor in the cost. I wouldn’t even consider this article a valid conspiracy theory. More like the fanciful thoughts of a small child.
Makati1 on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 9:43 am
Has Nony started writing drivel for money?
Another story of fiction to sell his (Chris Orcutt) books.
forbin on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 10:58 am
I thought the book’s title was wrong
isnt it ” A truth no stranger to fiction ” ?
Forbin
pat lewis on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 11:34 am
if the moon was full of helium, wouldn’t it just float away?
shortonoil on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 11:43 am
It might have worked if they had started 40 years ago. By the time the pilot plant is build, lunar transport craft are operational, a lunar base is established, and power plants back on earth are constructed the world will be back to burning buffalo chips. The only way to get to the moon at that point will be by using a big slingshot; wound up by 50 million unemployed people. The only thing realistic about that is the last sentence!
Westexasfanclub on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 12:07 pm
If fusion one day became a functional energy source – would helium-3 minig have a positive energy balance? Would it be more efficient than obtaining helium-3 from another source, like the oceans?
I took this from Wikipedia: The amount of fuel needed for large-scale applications can also be put in terms of total consumption: electricity consumption by 107 million U.S. households in 2001[14] totaled 1,140 billion kW·h (1.14×1015 W·h). Again assuming 100% conversion efficiency, 6.7 tonnes per year of helium-3 would be required for that segment of the energy demand of the United States, 15 to 20 tonnes per year given a more realistic end-to-end conversion efficiency.
At least transportation of helium-3 from the moon seems feasible. Though not talking about mining here. So that’s what is writing Popular Mechanics about helium-3 mining:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a235/1283056/
(and here things start to become complicated):
ree-quarters of a square mile to a depth of about 9 ft. should yield about 220 pounds of helium-3–enough to power a city the size of Dallas or Detroit for a year.
But nice stuff for that kind of sci-fi-stories I used to read when I was a child 🙂
MrNoItAll on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 1:10 pm
“a big slingshot; wound up by 50 million unemployed people”
I like how engineers think.
HARM on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 1:11 pm
I’m sure the $10,000+/LB cost of sending anything into orbit (much less all the way to the moon and back) had nothing to do with it. Clearly, if the oil & gas industry is giving preference to terrestrial fuel resources, the only logical explanation could be a government conspiracy… involving aliens… and Bigfoot.
gdubya on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 1:23 pm
The World Of Tomorrow! In 20 years which scenario will be most likely?
A. Hundreds of humans mining the moon, every month launching a couple of tons of packaged helium to safely re-enter the atmosphere; where modern functional fusion reactors provide power for an egalitarian world of 10 billion wealthy humans.
B. A few rich people able to use an automatic clothes washer when the wind is blowing, everyone else down by the river beating their clothes on a rock.
Note the complete lack of planning for either likelihood; fortunately B will likely happen on its own.
gdubya on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 2:01 pm
If nobody talks about it, And it is happening; that’s a conspiracy.
If everyone talks about it and it is not happening; what’s that?
I’m thinking penury has the answer.
http://youtu.be/MtWOgr_IEYA
Newfie on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 2:30 pm
1970 – The date posited by “Peak Oil” theorists for peak oil production; according to Hubbert, production will fall off after this date.
Um… US oil production did fall off after 1970. It rose again recently due to tracking but it has still not reached the peak of 1970. And perhaps never will.
Newfie on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 2:31 pm
“due to fracking”
Bob Owens on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 3:52 pm
Where is my tin hat? My brain is getting sunburned from NSA rays they are trying to control me with.
Boat on Tue, 4th Aug 2015 4:10 pm
Newfie,
2015 Latin America Europe Africa Middle East Asia Pacific Total Intl. Canada U.S. Total World
Jan 351 128 132 415 232 1258 368 1683 3309
Feb 355 133 132 415 240 1275 363 1348 2986
Mar 351 135 125 407 233 1251 196 1110 2557
Apr 325 119 120 410 228 1202 90 976 2268
May 327 116 100 398 217 1158 80 889 2127
Jun 314 113 103 401 215 1146 129 861 2136
These are the rig counts for the world according to Baker Hughes. So in your world all of these are wells that were fracked? Oh my. Look at this chart close. Are you sure fracking caused almost peak oil? How about the plethora of the oil glut and the ensuing price drop will cut the more expensive of the above wells in the future till at least some of the 2.5 mbpd glut is erased.
Jack Abramoff on Wed, 5th Aug 2015 12:32 am
The one example that makes this conspiracy seem realistic is the fact that billions are being invested in ASTEROID mining which is infinitely more harder than going to the stationary moon and mining it.
There’s no way the economics for that don’t work but somehow do for even farther out asteroids moving thousands of miles per hour with their own erratic orbits and debris trails. That alone suggests the moon is not being mined of helium 3 for a reason despite its immense value. It also suggests they have space tech far in advance of what the public knows for billionaires to be jumping to mine asteroids. Based on whats public that should make as much sense as shrinking cities with ray guns to reduce global warming. Both scenarios show oil is kept in the loop for a reason, probably because it locks the world in a tightly controlled economic and power structure.
Makati1 on Wed, 5th Aug 2015 6:39 am
Jack, the US cannot even get a man or supplies to the space station. Russia and the other space countries can not do much better. We lost space in the 70s when we decided that war was easier and more profitable. It’s ALL about money.
Marcos Passarello on Thu, 6th Aug 2015 1:09 pm
AS-8000-2003 – Good Governance Principles –
After get training and coordinating groups of professionals in IRAM (ISO) since 2004, in the Subcommittees in Risk Management, Fraud Management, Information Security and Software Quality was preparation for that in 2011, Banco Patagonia achieved ISO 27001 certification: 2005, as the first Argentine Bank distinguished and then the year 2014 recertify the ISO 27001: 2005 as well as the first Argentine bank to do so, for me it was a double feat as directly responsible for this goal. Continued working on the following standards, ISO / IEC27001: 2013 – “Specifications for Systems Management Information Security (ISMS)”, Internal Audit: ISO 19011: 2011 “Guidelines for auditing management systems” , Technological Risk Management: ISO 31000:2009 “Risk Management Principles and Guidelines.”, BCP- ISO 22301: 2012 “Management systems business continuity” and Incident Management.
Development: The Importance of information technology
Information is an asset that, like other important business assets, is essential to an organization’s business and consequently needs to be suitably protected. This is especially important in the increasingly interconnected business environment. As a result of this increasing interconnectivity, information is now exposed to a growing number and a wider variety of threats and vulnerabilities (see also OECD Guidelines for the Security of Information Systems and Networks).
Information can exist in many forms. It can be printed or written on paper, stored electronically, transmitted by post or by using electronic means, shown on films, or spoken in conversation. Whatever form the information takes, or means by which it is shared or stored, it should always be appropriately protected. Information security is the protection of information from a wide range of threats in order to ensure business continuity, minimize business risk, and maximize return on investments and business opportunities.
Information security is achieved by implementing a suitable set of controls, including policies, processes, procedures, organizational structures and software and hardware functions. These controls need to be established, implemented, monitored, reviewed and improved, where necessary, to ensure
that the specific security and business objectives of the organization are met. This should be done in conjunction with other business management processes.
Climate change and global warming
The D-He3 fueled nuclear fusion reaction has long been recognized as long been attractive for generating clean fusion energy. Although aware of its virtues, fusion researchers had despaired of ever using it because they did not know where to obtain He3. Recently University of Wisconsin scientists upon reviewing data on constituents of lunar samples confirmed their suspicion on the presence of He3 in the lunar regolith. He3 originated in the sun and is transported by the solar wind where it has been implanted in the lunar surface over several billion years. It is estimated that about a million tonnes of He3 is stored in lunar regolith. A kg of He3 can generate 10 MW-years of electric on earth, worth 5-10 M$ by present day costs. The benefits for a permanent lunar base from by-products of a He3 mining operation are very impressive. Another paper describes a mobile He3 miner and its implication toward the resupply of a lunar base.