THe Cavalry arrive and halt peak oil...but is it in time?

by **reggieUK** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 08:43:30

Breaking news story in the UK. Although peak oil won't be averted, the US may have solved it's own energy problems and maybe the world's and thay can say 'eat shit' to the arab world and their oil!!
what do you all think about this? Is this the saviour?
from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/science/ ... 82,00.html
is
More than a mile below the choppy Gulf of Mexico waters lies a vast, untapped source of energy. Locked in mysterious crystals, the sediment beneath the seabed holds enough natural gas to fuel America's energy-guzzling society for decades, or to bring about sufficient climate change to melt the planet's glaciers and cause catastrophic flooding, depending on whom you talk to.

No prizes for guessing the US government's preferred line. This week it will dispatch a drilling vessel to the region, on a mission to bring this virtually inexhaustible new supply of fossil fuel to power stations within a decade.
.........................................................
Tom

by **0mar** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 08:47:08

Most geologists say that methane hydrates are pretty much unminable unless we strip mine the ocean floor. Even then, it'll only be a 30-50 year supply due to exponential growth.

by **RonMN** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 11:42:43

They should try drilling 2 holes close together...pour hot water doen one which would cause the hydrates to gassify & suck up the gas with the other pipe. It'd be worth a shot.

by **RonMN** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 11:44:56

*down* (oops)

by **Devil** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 11:53:10

Do not discuss this yet again

by **woodies** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 12:19:32

0mar wrote:Most geologists say that methane hydrates are pretty much unminable unless we strip mine the ocean floor. Even then, it'll only be a 30-50 year supply due to exponential growth.

30 to 50 fifty years growth is exciting for maintenance of our existing paradigm. I have no doubt industrial society will collapse eventually from consuming itself, but technology has continually increased our carrying capacity, even if its only phantom carrying capacity.

Although i frimly advocate a no growth steady state society, there is no way growth opportunites in energy extraction wont be pursued with our current political-economic system

by **born2respawn** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 15:05:48

The world at large seems to invest an insane amount of time and money in to what amounts to "burning stuff". Surely a fraction of that cash put in to offshore wind or tidal would reap massive benefits.

by **EnviroEngr** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 15:28:28

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic6076-0-asc-0.html#77674

Devil, are you still in the 'tempting' business?

by **mortifiedpenguin** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 16:21:21

Why not? It won't stop PO, but it will slow it down. Give us some more time. I say go for it.

by **formandfile** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 17:23:56

Did you forget how thick of a gas methane is? Puts carbon dioxide to shame...

by **pea-jay** » Mon 04 Apr 2005, 22:47:13

mortifiedpenguin wrote:Why not? It won't stop PO, but it will slow it down. Give us some more time. I say go for it.

Humans are a mostly stupid lot, predisposed to putting off those really hard decisions until tomorrow. Even if we got three decades more, no doubt we would waste them, like we squandered every other opportunity. With peak oil and peak gas at least we have an opportunity to arrest "progress" while this rock we call Earth is still inhabitable. Hopefully hydrates remain one of those future technologies that we will someday get around to inventing (and never will) like flying cars, fusion, time travel and intergalactic space travel.

by **Devil** » Tue 05 Apr 2005, 07:51:16

EnviroEngr wrote:http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic6076-0-asc-0.html#77674

Devil, are you still in the 'tempting' business?

Shoor am, man. Want to sell me your soul for a billion bbl of oil? Whoever ttries to exploit methane hydrates will certainly have the doors of my domain wide open to him, because he will destroy mankind and many other species. I have it written in my Book!

by **gg3** » Tue 05 Apr 2005, 10:14:15

Hmm, another dose of selective socialism by way of government R&D money. Not that I'm opposed to *all* of that, just that it shouldn't be forgotten.

I am quite skeptical about methane hydrates. First, unburned methane is a hell of a nasty greenhouse gas, and we haven't got the means of containing it securely during extraction.

Second, what Pea-Jay said about humans stupidly putting off hard decisions. Sooner or later we have got to stop breeding like mice and gluttonizing like locusts, and the sooner the better off for our kids and theirs.

Meanwhile, if we really want to do something with methane, we should start by hooking up hoses to the rear-ends of cows.

by **RickTaylor** » Wed 06 Apr 2005, 12:04:06

Devil wrote:Shoor am, man. Want to sell me your soul for a billion bbl of oil? Whoever ttries to exploit methane hydrates will certainly have the doors of my domain wide open to him, because he will destroy mankind and many other species. I have it written in my Book!

Hi, I'm new here, and have only recently gotten scared about peak oil. What book have you written?

--Rick Taylor

THe Cavalry arrive and halt peak oil...but is it in time?

THe Cavalry arrive and halt peak oil...but is it in time?

Clathrates again

Re: Clathrates again

Re: Clathrates again

Who is online