Energy Independence

[code1211]

It seems to me that it would be a good thing if the USA was energy independent.

Is it is or is it ain't?

Obama seems to be actively working against the possibility that we could ever be energy independent and I don't hear allot of political leaders putting this forward. We obviously could do this with the stores of Coal and Natural gas and the sudden availability of oil from shale.

In ten years, we could be an OPEC nation instead of an OPEC slave.

Would this be good or bad?

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

It seems to me that it would be a good thing if the USA was energy independent.

Is it is or is it ain't?

Obama seems to be actively working against the possibility that we could ever be energy independent and I don't hear allot of political leaders putting this forward. We obviously could do this with the stores of Coal and Natural gas and the sudden availability of oil from shale.

In ten years, we could be an OPEC nation instead of an OPEC slave.

Would this be good or bad?

it would be good to be independent and bad to pollute

 

[code1211]

It seems to me that it would be a good thing if the USA was energy independent.

Is it is or is it ain't?

Obama seems to be actively working against the possibility that we could ever be energy independent and I don't hear allot of political leaders putting this forward. We obviously could do this with the stores of Coal and Natural gas and the sudden availability of oil from shale.

In ten years, we could be an OPEC nation instead of an OPEC slave.

Would this be good or bad?

it would be good to be independent and bad to pollute

I should think that if there is any way to cleanly burn home grown fuels, the USA would have the best chance of discovering and employing it.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

It seems to me that it would be a good thing if the USA was energy independent.

Is it is or is it ain't?

Obama seems to be actively working against the possibility that we could ever be energy independent and I don't hear allot of political leaders putting this forward. We obviously could do this with the stores of Coal and Natural gas and the sudden availability of oil from shale.

In ten years, we could be an OPEC nation instead of an OPEC slave.

Would this be good or bad?

it would be good to be independent and bad to pollute

I should think that if there is any way to cleanly burn home grown fuels, the USA would have the best chance of discovering and employing it.

who would disagree with that?

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd hopin' it goes back down to $15/barrel...

OPEC Can't Get Along, And That's Good
6/05/12 --- For us here in the U.S., including drivers looking for cheap gas, the likely dissent in the upcoming OPEC meetings will be a good thing.

At the upcoming OPEC meeting in Vienna on June 14, members will have a lot to talk about. Oil prices have been dropping like a stone and not only because of the bad economic numbers coming out of Europe and China. There's been also been dissent among the OPEC members, particularly Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saudi Arabia has telegraphed earlier last month that they would increase production, trying to blunt the effect of an Iranian boycott still slated to go into effect July 1. As Saudi daily production has eclipsed 10 million barrels a day, other OPEC members have also been able to ramp their production unexpectedly. Libyan supply is again close to historic norms, quickly recovering from its civil war of last year and Iraq has been able to aggressively increase production, now up to 2.5 millions barrels a day. The upside of all of this production has been a monthly OPEC output of 31.8 million barrels a day, far above their stated output quota of 30m barrels a day.

This is all in spite of a decrease in Iranian production, squeezed slowly and inexorably by economic sanctions and European and Asian customers who are avoiding Iranian crude in expectation of a full boycott. Continuing negotiations on Iranian nuclear aspirations have blunted worries surrounding imminent military action by the West or Iranian threats to retaliate by shutting the Straits of Hormuz, a major choke point of OPEC exports.

Put this all together and you have a futures market that has shed more than $25 a barrel in the past month, dropping European Brent prices under $100 a barrel and West Texas Crude here in the U.S. to $83. Iran is feeling the strain of an oil market in freefall more than any other OPEC nation. They will certainly have the most on the line when the cartel meets, as its budget requires an $85 global price to sustain itself.

MORE

 

[BakshisMouse]

No one is afraid that our natural gas and coal supplies will deplete. We could use those to generate electricity for many centuries in the future. The environment might be the worse for it, though.

Also, the USA only has enough proven reserves of oil to supply itself a little less than three years supply of oil at current consumption rates. That's only if we extract every single drop of the proven reserves from the land, putting aside any regard for habitat destruction. Despite what you might have been told, biodiversity is a $300 billion service the earth provides us. To toss it all away would be foolhardy.

 

[code1211]

No one is afraid that our natural gas and coal supplies will deplete. We could use those to generate electricity for many centuries in the future. The environment might be the worse for it, though.

Also, the USA only has enough proven reserves of oil to supply itself a little less than three years supply of oil at current consumption rates. That's only if we extract every single drop of the proven reserves from the land, putting aside any regard for habitat destruction. Despite what you might have been told, biodiversity is a $300 billion service the earth provides us. To toss it all away would be foolhardy.

Throw it all away? All 2% of the total portion provided?

The idea is not to use only oil. It is to use everything. If Compressed Natural Gas is what we have, then that is what we should use. If it's coal, then use coal.

A three year supply of oil? That is not counting the reserves on the coastal shelves and in the Gulf that the Big 0 has placed off limits?

The problem here is not the natural resources. It's the national will to do it. The time has come and the place is here. It's got to be a part of the national economic recovery plan.

If the USA goes down, we are looking at another Dark Age.

 

[bobgnote]

CodeDownlow: "Obama seems to be actively working against the possibility that we could ever be energy independent and I don't hear allot of political leaders putting this forward. We obviously could do this with the stores of Coal and Natural gas and the sudden availability of oil from shale.

In ten years, we could be an OPEC nation instead of an OPEC slave."

We can't be an OPEC nation, since the 1960s, which aren't coming back. By the 1970s, our production peaked.

We can start up hemp, in salted fields, and switchgrass, on semi-arable land, harvest, and do a much better job, making ethanol and methanol, than the subsidized cornholes do, at producing corn-ethanol, or the Brazilians do, making sugar-ethanol.

 

[BakshisMouse]

No one is afraid that our natural gas and coal supplies will deplete. We could use those to generate electricity for many centuries in the future. The environment might be the worse for it, though.

Also, the USA only has enough proven reserves of oil to supply itself a little less than three years supply of oil at current consumption rates. That's only if we extract every single drop of the proven reserves from the land, putting aside any regard for habitat destruction. Despite what you might have been told, biodiversity is a $300 billion service the earth provides us. To toss it all away would be foolhardy.

Throw it all away? All 2% of the total portion provided?

The idea is not to use only oil. It is to use everything. If Compressed Natural Gas is what we have, then that is what we should use. If it's coal, then use coal.

A three year supply of oil? That is not counting the reserves on the coastal shelves and in the Gulf that the Big 0 has placed off limits?

The problem here is not the natural resources. It's the national will to do it. The time has come and the place is here. It's got to be a part of the national economic recovery plan.

If the USA goes down, we are looking at another Dark Age.

The provern reserves would last three years. I'm assuming that includes all reserves, including "off-limit" reserves. It is a significant amount of oil, though. By no mean do I think we should not drill for oil. We just need to be realistic about our capacity and the possible impact on biodiversity.

 

[bobgnote]

It seems to me that it would be a good thing if the USA was energy independent.

Is it is or is it ain't?

Obama seems to be actively working against the possibility that we could ever be energy independent and I don't hear allot of political leaders putting this forward. We obviously could do this with the stores of Coal and Natural gas and the sudden availability of oil from shale.

In ten years, we could be an OPEC nation instead of an OPEC slave.

Would this be good or bad?

it would be good to be independent and bad to pollute

But codeDownlow is too intriguing, to want hemp and switchgrass biomass, to even go into development. Look at your shit, "we could be an OPEC nation," asshole! No! Not!

We could use German tech from WWII, to make coal into liquid fuel, and I don't see the smart people running this up, since we haven't even tried to spread switchgrass, which keeps it's roots down, when harvested.