Hydraulic Fracturing, Horizontal Drilling, Supercomputers, Seismic Imaging, Smart PIGS, Drones and Robots, Water Recycling, Cloud Computing, Gas Imaging/VR, and Mobile Data/Internet of Things. These “top ten” categories explain why dilute, intermittent substitutes are government plays. A tip of the hat goes to the private property, free-market center of the oil and gas universe, the United States.
It is easy to brag when you are the victor. The victor over depletion, pollution, and the hazards of nature. I was reminded of this upon reading a study put out by Texans for Natural Gas, entitled “The Greatest Story Never Told: Technology, Innovation, and American Oil & Gas.”
The Introduction and Conclusion of this study follow.
…Over the past century, a stunning series of technological advances have transformed the oil and gas industry.
“[I]n recent years the IEA has been undermining energy security by discouraging sufficient investment in energy supplies… Moreover, its energy modeling no longer provides policymakers with balanced assessments of energy and climate proposals. Instead, it has become an ‘energy transition’ cheerleader.”
An important letter asking for explanation has been sent to Dr. Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), by U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY: ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources) and U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA: chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce). The U.S. is a major funder of IEA, an agenda that has turned its back on its original charter and begun to promote/mislead on the deep-ecology cause of climate alarmism/forced energy transformation.
The U.S., in fact, should immediately cease funding to this agency as one of many budget cutting items.…
“It is entirely possible that the total costs to build, maintain and replace units every 20+ years (at end of service) would be prohibitive compared to other sources of energy. Beyond these cost considerations, sources indicate that the turbine blades cannot be recycled and are piling up in landfills. Fossil fuels will also still be needed to maintain the lubrication of these units, and what about potential for spillage?” (Jeff Wyles, below)
The old joke comes to mind: Q: When is an environmentalist not an environmentalist? A: When it comes to wind power.
Make that double for offshore wind, and wild-eyed California politicians are having trouble hiding the problems. Consider a recent op-ed, Rethink Floating Wind Turbine Power Off Our California Coastline?,” an environmental feature of California newspaper MendoFever (February 12, 2024).…