Category Archives: big whoop dee do

This Is Probably A Huge Exaggeration – But

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But sometimes the Peak Oil people get all wound up and I want to put their stuff up in a timely fashion. So without further adieu (god I have always wanted to say that ) here it is:

http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com/

The Gulf of Mexico is Dying

A Special Report on the BP Gulf Oil Spill

It is with deep regret that we publish this report.  We do not take this responsibility lightly, as the consequences of the following observations are of such great import and have such far-reaching ramifications for the entire planet.  Truly, the fate of the oceans of the world hangs in the balance, as does the future of humankind.

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) does not exist in isolation and is, in fact, connected to the Seven Seas.  Hence, we publish these findings in order that the world community will come together to further contemplate this dire and demanding predicament.  We also do so with the hope that an appropriate global response will be formulated, and acted upon, for the sake of future generations.  It is the most basic responsibility for every civilization to leave their world in a better condition than that which they inherited from their forbears.

After conducting the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference for over seven months, we can now disseminate the following information with the authority and confidence of those who have thoroughly investigated a crime scene.  There are many research articles, investigative reports and penetrating exposes archived at the following website.  Particularly those posted from August through November provide a unique body of evidence, many with compelling photo-documentaries, which portray the true state of affairs at the Macondo Prospect in the GOM.

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dot dot dot as they say
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As the diagrams clearly indicate, the geology around the well bore has been blown.  This occurred because of drilling contiguous to a salt dome(1), as well as because of the gas explosions which did much damage to the integrity of the well casing, cementing, well bore, well head, and foundation around the well head.  Eighty-seven straight days of gushing hydrocarbon effluent under great pressure only served to further undermine the entire well system.  Finally, when it was capped, putting the system back under pressure forced the upsurging hydrocarbons to find weaknesses throughout the greater system, which revealed all sorts of compromised, fractured and unsettled geology through which the hydrocarbons could travel all the way to the seafloor and into the GOM.

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This is a really long post and a really long blog space so I can not really do it justice. Please go there and read it all. Is it truth. I don’t know but there is a lot of destruction in the Gulf with or with out some kind of continuing seepage. More tomorrow.

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The Oil, Gas And Coal Shills Never Give Up – Of course they are paid not to

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I was going to go on a residential energy tear, but then I saw this by another of the Frontmen for everything carbon. I always suggest they suck up on the tailpipe of a car for a couple of minutes to get their priorities straight. Our planet is drowning and they want to lalalalalala all around as the water splish splashes around their feet. AND it is about the housing market…so what the heck.

http://thegwpf.org/uk-news/1912-chris-huhne-in-deep-trouble-as-guardian-turns-against-green-deal.html

Chris Huhne In Trouble As Guardian Turns Against Green Deal

Wednesday, 24 November 2010 13:08 Juliette Jowit, The Guardian

While it slashes budgets, shuts itself off from advice and prioritises economic returns, the supposedly “greenest government ever” is clinging to one of its headline promises: the soon-to-be-unveiled Green Deal. This seemingly simple policy, announced by the Labour government and continued by the coalition, promises to lend the money for an “energy efficiency makeover” to millions of homes in the next decade, to save money on their gas and electric bills and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The energy secretary, Chris Huhne, this month announced the plan would create 100,000 jobs.

Less pollution, lower bills, more jobs: who could argue with that? Except that bills probably won’t be lower. And when customers realise that, will they want to pay for the work that would lower pollution and create the jobs? Perhaps even more damaging, then, is the risk of a public backlash when energy users realise they are paying hundreds of pounds each for a plethora of “government” initiatives to improve energy security and cut global warming emissions.

The problem with the economics of the Green Deal is two-fold. In advance of a government bill before Christmas, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) will only confirm that up to 14m homes could be treated by 2020, and customers will have 20-25 years to repay the costs, though it is hoped many will do so much sooner. It is also expected that spending per household will be capped at about £6,500, and energy and retail companies asked to deliver the programme are said to be modelling interest rates of 6-8% to cover their borrowing of the capital plus the risk of non-payment.

Meanwhile, a recently published Decc leaflet suggests what different measures will cost and save. According to this, customers with cavity walls (usually in homes built from 1930) could spend just £500 getting their walls and loft insulated, and expect to save £160 a year – recouping what the work cost in less than four years, or a little longer accounting for the loan interest.

However, a mid-range quote for insulating solid walls (internally) and the loft would be £6,250, and the predicted saving £425 a year. Taking a middling interest rate (see above) of 7%, a customer borrowing £6,250 would pay back approximately £875 a year over 10 years, or £530 over 25 years.

What immediately stands out in this example is that the repayments are higher than the government’s estimated saving – implying those customers’ bills would not fall. Decc also assumes a relatively low 15% “rebound effect” – when customers chose to use some of the saved money for extra heating, cooling or more appliances – despite acknowledging by email that it is in reality 15-40%, and a separate estimate by the EU environment directorate of 20-80%.

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See they don’t talk about how much coal costs really. I mean if you factor in the costs of the damage done to all of us, and the subsidies all energy companies get…coal is very expensive. More tomorrow. More turkey that is.

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Drill Baby Drill – ANWR yields dry holes

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I said all along that the idea that there were huge new oil fields in Alaska was both dangerous and wrong. Dangerous, because if there was oil there, drilling could destroy the ecosphere. Wrong, because like the North Sea, the oil companies always claim there is “oil next door” and then drill dry holes. I have often thought they use this technique to drain capital from smaller investors.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/27/alaska.oil.reserves/index.html

Alaska’s untapped oil reserves estimate lowered by about 90 percent

By the CNN Wire Staff
October 27, 2010 1:35 a.m. EDT

(CNN) — The U.S. Geological Survey says a revised estimate for the amount of conventional, undiscovered oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska is a fraction of a previous estimate.

The group estimates about 896 million barrels of such oil are in the reserve, about 90 percent less than a 2002 estimate of 10.6 billion barrels.

The new estimate is mainly due to the incorporation of new data from recent exploration drilling revealing gas occurrence rather than oil in much of the area, the geological survey said.

“These new findings underscore the challenge of predicting whether oil or gas will be found in frontier areas,” USGS Director Dr. Marcia McNutt said in a statement. “It is important to re-evaluate the petroleum potential of an area as new data becomes available.”

The organization also estimates 8 trillion cubic feet less gas than a 2002 estimate of 61 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, conventional, non-associated gas — meaning gas found in discrete accumulations with little to no crude oil in the reservoir.

“Recent activity in the NPRA, including 3-D seismic surveys, federal lease sales administered by the Bureau of Land Management and drilling of more than 30 exploration wells in the area provides geological information that is more indicative of gas than oil,” the geological survey said.

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Of course the nutcases still believe this and will until their dieing days.

http://www.pushhamburger.com/hidden.htm

Huge Alaska Oil Reserves Go Unused

After 30 years, an insider finally acknowledges the United States
has all the oil and gas it needs.

By Marie Gunther

The United States has more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia but this happy though shocking information has been covered up for years.

The wells have been drilled, it’s merely a matter of turning on the faucets to supply America’s needs for 200 years.

These astounding revelations have been confirmed by a 30-year veteran oil exe cutive with leukemia who has decided to speak out.

In 1980, Lindsey Williams wrote a book, The Energy Non-Crisis, based upon his eye witness accounts during the construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline. As a chaplain assigned to executive status and the advisory board of Atlantic Richfield & Co. (ARCO), he was privy to detailed information.

“All of our energy problems could have been solved in the ’70s with the huge discovery of oil under Gull Island, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska,” Williams said. “There is more pure grade oil there than in all of Sau di Arabia. Gull Island contains as much oil and natural gas as Americans could use in 200 years.”

Oddly though, immediately after this massive discovery, the federal government ordered the rigs to be capped and oil production shut down.

Developing Alaskan oil would make the United States completely independent of oil imports, Williams said in his book.

Why is the government covering up such good news? Why does it want to be dependent on imported oil? Do international financiers who are heavily invested in the oil industry want to keep the supply limited and prices up?

Will the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), investigate what could be a criminal cover-up? Will the appropriate House committees in quire? Or the Justice Department? Since the cover-up has extended through four presidential administrations, only public outrage can force action.

“Everything you hear on the evening news and out of Washington is garbage,” said Jim Lawler, an oil production manager with ARCO. “Eight wells have already been drilled in the areas environmentalists are claiming we must not go in. We have already been in and out. There was no damage done. All we need to do is start production.”

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More tomorrow

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Global Resource Depletion OR Recycling A Waste Of Time – Which is it

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shhh It’s Jam Band Friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hntXAO_Rq7c

OK so which is it, are we running out of stuff or not? Is 6 Billion people too many or not? Have we cut down way too may trees or not? I believe these answers are knowable. Are the Ocean’s fished out or not?  Is Global Warming happening? The issue seems to be Price. If Global Warming were happening then carbon would be expensive. But what if price isn’t the issue when capitalists and nations treat resources as if they were “free”.

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http://www.planetthoughts.org/?pg=pt/Whole&qid=3267

Blog item: Recycling? What A Waste.

By Jim Fedako

This fall, school kids across the country will again be taught a chief doctrine in the civic religion: recycle, not only because you fear the police but also because you love the planet. They come home well prepared to be the enforcers of the creed against parents who might inadvertently drop a foil ball into the glass bin or overlook a plastic wrapper in the aluminum bin.

Oh, I used to believe in recycling, and I still believe in the other two R’s: reducing and reusing. However, recycling is a waste of time, money, and ever-scarce resources. What John Tierney wrote in the New York Times nearly 10 years ago is still true: “Recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America.”

Reducing and reusing make sense. With no investment in resources, I can place the plastic grocery bag in the bathroom garbage can and save a penny or so for some more-pressing need. Reducing and reusing are free market activities that are profitable investments of time and labor.

Any astute entrepreneur will see the benefit of conserving factors of production. Today, builders construct houses using less wood than similar houses built just 20 years ago. In addition, these houses are built sturdier; for the most part anyway.

The Green’s love for trees did not reduce the amount of wood used in construction; the reduction was simply a reaction to the increasing cost for wood products. Using less wood makes financial sense, and any entrepreneur worth his profit will change his recipe to conserve wood through better design or by substituting less dear materials for wood products.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pojL_35QlSI&feature=related

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http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2010-10-20/global-resource-depletion

Published Oct 20 2010 by The Oil Drum: Europe, Archived Oct 20 2010

Global resource depletion

by Ugo Bardi

André Diederen’s recent book on resource depletion

I have been thinking, sometimes, that I could reserve a shelf of my library for those books which have that elusive quality that I could call “modern wisdom”. Books that go beyond the buzz of the media news, the shallowness of politicians’ speech, the hyper-specialization of technical texts. That shelf would contain, first of all, “The Limits to Growth” by Meadows and others; then the books by Jared Diamond, James Lovelock, Konrad Lorenz, Richard Dawkins, Peter Ward and several others that have affected the way I see the world.

I think I’ll never set up such a shelf, I have too many books and too few shelves; many are packed full with three rows of books. But, if I ever were to put these books together, I think that the recent book by André Diederen “Global Resource Depletion” would make a nice addition to the lot.

The subject of resource depletion, of course, is well known to readers of “The Oil Drum”. So well known that it is difficult to think of a book that says something new. Diederen, indeed, succeeds in the task not so much in reason of the details on the availability of mineral commodities that he provides, but for the innovative way he describes our relation to the subject. In other words, Diederen’s book is not a boring list of data; it is a lively discussion on how to deal with the implications of these data. It is a book on the future and how we can prepare for it.

To give you some idea of the flavor of the book, just a quote:

(p. 43) “… it isn’t enough to have large absolute quantities (“the Earth’s crust is so big”) and to have all the technology in place. (p. 33) … we have plenty of water in the Mediterranean or Atlantic Ocean and we have ample proven technologies to desalinate and pipe the water to the desert, so, why isn’t the Sahara desert green yet?”

This is, of course, the crucial point of resource depletion: what counts is cost, not amounts (I plan to use this example in my next talk!). Diederen is an unconventional thinker and he goes deeply into matters that, in some circles would be thought to be unspeakable; for instance (p. 41)

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Price? Really. More next week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a9mx1IVZzU&feature=related

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President Obama And His Family Went To New Orleans – Here is what they saw

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Testing Results Returning With High Levels

Report by: Wilma Subra

Results of sampling  performed by the Lower Mississippi River Keeper in the Lower Atchafalaya Bay area on August 2, 2010

Collecting oysters from Oyster Bayou
Collecting oysters from Oyster Bayou
The shore of the Gulf of Mexico east of Oyster Bayou, where the Atchafalaya Bay meets the Gulf of Mexico, contained visible oil on the vegetation along the shore line.  Soil in this location contained Carbon Disulfide, 378 mg/kg Hydrocarbons and six Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) (0.222 mg/kg). The oiled vegetation contained 2.3% Hydrocarbons and 31 PAHs (0.554 mg/kg) that  corresponded strongly to the PAHs in the Deepwater Horizon Crude Oil spill.  Samples of Blue Crab and Fiddler Crab contained 2,230 mg/kg hydrocarbons.
Oysters sampled from a reef on Oyster Bayou in Atchafalaya Bay contained 8,815 mg/kg Hydrocarbons.

Results of sampling performed by the Lower Mississippi River Keeper in the Mississippi River Delta on August 3, 2010

Taking samples in the Mississippi River Delta
Taking samples in the Mississippi River Delta
At the mouth of Pass-a-Loutre, in the reed vegetation along the shore of an island, a sediment sample was collected.   The sediment contained 71 mg/kg Hydrocarbons and 14 PAHs (0.8713 mg/kg).  The PAHs in the sample weakly support that the contaminants in the sediment are associated with the crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon.  A muscle sample collected at this location contained 6,900 mg/kg Hydrocarbons and seven PAHs (0.386 mg/kg).
A sample of oysters was collected from oysters growing on  an abandoned crab trap between Pass-a-Loutre and Redfish Bay.  The oysters contained  12,500 mg/kg (1.25%) Hydrocarbons and two PAHs (0.063 mg/kg).
Along a beach area near Redfish Bay, samples were collected from a stained area along a sandy beach area and from a vegetated area behind the beach.  The beach area had clean-up waste materials and supplies left behind by cleanup crews.  A small water body adjacent to the beach had a boom in the water and a small boat used to place the poles that secured the boom was stained with oil.  The beach area contained a number of tar balls.
The sandy soil sample contained  Carbon Disulfide, Hydrocarbons  (146 to 779 mg/kg),  and 29 to 38 PAHs (3.7259 to 3.934 mg/kg).  The PAHs support reasonable evidence that the sandy soil is contaminated with crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon.

Samples were also collected from the vegetated area (reed vegetation) behind the beach.  The vegetated area contained  oil sheens on the vegetation and on the water that collected in the sampling area.  The soil/sediment samples contained Carbon Disulfide, 2-Butanone (MEK), Toluene, 0.4 to 1.16 % Hydrocarbons, and 20 to 40 PAHs (49 to 189 mg/kg).  The PAHs in the soil/sediment strongly support that the soil/sediment is contaminated with crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon.

SaveOurGulf.orgVisit SaveOurGulf.org to get more information about the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster from Waterkeeper organizations across the Gulf Coast and donate to Save Our Gulf!

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Just kidding – More Tomorrow
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ECOBuild In Britain – These events are so cool

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In memoriam of Richie Hayward one founder of Little Feat It is Jam Band Friday…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FekVR_SC5M

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http://www.ecobuild.co.uk/2010-review.html

Ecobuild 2010 was a huge success with more than 1,000 exhibitors, over 41,000 visitors, and dozens of new attractions, initiatives and special events. Here are just some of the highlights…..

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Milliband launches Pay As You Save initiative

Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change, Ed Milliband, chose the opening day of Ecobuild to launch the Government’s new Pay As You Save initiative.  After the announcement, the Minister went on to meet some of Ecobuild’s 1,000 exhibitors.

Watch the announcement

First stage of Saint-Gobain’s solar decathlon completed at Ecobuild

The collaboration between Saint-Gobain and Nottingham University to design, build and operate Europe’s most attractive, effective and energy efficient zero carbon solar powered house came to fruition at Ecobuild with the debut of the Nottingham HOUSE (Home Optimising the Use of Solar Energy).  The structure now moves on to Madrid for the final of the Solar Decathlon Europe competition.

Watch the Nottingham HOUSE video

2010 BREEAM awards winners announced

BRE Global announced the winners of the 2010 BREEAM awards at Ecobuild, each building representing exemplary sustainable design and construction.

Click here for all the winners and case studies

Hundreds of new products launched

Ecobuild was the launch platform for hundreds of new sustainable construction products.

‘Ecobuild was extremely good, with near continuous traffic to the stand. With a good mix of customers and the right media present it was a great vehicle to launch our new products.’ Richard Hartley, Monier Ltd

Click here to see more products launched at Ecobuild 2010

Award for best innovative sustainable construction product

Winner of the Green Shoots Best Innovative Sustainable Construction Product award, Thomas Lipinski of Green Structures, received a cheque for £5,000 from Green Shoots sponsor, Neil Morgan, Lead Technologist – Low Impact Buildings, Technology Strategy Board.

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More next week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns9jGWiF8d0

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People Toss HydroCarbons Around Like There Is No Tomorrow

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It is both true and disgusting. When you think nothing could get more cruel or stupid, these things happen…:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7913940/New-oil-spill-in-the-Gulf-of-Mexico-after-tug-boat-strikes-well.html

New oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after tug boat strikes well

A new oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has created a mile-long slick after a tug boat struck an abandoned well off the Louisiana coast.

By Heidi Blake
Published: 9:20AM BST 28 Jul 2010

A crew was scrambled from the Deepwater Horizon clean-up operation after the collision sent a plume of oil and gas 100ft into the air.

The spill in Barataria Bay, which is surrounded by wildlife-rich wetlands, is at least the third leak since in the area since the BP oil catastrophe began on April 10.

The area of ocean 65 miles south of New Orleans would normally be occupied by fishermen, shrimpers and oystermen, but it has been deserted since the BP spill began.

The abandoned wellhead burst in the early hours of Tuesday morning after being hit by a tug boat that was pushing a dredge barge.

About 6,000 feet of boom was placed around the spill, and the Coast Guard was surveying the scene from a helicopter.

Admiral Thad Allen, the US Coast Guard chief, said the oil platform was surrounded by a sheen and a vapour that was probably a combination of oil and gas spewing from the well.

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From one end of the country to the other:

http://michiganmessenger.com/40133/michigan-oil-spill-a-replay-of-gulf-spill

Michigan oil spill a replay of Gulf spill?

By Ed Brayton 7/27/10 3:28 PM

It’s looking like the oil spill from a pipeline into the Talmadge Creek in Calhoun County is going to be a replay of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in at least one respect — the companies, aided by the government, do not want the media to have access to take pictures and video of what is going on. The Michigan Messenger’s Todd Heywood is on the scene and was turned away from one of the primary sites by employees of Enbridge, the company that owns and operates the pipeline.

Heywood was at 12 Mile Rd. and C Avenue at a bridge over the Ceresco Dam when employees from Enbridge turned him away. The employee would only give his name as Mike, and when he noticed Heywood writing down the information he said, “I’m not telling you anything else” and walked away.

A sheriff’s deputy on the scene confirmed that he was not allowed to take pictures there of the oil spill or the wildlife. He then went to the Enbridge command center and was told by Enbridge spokesperson Lorraine Grymala that he would have to go to the Calhoun County Sheriff to talk to them about it.

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More tomorrow

(I mean at this rate I really hope there isn’t…but I am sure there will be>)

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Oil Spills Everywhere – When it rains it gushes

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I think tossing oil into the environment is contagious.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_china_pipeline_explosion

Growing China oil spill threatens sea life, water

AP

By CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writer Cara Anna, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 38 mins ago

BEIJING – China’s largest reported oil spill had more than doubled by Wednesday, closing beaches on the Yellow Sea and prompting an environmental official to warn the sticky black crude posed a “severe threat” to sea life and water quality.

Some workers trying to clean up the inky beaches wore little more than rubber gloves, complicating efforts, one official said. But 40 oil-control boats and hundreds of fishing boats were also deployed in the area.

“I’ve been to a few bays today and discovered they were almost entirely covered with dark oil,” said Zhong Yu, a worker with the environmental group Greenpeace China, who spent Wednesday on a boat inspecting the spill.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-florida-oil-20100721,0,6666372.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+latimes/news/science/environment+%28L.A.+Times+-+Environment%29

In Florida, oil spill seeps into statehouse

Gov. Charlie Crist pushes a constitutional amendment banning offshore drilling, an effort defeated by Republicans. It’s not the only political battle ignited by the spill.

By James OliphantJuly 21, 2010
Reporting from Tallahassee, Fla. —

Tribune Washington Bureau

It took Republicans in the state House of Representatives here less than an hour Tuesday to deep-six an effort by Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican turned independent, to push a constitutional amendment banning offshore drilling.

The outcome was not a surprise, but it was dramatic evidence that the massive oil spill is washing over gulf state politics as well as beaches.

Crist, a popular governor who is running for the U.S. Senate as an independent after being flanked by conservatives in his own party, is hoping that anger over the oil spill will propel him to office.

And the actions of the state GOP, while stopping Crist in the Legislature, appear likely to foment that anger further.

Fallout from the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster is seeping through congressional races nationwide. While the spill has emerged as a central issue in the Senate race here, it’s also pitted Gulf Coast Democrats on Capitol Hill against the Obama administration, made conservative folk heroes out of a pair of Republican governors, and handed Democrats something every campaign season needs: a black-hat villain in BP.

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More tomorrow.

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