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| Economy |
| The Facts About Fracking |
| 2011-06-25 |
| h/t Instapundit The U.S. is in the midst of an energy revolution, and we don't mean solar panels or wind turbines. A new gusher of natural gas from shale has the potential to transform U.S. energy production—that is, unless politicians, greens and the industry mess it up. Only a decade ago Texas oil engineers hit upon the idea of combining two established technologies to release natural gas trapped in shale formations. Horizontal drilling—in which wells turn sideways after a certain depth—opens up big new production areas. Producers then use a 60-year-old technique called hydraulic fracturing—in which water, sand and chemicals are injected into the well at high pressure—to loosen the shale and release gas (and increasingly, oil). The resulting boom is transforming America's energy landscape. As recently as 2000, shale gas was 1% of America's gas supplies; today it is 25%. Prior to the shale breakthrough, U.S. natural gas reserves were in decline, prices exceeded $15 per million British thermal units, and investors were building ports to import liquid natural gas. Today, proven reserves are the highest since 1971, prices have fallen close to $4 and ports are being retrofitted for LNG exports. ...All of this growth has inevitably attracted critics, notably environmentalists and their allies. They've launched a media and political assault on hydraulic fracturing, and their claims are raising public anxiety. So it's a useful moment to separate truth from fiction in the main allegations against the shale revolution. IM0, this is a bit more important for stopping Jihad than staying in Iraq/Afghanistan---pretending that the locals becoming civilized |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #12 NG is only a fire/explosion risk when it leaks into a confined space. Outdoors it just dissapates. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2011-06-25 23:53 |
| #11 NS, I've never heard of a NG vehicle fire. All vehicle fires here are petrol as far as I know. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2011-06-25 23:49 |
| #10 Um...Yay! Fracking and horizontal drilling keeps me employed. I really do work for Halliburton:p |
| Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division 2011-06-25 23:31 |
| #9 Currently Schwans trucks use gas but I don't know if its NG. In winter they do tend to have fuel lines freeze up. An ice ball forms about the line on the outside. The government has had an incentive program to use these fuel systems. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-06-25 21:59 |
| #8 That's interesting, phil. My understanding is that the big problem is getting a tank that can survive an 80 mph collision. Are there many accidents with the NG vehicles and what are the results? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2011-06-25 21:03 |
| #7 You could make "natural gas" out of CO2 using nuclear energy from thorium reactors. But I have no idea what the cost per therm would be. |
| Posted by: KBK 2011-06-25 20:43 |
| #6 be completely free of imported oil in less than a generation. It would happen faster than that. It took less than 10 years to get a majority of vehicles on the road here in Perth NG powered and that was without any vehicle manufacturer making an NG powered vehicle. They were all locally retrofitted. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2011-06-25 19:16 |
| #5 Problem with NG is that we already have a distribution infrastructure. No way for Al-Gore and his buddies to sell us 'Vapor infrastructure' nor charge us millions in 'consultation' fees. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-06-25 16:37 |
| #4 NG is perfect for fleet vehicles Natural gas could displace more than 1/2 of the oil used for ground transport. It also currently costs 1/3 that of crude oil. What that means is that the US could, with a plan to do something and more efficient vehicles, be completely free of imported oil in less than a generation. |
| Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 2011-06-25 16:04 |
| #3 we could be energy sufficient in everything except gasoline. Gasoline can be made out of natural gas or coal, apparently. It just takes some outside energy to do so... |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-06-25 15:10 |
| #2 NG is perfect for fleet vehicles, for peak period electricity generation (even for some base-load generation), and for heating. It has lots of industrial uses. It's the cleanest fossil fuel we have. Combine this with new light-water nuclear plants (and thorium plants down the road) and continued use of coal in the newer coal-fired plants to amortize their costs, and we could be energy sufficient in everything except gasoline. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-06-25 15:07 |
| #1 Domestic natural gas exploitation and a commitment to increasing domestic nuclear power would starve the JIHAD. Amend the Clean Air act to exclude regulation of CO2 and H2O emissions. Put down the NIMBYs and their lawyers. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-06-25 14:17 |