In article , Mike Coslo
writes:

Here is one that gets me into some trouble.


With whom?

Mostly people who support things like opening the North slope. You know
who they are! 8^)

SUV drivers?

I'm a firm believer that we should:

1. develop as much alternative energy as possible. Although we will
never run out of oil, there are some real limits to it's inexpensive
production.

Agreed! But the alternatives usually cost more, particularly in first-cost.

Friend of mine wrote her chemical engineering master's thesis on a new
shale-oil extraction process back in 1980. Her method was an entirely practical
and efficient way of deriving oil from the type of shale found in abundance in
parts of the USA. Clean, too.

Only problem was that the recovered product cost about $45/barrel.

2. In the interim, use as *much* imported oil as possible.

3. Our own oil resources should be husbanded very carefully, so we will
still have oil in emergencies. We should use only as much as it takes to
operate the wells and search for new sources.

That's pretty much been US policy for about 40 years.

It is one of those reasons why I don't believe that we should open that


range in Alaska at this time. There may come a time that that oil is
needed desparately.


The problem is that it takes years and years to develop a new field. And
most
new fields are not easily accessible.

All the better sometimes. And as WWII proved, we can do things amazingly
quickly under duress

Yes and no. WW2 ended 58 years ago. Some things are different now. And there
were also colossal expensive failures and overruns as well as the well-known
successes like the A bomb (which was only ready in the summer of 1945), radar
and the proximity fuse.

Ultimately the answer is to get away frok nonrenewable sources, and to
increase
efficiency. But such things are a hard sell.

Not glamorous at all.

That's part of it, but the real problem is the kind of mindset it requires.
Many Americans don't like to think in terms of any sort of limits or long-term
responsibility or planning. Look at the battle it took to get seat belts in
cars, and how many Americans won't use them.

73 de Jim, N2EY

(N2EY) wrote in message ...
In article , Mike Coslo
writes:

Friend of mine wrote her chemical engineering master's thesis on a new
shale-oil extraction process back in 1980. Her method was an entirely practical
and efficient way of deriving oil from the type of shale found in abundance in
parts of the USA. Clean, too.

Only problem was that the recovered product cost about $45/barrel.

Personally, I am a big proponent of new/expanded mass transit. I
DON'T believe the oil reserves are "unlimited". That's rediculous.
So it's time to build the infrastructure while the opportunity is
ripe.

2. In the interim, use as *much* imported oil as possible.

3. Our own oil resources should be husbanded very carefully, so we will
still have oil in emergencies. We should use only as much as it takes to
operate the wells and search for new sources.

That's pretty much been US policy for about 40 years.

It is one of those reasons why I don't believe that we should open that
range in Alaska at this time. There may come a time that that oil is
needed desparately.


The problem is that it takes years and years to develop a new field. And
most
new fields are not easily accessible.

All the better sometimes. And as WWII proved, we can do things amazingly
quickly under duress

Yes and no. WW2 ended 58 years ago. Some things are different now. And there
were also colossal expensive failures and overruns as well as the well-known
successes like the A bomb (which was only ready in the summer of 1945), radar
and the proximity fuse.

It amazes me that we pushed ourselves to the Moon in only 9 years
yet we've really done nothing more in space technology than what
existed 25 years ago.

Of course if we found some sort of massive mineral reserves on
the Moon, the commercial sector would have us buying real estate there
in half that.

Ultimately the answer is to get away frok nonrenewable sources, and to
increase
efficiency. But such things are a hard sell.

Not glamorous at all.

That's part of it, but the real problem is the kind of mindset it requires.
Many Americans don't like to think in terms of any sort of limits or long-term
responsibility or planning. Look at the battle it took to get seat belts in
cars, and how many Americans won't use them.

Hey...it's job security for me! =)

Steve, K4YZ