Picken's $700 Billion Plan

[coolyokeluke]

They are drilling at a 45* (directional drilling) and they are limited on hitting the "Big pool". So Mr. Smart AZZ I never mentioned that oil was a single US commodity. BUT why are we not in there as well pumping it out. There is only so many rigs (4 to be exact) that the Canadians can get in the location needed to do the directional drilling. The oil pumped out of Alaska would most likely never be refined in the U.S. SO what, it adds to the overall supply. The Canadians are also having logistical problmems getting the oil shipped out. They trans-Canadian pipeline is not done, so they are limited that way as well. We have a 900 mile pipeline in place, another 58 miles of flat tundra to plug into it! Big deal. It would mean jobs for Americans as well. Go back to your load of crap and eat it.

You didn't provide a rebuttal to my previous post: Just where are these Canadian rigs that are directional drilling underneath ANWAR? My strong suspicion is that you can't back it up because there is no factual evidence.

Here's an interestiong point:The Energy Information Administration does not feel ANWR will affect the global price of oil when past behaviors of the oil market are considered. "The opening of ANWR is projected to have its largest oil price reduction impacts as follows: a reduction in low-sulfur, light crude oil prices of $0.41 per barrel (2006 dollars) in 2026 for the low oil resource case, $0.75 per barrel in 2025 for the mean oil resource case, and $1.44 per barrel in 2027 for the high oil resource case, relative to the reference case."[33] "Assuming that world oil markets continue to work as they do today, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could neutralize any potential price impact of ANWR oil production by reducing its oil exports by an equal amount.

Now I'm not against drilling up there because I think it would help reduce (a small amount be reduce nonetheless) our trade deficit and would continue to sustain the high wage jobs here in the US. As I said before I have flown in that area (where I saw no evidence of Canadian rigs on their side of the border) and the oil companies run a pretty clean show up there, the problems with the broken feeder pipeline in the past year's time not withstanding.

 

[jetflyer]

Just received this email. When I joined a little over a week ago there were 30,000 people. Now there are over 150,000!

Maybe Americans can get this energy thing fixed? We just can't wait on the government to do it but have to do it ourselves.....

If you haven't joined the Pickens plan. JOIN and ask all your friends and family to join!!
www.pickensplan.com

.The Weekly Pickens

July 22, 2008
Hello from the Pickens Plan!


We've been busy. Very busy.


Since launching the Pickens Plan website just two weeks ago, over 150,000 people have joined our cause to help end America's addiction to foreign oil—and that's just the beginning.


On Tuesday, T. Boone Pickens testified about America's energy problems before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.


Last week, we scored our first major victory when the state of Texas approved a massive new wind power project. You can read all about the monumental undertaking—including mention of the Pickens Plan—here.


In other news, ABC's Nightline visited Sweetwater, Texas with T. Boone to see what all the fuss was about. There they discovered that “In Sweetwater wind has changed the future, and led to an economic turnaround in a place best known for its annual rattlesnake roundup.”


T. Boone also appeared on CBS This Morning, Lou Dobbs on CNN, and Fox News. And Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, declared: “To put it plainly, T. Boone Pickens is out to save America.”


That's not all. T. Boone and the Pickens Plan were in the pages of USA Today, The Economist, the New York Times, Forbes, the Washington Post, and his hometown paper the Amarillo Globe-News. There were op-eds from T. Boone in the Wall Street Journal and New York Daily News.


Meanwhile, over on the Pickens Plan website, we've launched a new blog called The Daily Pickens. There you can find up-to-the-minute news of the Pickens Plan, along with video messages from T. Boone. If you haven't already, check out the Pickens Plan Community, where you can meet and interact with fellow Pickens Plan supporters.


Finally, this weekend Pickens Plan supporters across the country will be throwing house parties, where they will discuss alternative energy, local energy challenges, and how to work with the Pickens Plan campaign in order to achieve real-world solutions. To find a party near you—or to learn how to throw your own house party—click here.


Thank you for your support of the Pickens Plan. With your help, we can change America.


—Team Pickens

 

[JimNtexas]

Hey Jetflyer, CNN's Wolf Blitzer interviewed Pickens. Here is what he said:

BLITZER: What about drilling offshore? There's a debate. As you know, McCain says, yes, go ahead and drill off the coasts of Florida and California. Obama says, no. You're an oilman. What do you say?

PICKENS: OK. McCain says, OK off the East and West Coasts. I say East, West Coast and ANWR. Get it all. I mean, to get off of foreign oil, that is the enemy. Get everything you can get. You cannot drill your way out of it. But you're drilling, and whatever you are able to find and put into the domestic system will help us. But you -- you aren't going to be able to find enough to take care of all the imports that we have.
BLITZER: What about nuclear?

PICKENS: Nuclear, fine, do it. Anything in America, do it, and get off of foreign oil.

(emphasis added)

So Jetflyer, I'll put you down as in the McCain camp on energy policy. I'm glad to see you're finally getting some common sense.

 

[Hank Hill]

Got any sources (credible) on this one? There is uranium in NM and other places in the US. The mines have been shut down for a while due to lack of US demand.

OMG!! You purport to comment intelligently on the energy question and you're not even aware of the serious shortage in uranium?? Or the fact that uranium is in much shorter supply than crude oil??!!

LMAO!! YGBSM!! I thought every intelligent person knew that! Guess not.




Uranium shortage poses threat

By Angela Jameson, Industrial Correspondent


A GLOBAL shortage of uranium could jeopardise plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations in Britain.

The dearth of uranium will be discussed at the World Nuclear Association’s symposium in London next month and could prove to be a major stumbling block in the nuclear industry’s attempt to have old nuclear power stations replaced with modern reactors.

While Britain has no plans to begin building a new generation of nuclear reactors, pressure has been growing to take a decision to restart a nuclear programme as a way of cutting carbon dioxide emissions that lead to climate change and reducing Britain’s reliance on imported gas.

However, a recent report by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada said that there was likely to be a 45,000-tonne shortage of uranium in the next decade, largely because of growing Chinese demand for the metal. Prices for uranium have almost tripled, to about $26/lb between March 2003 and May 2005, after being stable for years.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development’s Nuclear Agency’s “red book” — its statistical study of world uranium resources and demand — the world consumed 67,000 tonnes of uranium in 2002. Only 36,000 tonnes of this was produced from primary sources, with the balance coming from secondary sources, in particular ex- military sources as nuclear weapons are decommissioned.

In 2001 the European Commission said that at the current level of uranium consumption, known uranium resources would last 42 years. With military and secondary sources, this life span could be stretched to 72 years. Yet this rate of usage assumes that nuclear power continues to provide only a fraction of the world’s energy supply. If capacity were increased six-fold, then the 72-year supply would last just 12 years.

Paul Mobbs, an environmental campaigner, said: “It would be unwise to advocate adopting the nuclear option when we have no realistic idea of how long the uranium resources will last. We would very quickly shift from shortages of oil and coal to shortages of uranium.”

Philip Dewhurst, chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “Increased demand for uranium is going to be a factor, but the industry believes that nuclear power has served the UK very well and that we should look at the issue of replacing those generators that are due to be closed, whether the uranium supply is plentiful or not.”

China has said that it intends to build 40 new nuclear power stations by 2020. Last month, Canadian officials confirmed that China wants to buy Canadian uranium and to participate in joint mining ventures.

Canada is the world’s largest uranium producer.
Uranium mining production peaked in 2001. Experts believe that it will take more than ten years to open new mines.

Link: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/industrials/article555314.ece

 

[SkiFishFly]

OMG!! You purport to comment intelligently on the energy question and you're not even aware of the serious shortage in uranium?? Or the fact that uranium is in much shorter supply than crude oil??!!

LMAO!! YGBSM!! I thought every intelligent person knew that! Guess not.

I guess you really showed me smart guy.

I pasted some other info below. Enjoy... If you want to know the sources - there is this great tool called google. Spend about 15 minutes and you will find many more.


"...A prominent use of uranium from mining is as fuel for nuclear power plants. As of 2008, known uranium ore resources which can be mined at about current costs are estimated to be sufficient to produce fuel for about a century, based on current consumption rates.[1]"...


" ...World nuclear energy capacity is expected to grow from 372 GWe in 2007 to between 509 GWe (+38%) and 663 GWe (+80%) by 2030. To fuel this expansion, annual uranium requirements are anticipated to rise to between 94 000 tonnes and 122 000 tonnes, based on the type of reactors in use today. The currently identified resources are adequate to meet this expansion. Deployment of advanced reactor and fuel cycle technologies could increase the long-term availability of nuclear energy from a century to thousands of years..."

 

[coolyokeluke]

Regarding uranium supplies. It's just like any other commodity; as the price increases there will be more "available" because it becomes more economically viable to go after the harder to recover, smaller batches.

You're not incorrect in reporting that uranium demand is way up and there needs to be more on the market. But do you have to do it so self-righteusly and condescendingly, in a Dr. Laura kind of way? I guess it is flightinfo.

 

[JimNtexas]

I think countries not infected with American Democrat type self-loathing are recycling their nuclear fuel.

 

[JimNtexas]

The Brits are restarting their civil nuclear power program:

Business Secretary John Hutton today confirmed the Government will establish a National Nuclear Laboratory, and launch a competition to appoint a commercial operator to run the organisation.
The National Nuclear Laboratory will become an international centre of excellence in nuclear research and development, playing a vital role in cleaning up both the UK's nuclear waste legacy, and also contributing to the programme of nuclear new build....
It is now clear nuclear power will need to continue to play a crucial role in our low carbon future.

http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/20143

July 24, 2008

 

[sktwstdfrk]

They should probably set up a ring of windmills around Congress.

Or they can finally put them off the Vineyard....ohh wait, but then the Kennedy's can't sail!
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ed.../2006/05/07/kennedy_doesnt_play_by_the_rules/

I sure can't find a Natural Gas Pump at any gas station I have been too.
This technology and system isn't ready to go yet here in America. Possibly in the future.

Hell, drain the "premium" tanks under each service station. Who the hell is still using that stuff at these prices? Then fill it with Natural, and update the pumps as needed, and place a "natural gas" sticker over the "premium."

Problem Solved.

 

[jetflyer]

Jim,
I've ALWAYS said drill ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE and to do EVERYTHING including nuclear, coal to oil, etc.

Pickens thinks the same way like you pointed out. Why?

Because he knows the scope of the problem.

He's been saying we're at PEAK OIL for the last three years. He's one of us you know doomsdayers that are trying to wake people up so we can have a great future.

I hope he can help us have that great future!!

 

[UALjan15]

Oh . . there will NEVER be a hydrogen distribution system. To say otherwise IS ignorant. No point haggling over details, but hydrogen as anything other than a specialized energy carrier is a fantasy.

NEVER is such a strong word! If what you claim is true, then there are legions of engineers (smarter than me and you) that are making their life's work pursuing a "fantasy." How ignorant!

Hydrogen will come. The distribution system might not look like what you expect, however. I don't anticipate going down to the corner Chevron and pumping hydrogen out of one of the old gas pumps. What I do expect is perhaps in 10 years, we have something like what natural gas looks like today. A few specialized stations providing hydrogen, and a growing number of home and office stations that use solar panels to produce enough energy to power the electrolysis. Honda is pretty far along in developing a home station that uses natural gas to generate hydrogen, as well as heat and electricity for the home.

Many of these alternative fuel strategies are viable around town, when you have access to your home station and a network of known stations. The challenge is making them work for a long distance trip. For this reason, many folks will either just go with a gas hybrid (soon to be gas plug-in hybrid), or keep one gas/diesel vehicle for longer trips. Still, there's no reason most families couldn't go hydrogen on one of their cars a few years from now, making it much more than a "specialized energy carrier."

Oh, and it's definitely worth haggling over the details. It's all in the details, man!

 

[Jet41]

Will it work? I don't know, but if I find a way to convert my car to natural gas, I'll do it today.

/

Go ahead, where you going to find the gas to fill your car?

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

If you have natural gas heat, like I do, you can lease a device from Honda that sits in your garage and fills your car with natural gas, via the pipes that deliver it to your furnace, overnight while it sits there. They sell a Civic that is ng.

cliff
YIP

 

[Poahi]

Go ahead, where you going to find the gas to fill your car?

I found a source, but I haven't found a company that converts cars to natural gas. I did find LP conversions.

 

[rajflyboy]

Jim,
I've ALWAYS said drill ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE and to do EVERYTHING including nuclear, coal to oil, etc.

Pickens thinks the same way like you pointed out. Why?

Because he knows the scope of the problem.

He's been saying we're at PEAK OIL for the last three years. He's one of us you know doomsdayers that are trying to wake people up so we can have a great future.

I hope he can help us have that great future!!

Again:

Pickens is using Taxpayer dollars to do this. The guy is an ASS.

 

[Poahi]

We need relief Today.

Okay, what's your short term solution?

 

[coolyokeluke]

Again:

Pickens is using Taxpayer dollars to do this. The guy is an ASS.

Oil mogul and corporate raider T. Boone Pickens launched an energy plan and social-networking campaign on Tuesday that calls for replacing Middle Eastern oil with Midwestern wind.
The so-called Pickens Plan would exploit the country's "wind corridor" from the Canadian border to West Texas to produce 20 percent of the country's electricity.
Transmission lines would be built to transport the power to places in the U.S. where the demand is. The natural gas, now used to fuel power plants, would instead be used as a transportation fuel, which burns cleaner than gasoline and is domestic.
He proposed that the private sector finance the investment, which would result in a one-third reduction, equal to $230 billion, in the U.S.' yearly payments to foreign countries.
Pickens has already invested heavily in wind, notably a planned 4,000-megawatt wind farm in his native Texas.

So where's the taxpayer dollar part come in? And you already subsidize coal, oil, and nuclear.

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

I haven't heard of Pickens using Public Financing.

His advertising campain, website, etc. is coming directly out of his own pocket.

The windmill farm in TX is being paid for by investors.

Maybe the transmission line system to get the electricity from the farm to the cities it will serve is public money???

Normally, utilities using private and/or public money build the lines, as it benefits the companies customers and the public.

We ARE now, and have been, heavily subsidizing oil, coal, utilities, gasoline, airlines, aircraft production, highways/trucks, waterways/shipping, etc., etc.

cliff
YIP

 

[OHGOON]

We don't build that type of design - not safe enough.
Those who really understand Nuke power also know that it can be very safe.
Consider this - was Three Mile Island really a "disaster" (as the ignorant media and enviro wackos would have you believe)? Perhaps if you took a more careful look at what happened there you would view it as proof that the containment strategy and safety systems designed into our nuke plants actually work.

Yup those ignorant enviros and their loathsome media.......

Ever check into the cancer rates around nuclear power plants. It is not a pretty picture. Off course it can't "conclusively" be tied to the plants but hey, I am sure you would welcome one in your neighborhood right?

Never mind that the waste, fission technology generates, is the bigger issue. To this day many existing plants store their waste in local water pools because no one wants to roll that stuff away through their neighborhoods. No one has ever addressed the waste issue other than burying it in Nevada or elsewhere, which is no solution because no one can scientifically guarantee that any storage solution will outlast the half life of that stuff.

Yup lets keep doing what we've been doing. We should drill everything, everywhere and use "nucular" That way we could ignore reality for at least another month and then we could...........oh whatever as long as we don't try anything new because we 'know' that won't work because the current energy industry said so!

 

[JimNtexas]

More people died in Ted Kennedy's car than at Three Mile Island.

It is interesting to me to hear the Al Gore types telling me that I have to drastically lower my standard of living because the world is going to end in ten years because of anthropogenic global warming and then turn around and tell me nuclear power is too dangerous to consider.

The same folks also tell me that we need to be more like Europe, but Europe is building nuclear plants as fast as they can.

There have been huge advances in the design of nuclear reactors in the over 30 years since we've opened one here in the U.S.

We need more drilling, more nukes, more wind, more solar.

No of this is mutally exclusive. Unless you are a liberal Democrat who wants to see the U.S. taken down a notch or five.