Sunday, February 10, 2019

The great energy war cometh!





"That being said, beware of the knee jerk ideas which will be premature and dangerous. Like the Green New Deal. This would be a great way to kill our golden goose."



This is going to be interesting to watch. We are on the verge of a great energy war. It has taken forever, thanks to obstructionist tactics by the Loons on the Left, but we have finally become not only energy self sufficient, but also a net energy exporter. And once Anwar comes on line up in Alaska, it will be even better. It will add an additional 10 billion barrels of oil to our already full reserve. That is one side of the equation.

On the other side are the socialism nuts, the kooks, the commies, and believe it or not - the auto industry. If we wanted to take things all the way from the goofy to the idiotic, let's look at the Green New Deal. That nutty plan would have ALL our fossil fuels going bye-bye in ten years. Including jet fuel, as there would be no more airplanes. We would however, still have cars.

But yesterday Bing had an article about how the auto industry is geared up for the 2020's. If you are a internal combustion person like I am, it is not good news. Some companies which made totally gasoline powered cars, will be making mostly, or all, electric/hybrid by 2025. Some by 2022. That is the other side of the equation.

Let's look at what would happen if we took fossil fuels out of the equation, and immediately went 100% "green". For starters, we would not be going anywhere, or staying warm. Why? 85% of our energy still comes from fossil fuels. Thousands would have perished during the last polar vortex. We can cheer and clap all we want about clean energy, but it is still a small ball player in this country. Also, about two and half million people work in in existing energy jobs. That is a whole lot of people to throw out in the street. Plus - almost 10% of our GDP comes from our existing energy production. Take that away, and we are in a deep recession - immediately.

Many of the "greenies" think this is all but a done deal since they believe the end is in sight for oil. Some think we have only ten years of oil supply left, and then we will really be in a lurch if we don't do something. Maybe. One thing however, which is being left out of the equation are other sources of oil. Like shale oil for example. We have (estimated), 3.7 trillion barrels just in the United States. That means decades of supply. As for coal, we have enough proven reserves to last for 150 years. So, are we going to run out of petroleum products in the United States in the near future? Not hardly.

That being said, inventors all over the world are working day and night to come up with a better mousetrap. The golden fleece of energy. No, not wind nor solar. They have their limitations, as well as externalities of production. It will come, and sooner than most think. Many think it will be hydrogen - the most abundant element in the universe. My guess is by 2050, our oil reserves will be used for strictly manufacturing purposes, with our new energy sources doing all the heavy lifting in getting us around, and keeping our abodes comfortable. 

That being said, beware of the knee jerk ideas which will be premature and dangerous. Like the Green New Deal. This would be a great way to kill our golden goose. Our transition of energy needs to be thoughtful and well planned out. Failure to do so will really put us up a creek without a paddle - or, in a house with no heat.  




1 comment:

  1. Heard a great idea this morning. All of those pushing us to be off fossil fuels should, before mandating it for the rest of us, live it for themselves. All electricity in their homes and offices must come from renewables, that is, they can only use that percentage of their normal that now comes from wind and solar, and NOT nuclear. They cannot heat or cook with natural gas. No gasoline cars and absolutely no airplanes. AND, you can only eat what does not get transported by diesel truck.

    No, seriously, we must insist that the whole, entire premise is absolutely WRONG, here. We must demand to know EXACTLY how many degrees of "warming" will be avoided by whatever CO2 reduction is planned. Hint: it cannot be found, as it is a tiny fraction of the margin of error in our temperature readings. About the same as the difference between 9:00 AM and 9:05 AM on a summer day. So WHY make this economically wrenching, physically impossible change?

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