Energy seems to be the issue of the day. FINALLY!!! In my daily
battle against the El Paso Corporation, lots of information comes my way. I'd like to continue sharing it with you all.
Once again, that you to BB, JA, ML, Jill and others.
Energy News Roundup #1
Energy News Roundup #2
Alot of ETHANOL in this issue. We begin with a debate over the ethanol tariff.
Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado recommends maintaining ethanol tariff to aid fledgling USA ethanol industry. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says the switch from MTBE to ethanol in gasoline is now complete. The article lists the location of eight ethanol plants existing and under construction in Colorado. The photo from a Citgo fuel station in Arlington, VA shows biodiesel currently selling for $2.92 - 9/10 and E85 selling for $2.86 - 9/10.
Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Washington, DC-based Renewable Fuels Association, says big oil is realizing that ethanol is here to stay. Chevron is exploring soybeans as an ethanol source, and Royal Dutch Shell is investing in ethanol from cellulosic biomass.
Here in New Mexico, my friend and Republican (yes its true) Tweeti Blancett responds to a bizarre article by the President of the New Mexico Independent Petroleum Association that appeared in the Las Cruces Sun News on March 31, 2006 (sorry no link). Essentially, the NMIPA says that they will pull out of New Mexico if there are any laws placed on them that they consider burdensome. Riiiiiight.
It is especially interesting that a transnational industry that controls a substantial share of the world's wealth feels so threatened. An interesting note from the article is the continuing hypocritical references by the Independent Petroleum Association of NM and the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association to those various "out-of-state" entities that threaten big oil and big gas. Should we presume that companies like BP, El Paso Corporation, et. al. are local to New Mexico, or perhaps that these and other "out-of-state" companies do not belong in the state either?
In any case, Thompson's peculiar article contains a very empty threat. The companies from many states and countries would descend upon the places where the oil and gas resources exist, so there will be no lack of new drillers to exploit what the IPA leaves behind when it heads for Oklahoma and points east. Its funny - many oil & natural gas fields there have been abandoned, which is the very reason companies have moved from Texas, Oklahoma, etc. into the Rocky Mountains. Maybe the NMIPA is planning to abandon oil & natural gas entirely, and start up wind or solar energy business out on the plains?
Moving on....the Denver Post calls for investigation the political influence of natural gas drilling company Williams Cos that is building gas field access roads on Colorado's Roan Plateau.
A letter to the editor in response to the article comes from Dusty Horwitt of the Environmental Working Group points out that Williams Cos over the course of 14 years has produced enough natural gas to fuel 17 minutes of USA demand. During that same 14 years, all the natural gas drillers across the Rocky Mountain West have produced a grand total of 53 days' supply of USA natural gas demand. North American natural gas production continues to decline despite all the drilling because of the straightforward and very well known geological fact that the natural gas reserves of the North American continent are trivial in the context of consumption and demand:
....Between 1982 and 2004, Interior Department records show that the federal government gave Williams access to drill on 575,244 acres of federal land - more than twice the size of Rocky Mountain National Park. Yet from 1989 to 2003, Williams produced the equivalent of 17 minutes of U.S. oil consumption and 11 hours of natural gas consumption.
Williams' record is hardly unusual. Across the West, the federal government opened up 229 million acres of land for drilling between 1982 and 2004 - an area greater than the size of Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico combined. Yet between 1989 and 2003, companies produced from this land just 53 days' worth of U.S. oil consumption and 221 days' worth of natural gas....
This serves as yet another reminder that drilling all of the onshore natural gas basins in North America is not going to meet USA natural gas demands nor offer meaningful energy solutions. Drilling these basins will not appreciably affect prices. Drilling these basins will not influence "energy security," nor will such drilling alter the momentum of the global business of exporting and importing natural gas. The USA is in no position - now or ever - to drill its way to "energy independence" from foreign oil and gas unless our consumption falls dramatically to be in line with our resources.
Meanwhile, the government continues to give away the public's land to the oil and gas industry:
The federal auction today [May 11, 2006] of 192,334 acres of mineral-rich Colorado public land for oil and gas drilling is once again pitting environmental activists against the Bush administration as it pushes for more energy development in the Rocky Mountain region.
Faced with skyrocketing energy prices and the call for more domestic production of oil and gas, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has stepped up the leasing of federal lands for drilling in past years.
From fiscal years 2001 through 2005, the agency has leased more than 2 million acres of public land in Colorado, 13 percent more than the almost 1.8 million acres auctioned during the previous five years.
emphasis mine
And yet, an AP article from May 12, 2006 (again, sorry no link) has an interesting quote on those "skyrocketing energy prices":
"Unless we have a repeat of last summer's hurricane season, we're going to have so much (natural) gas in storage by September that we won't have anywhere to put it," said Daniel Lippe of Petral Worldwide Consulting in Houston.
[snip]
Analysts said the price of natural gas could fall even further in the months ahead, given relatively weak demand and expectations of rising supplies, though they cautioned that production in the Gulf of Mexico remains hindered by damage from last year's powerful hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Wait a minute. The price of natural gas is dropping 'cause we almost have more than we know what to do with but BLM uses the cost of oil to justify drilling for natural gas to bring down the price?!? I'm confused.
There are some revealing comments in this article about the impacts of natural gas drilling in Colorado, and company promises versus company practices.
"If we stop drilling, production will begin to decline and we'll leave a lot of resources in the ground," he said, addressing more than 75 residents at Sky Ute Casino. Without additional drilling, increasing well density from one per 160 acres to one per 80 acres, about 40 percent of the gas will remain underground, cutting back on profits and taxes paid to the county, Tidwell said.
[snip]
She pointed to pictures of well sites BP displayed at the meeting Tuesday and said they are not accurate depictions. "Our existing well site looks like a trash pit," Carey said. BP leaves behind parts when it makes repairs, the weeds are overgrown and there are two puddles filled with a green liquid she thinks is chemically based, she said, adding she called the BP complaint line several times and, while BP returned her calls, it has not made any improvements.
I especially like the moronic statements from Bob Baird who doesn't seem to know the difference between natural gas and gasoline, even though he owns the mineral rights to the natural gas on his own property:
"They can drill all they want on my place. I hope gas goes to $4 a gallon," he said.
D'uh.
What about some 'good' news for a moment...well, at least its nor horrific.
The LA TImes reports that Toyota plug-in electric RAV4 sells in California for nearly double its 2003 purchase price. Fully electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in hybrids should work for many local commuting demands. Plug-in hybrids offer the option for gasoline use only for longer trips. It is also straightforward to place solar panel(s) on the roof of the vehicle to charge the batteries.
A Chatsworth couple sold their 3-year-old Toyota RAV4 electric-powered sport utility vehicle for $67,300 in a spirited EBay auction last week. That's about twice what the SUV cost Terry and Alexa Broadbent, who paid a Toyota dealer $42,500 when they bought it new and then received a $9,000 federal tax rebate.
[snip]
In all, Toyota built more than 1,000 of them, but most are leased to utility companies and other fleet users, and only 300 were made available to retail customers.
[snip]
Such a car would operate as an electric car for 100 miles or more on a rechargeable, or plug-in, battery pack. On longer trips, a gasoline-electric hybrid system would kick in when the batteries were depleted.
The LA Times also reports that California is virtually assured of having a showdown in November between Big Environment and Big Oil, with huge amounts of money being poured in on all sides of the issue. What a show that will be! Gap, Google, Hollywood, Silicon Valley and others versus Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, the California Chamber of Commerce, and others. Reserve your ringside seats now.
Winning a place on the ballot for the proposed tax -- which is designed to raise money for research and development of alternative fuels -- could set the stage for one of the more costly initiative campaigns in state history. The initiative needs 598,105 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
[snip]
Proceeds from the tax would be earmarked for research, development and production of alternative vehicle fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen.
[snip]
Oil prices, they say, are set on an international market that consumes 85 million barrels a day and shouldn't be affected by a tax collected only in California.
As for wind, the AP (again, sorry no link) also reports that Texas is planning the nation's largest off-shore wind farm off South Padre Island. The development would host some 500 windmills 400 foot tall. They would generate a total of 500 megawatts of electricity, or enough energy for 125,000 homes. The plan is to have it ready in five years. But those pesky environmentalists are in the way again....
Some environmentalists said the spinning blades could kill countless rare birds that migrate through the area each year on their way to and from winter grounds in Mexico and Central America.
"You probably couldn't pick a worse location," said Walter Kittelberger, chairman of the Lower Laguna Madre Foundation, an environmental group named for the strip of water between the mainland and Padre Island.
John Calaway, Superior's chief executive, said the company would do everything possible to reduce the threat to migrating birds. "Of course there's going to be some mortality, but we don't think it will be significant," he said.
So, why not just simply work with Audubon or whoever you need to and pick another location? The WAPO picks up one what MUST be the same wind farm. They note that the Texas General Land Office makes a deal for a 100-turbine wind farm off Padre Island, Texas (as opposed to the 500 noted in the article above. The builder, Superior Renewable Energy, claims it will study bird migration patterns and use turbine blades that are unlikely to harm migratory birds. The wind farm could provide $34 to $100 million in royalty payments to state revenue. Texas has different laws than the rest of the nation regarding control of its offshore waters. The article emphasizes the dramatic growth of the wind power industry nationwide:
Though starting from a low base, wind generation is growing rapidly. The installed capacity of the wind industry grew by 25 percent last year. The wind industry's current capacity is 9,149 megawatts, providing enough electricity to serve more than 2.3 million average households.
Chevron promises to boost biodiesel production in the USA by 54 percent. The article lists other biodiesel investors, and offers numbers about trends, production, prices, and subsidies for biodiesel and ethanol.
Finally, the oil and gas gang rape of the American West has begun to produce some literature! This is the second novel to deal with oil and gas development in the Powder River Basin. The other is "The Divide" by Nicholas Evans of "Horse Whisperer" fame. The Hunted by JOHN HOLT:
Editors' Note: Sometimes you have to resort to fiction to get a true handle on just how thoroughly the American West is being trashed by the mining, logging and oil companies. These days most grotesque feeding frenzy is going on in the Tongue River basin, a once beautiful and biologically rich stretch of high desert on the Wyoming This imperilled landscape is now being torn up by big oil. It's a battle described with rage and wit by John Holt in this excerpt from his novel "The Hunted", which is a better sequel to "The Monkey Wrench Gang" than Abbey's own "Hayduke Lives!". --AC/JSC
Sounds fun!