The Energy Thread

[Shaka]

It won't last. I'm not saying it won't last through the winter, but it's not a long term deal. The good news is that domestic basis is worlds better than it was 5 years ago. Perhaps we can get a congress and senate that will deregulate some things and turn our economy loose. If that happens, oil is back above $100 in no time.

Bite your tongue I can't afford my commute as it is! Also gassing the boat can be a real drag.

[Moliere]

Bite your tongue I can't afford my commute as it is! Also gassing the boat can be a real drag.

If we hit $50/bbl there's a good chance you will have a more difficult time gassing your boat.

[byu71]

The Saudi's would like to see oil hit levels that hurts profitablility of oil projects in the U. S.

[Katy Lied]

The Saudi's would like to see oil hit levels that hurts profitablility of oil projects in the U. S.

Not sure about this. If anything, the Saudis want a narrow band of value: Low enough to discourage domestic competition, high enough for OPEC to make money.

[byu71]

Not sure about this. If anything, the Saudis want a narrow band of value: Low enough to discourage domestic competition, high enough for OPEC to make money.

I think the Saudi's make money over $10 a barrell. However, it isn't enough money to keep everyone in their country content and happy. They do have a fine line to walk. I don't know where the dollar level is that would hurt them as far as keeping their society happy with hand outs.

[Moliere]

I think the Saudi's make money over $10 a barrell. However, it isn't enough money to keep everyone in their country content and happy. They do have a fine line to walk. I don't know where the dollar level is that would hurt them as far as keeping their society happy with hand outs.

Saudi oil is probably the cheapest in the world to produce, however they rely so heavily on oil production for their economy that they can't withstand low prices for too long. Most reports say they need $90/bbl to balance their internal budget. It could be they are cutting prices in the US to see how the shale producers react....since most shale producers need around $50-$60/bbl to break even the lowering prices are troublesome to domestic production.

[Moliere]

It won't last. I'm not saying it won't last through the winter, but it's not a long term deal. The good news is that domestic basis is worlds better than it was 5 years ago. Perhaps we can get a congress and senate that will deregulate some things and turn our economy loose. If that happens, oil is back above $100 in no time.

I hope it doesn't last. I wouldn't mind a price reduction if it's simply due to oversupply, but since this reduction is more likely tied to the depressed EU outlook (starting with Germany a couple weeks ago) and the jitters in the Asian economy it's not a great sign. It won't effect me too much unless it drops below $70/bbl and stays there for over a year. That's not too likely just given price history, but then again no one really knows.

It's interesting that even with record levels of production, we still import a lot of crude. We produce more than we import and a good portion of our imports are from Canada, however we still buy a lot from OPEC countries. It would be interesting to see what would happen if the ban on crude exports was lifted. It would likely make the Saudis power in price control less effective but I doubt it would have a large impact in the US prices now that the price spreads are much more narrow than they have been in recent past.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Some fantastic developments out of Isreal:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/02/isr...e-osmosis.html

The problem with desalination has always been high energy costs. Some major advances here could be very disruptive (in a good way).

[Pelado]

Some fantastic developments out of Isreal:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/02/isr...e-osmosis.html

The problem with desalination has always been high energy costs. Some major advances here could be very disruptive (in a good way).

Isn't there a big desalination plant going in right now at or around San Diego?

[falafel]

Isn't there a big desalination plant going in right now at or around San Diego?

Biggest in the western hemisphere! Still will only supply 7% of SD's water supply.

[wally]

Some fantastic developments out of Isreal:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/02/isr...e-osmosis.html

The problem with desalination has always been high energy costs. Some major advances here could be very disruptive (in a good way).

The challenge with RO will always be physics. You have to generate enough pressure via pumping to force the water through a membrane filter so tight, that it is filtering on the molecular level. That is a shitload of energy. High efficiency pumps are great, but even if you have 100% efficient pumps, it is still tons of energy.

There is new membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment plant in Riverton Utah that went online a few years ago. Granted, a bunch of their energy consumption is due to aeration, but they are using looser filters (microfiltration rather than full-on RO). Their power bill is more than double that of another comparably-sized treatment plant I am quite familiar with.

The Riverton plant does discharge much cleaner water, though. There are pollution trade-offs with cleaning up anything.

Biggest in the western hemisphere! Still will only supply 7% of SD's water supply.

Did you know that Big Spring Texas is leading the way with the first "Toilet to Tap" direct potable reuse of wastewater?! Coming to your arid western state soon!!!

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/toilet-t...a-falls-texas/

http://www.wateronline.com/doc/texas...es-in-u-s-0001


EDIT: Here is another article about it from the much more reputable source of the "University of Texas at Austin", in case any of you have affinity for that institution:

http://www.utexas.edu/know/2014/08/0...2%80%9D-water/

[wuapinmon]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...nst-renewables

[Moliere]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...nst-renewables

Seems like a cherry-picked graph to pump up the renewable supporters. I wonder how the graph would look if it included more than just electrical generation.

[Uncle Ted]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...nst-renewables

What happened to Hydro between 2013 and 2015? Is that the California drought thing?

[Green Monstah]

I have a buddy who just defended his dissertation at Univ. of Texas. He helped develop a spray-on solar panel (for lack of a better term; I don't speak engineer). After working for five years as a production engineer for oil and gas companies, he went all-in for solar and started his doctoral work. He's now fairly convinced that we're several decades away (if not more) from solar being a viable source of the U.S.'s electricity, which is too bad. I don't mind all these windfarms in the God-forsaken parts of the flyover states, but when wind is needed most (summer), the wind doesn't blow like we need it. But when the natural gas plants can't handle the cold weather, wind often saves the grid's bacon (in Texas anyway).