DrumBeat: July 14, 2007
Posted by Leanan on July 14, 2007 - 9:10am
Topic: Miscellaneous
Exxon's $1 Trillion Hurdle: As Oil Reserves Dwindle, Giants Find That Size Can Often Be a Liability
Size has traditionally been an advantage for Big Oil. As the world shrinks, the number of choice oil fields has diminished and new finds have become more expensive and complicated to tap. The trouble for Exxon chief Rex Tillerson is that to move the needle on a company bigger than most governments, he needs to broker ever larger deals.Yet last year Exxon didn't replace its reserves through the drill-bit for the first time, according to Oppenheimer research. That's because more of the world's oil reserves have become off limits to Exxon and other private drillers. Many are controlled by national oil companies, such as Saudi Arabia's Aramco or Mexico's Pemex. Expropriation by governments like Russia and Venezuela took other reserves off the market.
The IEA'S Come-to-Jesus Moment
Q: What's the difference between an oil analyst and a used car salesman?A: The used car salesman knows when he's lying.
IEA: 08 Oil Demand Seen at Fastest Clip in Years
Global energy consumption is seen rising at its fastest clip in recent years in 2008 but high oil prices persisting above $70 a barrel may steadily eat away at demand, the International Energy Agency said Friday.The Paris-based agency, in its monthly oil market report, also conceded that it had been too upbeat in its forecasts for oil production by rival producers to OPEC, such as the U.S., Norway and the U.K.
Economics 101: Oil Rises On Supply Questions
The law of supply and demand caught up with the oil market on Friday.The price of crude jumped on a multinational report that predicted world oil demand will rise 2.5% in 2008. In the short run, that reflected the temporary closure of a North Sea pipeline. Longer-term, however, questions about supply from Nigeria and Iran mean that the amount of crude available may not keep up with the rising demand.
Mexican Crude Falling, Will Drop More
International Consultant company analysts associate the reduction in hydrocarbon production to the exhaustion of Cantarell, the largest oilfield in Mexico, the output of which has decreased over 26 percent in the two most recent years.They warned that at the current pace of exploitation, if another vein like Cantarell does not appear, this country will only have oil to maintain between nine and 13 years at present usage levels.
The Trouble with Refining Crude Oil
The weekly status report continues to reveal a highly unusual and persistent problem developing in the US market for crude and refined products. Specifically, the US is absolutely awash in crude oil, yet it's experiencing a growing shortage of motor gasoline just as we enter the peak of the summer driving season.And, more recently, the gasoline supply shortage is starting to have knock-on effects for supplies of another key class of refined products known as distillates. Key distillate fuels include diesel and heating oil. This will become a bigger issue as we head into the winter heating season; heating oil is still a key source of heat in certain regions of the nation, and the winter marks a season of heavy demand for distillate fuel.
Total and Gazprom sign $15bn deal
Total and Gazprom today signed a $15bn (£7.4bn) deal that will give the French energy group access to huge gas reserves under the Barents Sea and the ability to supply Europe for decades to come.
A glimmer of hope: The struggle for energy independence from Russia
WESTERN failures in recent energy tussles with Russia have been persistent and spectacular. Key allies have drifted off into private deals. The big picture has been ignored. The gloomy drift accelerated this year with the signing of a three-cornered deal between Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to pump the Caspian’s huge gas reserves north through Russia. Now Uzbekistan, according to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, is going to join too.
More for turnpike tolls? Maybe much more?
About two and a half years ago a group known as Better Roads and Bridges sponsored the circulation of a petition for a statewide vote to raise the fuel fees on gasoline and diesel.The group largely was made up of road and bridge contractors as well as concrete and asphalt companies. In light of rapidly rising fuel prices as well as state legislation just passed to better fund our roads and bridges, the measure went down in flames to a lopsided defeat.
Since that defeat, many of those same supporters have come together to form the organization Transportation Revenues Used Strictly for Transportation. Four of the key principles they stand for are: Protecting and growing dedicated funds for Oklahoma’s transportation system; supporting leaders who are committed to transportation as a priority of state government; use of high-quality materials in building and maintaining roads and bridges; and efficiency and accountability within the Oklahoma Legislature and Department of Transportation.
Hot Fuel Web Site Launched to Educate Consumers
Did you know you may not be getting your money's worth at the fuel pump? At warmer temperatures, liquids -- including diesel and gasoline -- expand, decreasing the amount of energy (Btu) per gallon purchased. The "Turn Down Hot Fuel" campaign will educate consumers on how "hot fuel" may have them paying higher prices than necessary for fuel. The campaign is spear-headed by a professional truckers' organization, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), and includes a Web site, http://www.turndownhotfuel.com/.
Biofuel producer faces supplier friction
A dispute between a recently floated biodiesel company and its supplier has shown how pricing conditions in the biofuels market are burning some of the companies involved.Shares in Renewable Power and Light, an Aim-listed company whose assets are in the US, fell nearly 70 per cent on Friday after it announced expected losses because of increased commodity prices.
RPL said it was suing its supplier, Safari Group, which it claimed had breached an agreement to supply palm oil at an agreed fixed price.
In a Rare Pairing, Blue Chips and Oil Climb Together
Rising prices for crude oil usually send the stock market lower. Now, these markets are moving in tandem, and some Wall Street pros are wondering how much longer the unusual trend can last.
Unusual 2006 has oil customers guessing in 2007
In most years, a customer who bought oil during the summer instead of waiting for the first frost saved money, sometimes several hundred dollars. That's because prices were low during the summer months but rose as winter drew closer.Then came 2006, a year when prices paradoxically soared during the summer and dropped when winter hit. It was the first time since 2001 that prices in New York dropped when winter arrived, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Number of gas stations in Canada continues to decline
This trend reflects an average decline of about two percent per year, over a period of time when Canada's population, and its economy, have been steadily growing. "This is a consequence of a lack of profitability in the retailing of gasoline", states Michael Ervin, the president of MJ Ervin & Associates. Despite significant profits in the oil industry in general, the retail sector has been a poor performer: in 2006, the wholesale "rack" to retail markup on a litre of regular gasoline was only five cents per litre at a typical urban gas station, according to pump price statistics gathered by MJ Ervin & Associates.
Chinese regime suppresses green protests
Hundreds of farmers near Mount Emei in Sichuan province blocked a highway last week, starting their action on Tuesday 10 July, to protest against an aluminum company responsible for a gas leak that contaminated grapes and other crops, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported. Five protesters were arrested and ten injured when police drove the protesters away.
Law and policy concerning crucial issues
Last month, I had the rare privilege of spending five days in Canada with a group of legal and policy scholars from around the world. Our formal duty was to complete work on a book on the topic of "Moving Beyond the Carbon Economy" — what roles should law and policy play in addressing such front page issues as climate change, the increase in fossil fuel demands, international poverty, and the political and military challenges posed by the dominance of the carbon fuels.
Iowa: Rising gas prices smack region
Gasoline prices soared to an average of $3.27 per gallon in Sioux Falls on Friday - up about 25 cents since the start of the month - pinching pocketbooks and pushing consumers to scale back or change spending habits. |
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Ann Gilpin, a food-industry analyst for research firm Morningstar, said the jump in corn prices has had "a domino effect on the whole industry."Other pressures driving up the price of food include high fuel and labor costs.
Idea of veggie oil burns bright
Even in the fringe world of alternative fuels, vegetable oil has mostly remained on the margins, the domain of a few do-it-yourselfers who have rigged their diesels to run on old fryer fat, making the rounds of local burger joints to fill their tanks.But the veggie power movement is about to stick one greasy toe into the mainstream, as a company in this western Wisconsin town prepares to open what its owners believe is the first recycling and filling station for waste vegetable oil in the Midwest, and one of just a couple in the nation.
Yemen increases crude oil prices
Last week, Yemeni crude oil reached the highest price since Yemen started exporting crude oil in 1981. Crude oil price in Masila, Hadhramout rose to $77.49 per barrel and Marib’s oil price per barrel rose to $79.24, said Khalid Bahah, Minister of Oil and Minerals. This increase is due to the stopping of oil production in Nigeria and the low supply of OPEC which causes fears of an international oil supply shortage, Bahah said. Marib’s crude oil price is higher than Masila’s price because it is lighter than Masila crude oil.
Risks Rise for Western Oil Firms in Africa
Big foreign oil companies are finding it harder to make money in Africa because of the region's often unstable politics, output restrictions and moves by some governments to rewrite contracts.Africa remains one of the last big regions open to foreign oil exploration, and companies of all stripes are benefiting from record energy prices. But fresh obstacles threaten to crimp future production in a region that is crucial to global energy supplies.
New York: March set to highlight power outage
Marchers will pass out an open letter to the state Public Service Commission and Con Ed for people in the community to sign. The letter will tell Con Ed: Accept fault for last year’s outage. Pay us what you still owe us (for non-food losses and damages). And NO 17 percent rate hike — use your $12 billion in profits to pay for upgrades.
Argentina 'Total Energy Program' Breeds Total Skepticism
When the Argentine government announced a plan late Thursday to subsidize liquid fuels to make them as affordable to industries as natural gas, it gave it the grandiose title of the "Total Energy Plan."But this latest bid to fix a relentless energy crisis has met with immediate skepticism from industry analysts, who see it facing huge logistical challenges, generating punitive fiscal costs and creating a black market in fuels.
Natural gas found in western Uganda, officials say
The London-based oil company Tullow Oil Plc has discovered natural gas in western Uganda, which the government says will be used for solving the country's power shortages, officials said on Friday.
Chile, U.S. to cooperate in biofuel research, development
Chile and the United States signed an agreement on Friday to jointly carry out biofuel research and development.
In order to have a lasting bull-market in any sector, supply and demand must be out of whack. In the case of natural resources today, demand is rising ferociously in China and India whilst supply is struggling. Consider the energy market as an example: At the beginning of this decade, China and India combined used to consume roughly 8% of the world’s oil and today they consume over 11%. Now, to illustrate my point that supply and demand are important factors, I would add that this rising demand (regardless of monetary inflation) would not have translated into a higher oil price IF there was an endless supply of oil. In the current scenario however, the oil price is rising because supplies are extremely tight when compared to demand. In fact, I would argue that humanity is staring “Peak Oil” in its face.
In a video posted to his official General Motors blog Thursday, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz took pains to point out that fuel-efficient diesel engines, popular in Europe, will not provide an easy an easy answer to America's petroleum dependence.
U.S. man convicted of pipeline, energy attack plan
A Pennsylvania man was convicted on Friday of plotting to blow up U.S. oil pipelines and energy installations and of attempting to enlist al Qaeda militants on the Internet to help carry out his plan.
China complains of cold shoulder from Canada on oil deals
Chinese companies coveting Canada's oil patch are unhappy about the chilly reception they are getting from Ottawa, a top Chinese oil executive told media Friday, after withdrawing from a Canadian pipeline project amid delays.
Fuel, IAEA enter North Korea on nuclear arms deal
A tanker carrying fuel oil docked at a North Korean port on Saturday as a team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency headed for the country ahead of a planned shutdown of its atomic reactor under a disarmament deal.
India plans national strategy to tackle global warming
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked policymakers to come up with a detailed national plan by November to tackle the effects of global warming, his office said Saturday.
Schwarzenegger: GOP can lead on climate
Charges that protecting the environment hurts the economy are "bogus," and climate change shouldn't be a political issue, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday.Speaking at a summit organized by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Schwarzenegger said that environmental issues are a cause Republicans can embrace.
Governor signs Florida greenhouse gas targets
The Republican governors of California and Florida gave the Bush administration the cold shoulder on Friday as Florida set new limits on greenhouse gas emissions and signed cooperation pacts on climate change with Germany and Britain.
Rooftops key to Florida green energy goal
Despite its nickname, the Sunshine State, Florida's heavy rains and pricey real estate mean it has never been considered a good place to set up big solar energy plants.So a new initiative by the fourth most-populous U.S. state to get its utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from sun, wind and other renewable resources will mean wiring rooftops rather than building huge solar or wind farms.
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Direct to registration http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=136392
Rooftops Key To Florida Green Energy Goal...
I enjoy reading about these much ballyhooed signing events. On the front pages of newspapers across Florida this morning are headlines shouting the story of Governor Crist and the Terminator signing??? What exactly did they sign??? Well, it must have been something like a letter of intent??? No details, mind you, just high minded ideas and fuzzy, if any, plans. Being a curious sort of person I ask myself the natural questions, why, why now, who will pay, how much, etc. Of course most of these questions will not be answered untill FPL (Florida Power & Light) make some decisions. Perhaps the why, why now questions can be answered especially if the front pages of yesterdays Florida newspapers are read. 'Crist Declares Global Warming Real Threat, One Third Of Florida Could Be Under Water In 25 Years.' Gov Crist and the Terminator are well aware of the tipping point of global warming and that some brainy experts on the subject, including scientists Hansen and Lovelock, have predicted that if we have not passed the 'tipping point' of global warming that the momentum of using ever more FFs to make ever more widgets will send us barreling through the 'tipping point' with no notice being taken by most. As usual, politicians are using a 'nobel cause' to go after a problem facing their dominions. In the case of Florida it is the problem that the state has little housing construction going on and this has been THE economic engine for the state for a very long time. To get the guys with the hammers back to work why not have them put a lot of solar collectors on a lot of roofs and charge the residents for most of the costs? ...And when the next hurricane blows the damn things into the nearest river or lake, well, we can just do it all over again!
There are massive savings available by building trees to shade peoples houses to reduce A/C load, though a bit of a silly idea in a hurricane prone area. Also painting houses white to make them absorb less heat is a fairly smart idea. Imagine if they did that and provided PV/Wind. CSP is ideal as it has the highest output at time of most demand. Global warming tipping point is mighty scary, why was the 'evidence' for WMD's in Iraq enough to warrant a war but the 'supposed scientific consensus on global warming needs more research.
Fossil fuels contribute to global warming,
They are finite and we are approaching the point when demand and supply cross
Our current way of life WILL have to change to even give the rest of the world a chance.
There are even more massive savings to be had by building underground, which eliminates the need for air conditioning and most heating. We may be forced, in inhospitable areas, to become burrowers. The next real estate bubble could be McBurrows. Florida has a freeboard problem at the best of times, and these aren't the best of times. Burrows may flood but they don't blow over. I'd recommend not living in Florida in the frst place, unless it is on a boat.
I think that's where we're heading. The only question is when.
As Newsweek pointed out a couple of years ago, Florida became the vacation and retirement fantasyland it is during a period of unusually low hurricane activity, and because of the availability of cheap air-conditioning.
Like Jared Diamond pointed out, we tend to assume that the future will be like the past. Tain't necessarily so.
Dig down a couple of feet in my yard and voila! There is a well! Across the street there is a large river. Burrowing here is not an option imo. My house is surrounded by large trees, mostly live oaks, which shade the house, vehicles and lawn. If I was dumb enough to cut down the trees (to install solar collectors on the roof) my water useage would go up if I wanted to continue to have a St Augistine Grass lawn and my AC costs would go up considerably in a house without shade. Most homes in Florida, except those that are new on lots scraped bare by developers, are shaded.
If Florida floods one third of the world population is going to become refugees. This GW problem is not just limited to Florida...are you reading, Oilmanbob? Alan?
River, I'm 55 and expect that Galveston will only become the new Atlantis after I'm dead.
I sure agree about the value of shade trees. I have a decent sized south roof that gets no shade, and I'm considering a 4 mw system. Not enough to pay for my AC, but enough to keep the refrigerator, computer and ceiling fans going in a brown-out.
I bet Alan's off eating another fantastic meal and will torture us with a description later. He'd better act right or I'm going to support a draft - Alan Drake For President!
Bob Ebersole
Bob, I will put up signs in my area 'Alan For Pres'...
Saturday is market day and right by the market is Cafe Du Monde...Ummm...Benigts and great coffee. NO has some great food.
I assure you a 4 mw system would do a lot more than provide your AC. Surely, you mean 4 kw unless you wanted to electrify the whole community.
North Little Rock where I live has gotten 7.5 inches of rain in the first 14 days of July, breaking 30 year records.
I was here 30 years ago. But the parents and I were hunting down a House to buy and move into and I was the family devining rod. I had a feel for houses and was the person who picked this one. I am currently living in my parent's house taking care of them and myself in their old age and my room is again being used for something besides another storage room.
I have need of nothing much myself, and have tons of things I can sell, give away or reuse to make something else with. I have hundreds of pounds of tools, but they are just so mixed in with over a ton of books and papers it will take me months or years to sort through them.
PS. I did announce my F.R.N party, If Alan would like to run as a write in canidate, prehaps he can write me, LOL, I am serious, I am just tried of the status quo not getting anything done.
A burrow that has flooded is going to be just as useless as an aboveground house shredded to smithereens by a tornado. You'll have to rebuild it from scratch, as it will be soaked through and through with polluted water like all those unsalvageable houses in lower NOLA. Only, since it's a burrow, you'll have the added expense of pumping it out and tearing it apart first. Never mind that in most parts of the country, keeping even shallow basements reliably dry seems to be an unsolved problem.
You're right, the real problem is living in Florida, or anyplace else within easy reach of storm surges, in the first place. An issue, though, is that we live in the age of the Safety Nazi, appointed to rule over us because we all know that Baby Boomers would live forever if only all perfidiousness could be suppressed. This means that older folks are often told to become hermits whenever there is the tiniest threat of the tiniest bit of ice or snow. ("I must advise you this way, if I don't, I could be hauled before the medical board for failing to use best practice, or you could sue me for malpractice.") So, not wanting to spend whatever time they have left in prison, they naturally move to where it never snows. And there's almost noplace in North America with temperate weather year-round, so they must pick their poison. C'est la vie.
I agree with PaulS regarding the "Safety Nazi."
I can think of no better way to cull all the really stupid people who clutter the blogosphere and byways of the US and the world.
Imagine, some complete dolt decides "I don't need no damned gubbamint man atellin' me what I cain't do. If I wanna build a house out of used beer cans and oriented strandboard, then by God I will do it!!!"
Along comes a tornado/hurricane/flood/heavy gust of wind and the gene pool is a tiny bit better. Let the retards do what they will. In fact, let's encourage them. The more they knock themselves out of the game through retarded building methods, the better all of our lives will be.
Maybe we should give them all lots of C4 to play with while we're at it.
Can we somehow attach the type of lawyer that usually
exploitsdefends them to the fate of their clients?I would agree with your comments if you would simply substitute "self-righteous pseudo-intellectuals" for "retards."
Speaking of the word "retards," it seems this term has had a resurgence recently. I think I've heard or seen this word used more often in the past six months than since, oh I'd say, ninth grade shop class (and believe me, that's many moons ago). I'm fairly certain that this says more about the people who use this word, though, than about any members of some subject pool to which these people attempt to refer.
*ahem*
All of you have no idea what you are talking about... "Retard" is so passé. These days everyone knows the word is "fucktard". Get with the times! And I hope you aren't "calling for any human decency that [I] may have in [my] pseudo-intellectually mind of [mine]"? Are you? Because, then I'll just reference to the point made by the comment above this one. =]
I am a big fan of numtard.
At the ris^h^h^h certainty of dragging this thread even further into the slime ...
Link to the alt.tasteless records on the subject.
I believe the '96 origin predates its wider use as a term of abuse.
Thanks for the unwanted, but educational, history lesson =]
/me looks around at the world...
You can say that again!
Cherenkov,
There's a great house in Houston on Malone St. called the beercan house. A folk artist put away a couple of six packs a day and then flattened the cans and used them as aluminum siding and great decorations. I'm sure you can find it if you google "folk art, Houston" Its a great piece. Its survived several hurricanes, and is owned by The Orange Show foundation.
Bob Ebersole
A folk artist put away a couple of six packs a day
Sorry for the recycling idea but I couldn't be up to that :-D
Paul, not all earth-encased passive solar houses are burrows. A friend of mine in Montana has a lovely passive solar home built into the South face of a small hill.
The panhandle of Florida has lots of rolling hills...
Errol in Miami
PLAN, PLANt, PLANet
'The panhandle of Florida has lots of rolling hills...'
Yes, it certainly does. It also has lots of christian fundamentalists, shrub/vader supporters, and little tolerance for anyone that thinks or acts slightly different from those living in the hills and hollers of the panhandle. I would not move there if the real estate were free.
"You're right, the real problem is living in Florida, or anyplace else within easy reach of storm surges, in the first place."
It's interesting that suddenly Florida has become so fragile as to be unlivable...and yet, the oldest continiously settled community in North America is in Florida. St. Augustine.
Who knows, maybe you just have to design correctly.
RC
Remember, we are only one cubic mile from freedom
Selecting a building site at least a couple hundred feet above sea level is the first step to designing correctly. Selecting building sites that are not in flood plains, near active fault lines, not near volcanos, etc. are also good ideas.
There is clear evidence that homo sapiens were building structures even as hunter gatherers during the last ice age. The structures were simple but built, nonetheless. Many of these structures were built near the ocean, Roger. Do you know why they cannot be found today? Because the ocean today is several hundred feet higher than during the last ice age and the continental shelf, which was once beachfront property, is now buried in silt from the rest of the continent.
You might wish to acquaint yourself with how radical the changes in climate have been over the last 20,000 years. Once you do, you will then realize that what Dr. James Hansen recently said about the IPCC rings true - he doesn't agree with their 59 cm sea level rise while temperatures rise 2 degrees celsius because the last time this happened on earth (temperatures this warm then another 2 degree celsius rise) sea levels actually rose another 25 meters. Note further that Dr. Hansen said that sea level doesn't all rise at the end of this temperature increase but during. And note even further that even the IPCC puts the temperature rise over the next 93 years (to 2100) as at least 2 degrees celsius. This means, if Dr. Hansen is correct, that we will see a cumulative 25 meter rise between now and 2100. Even if we backload the last 20 meters of that from 2050 out, that still means 5 meters (15 feet) in the next 44 years.
The US corporate media have ignored a new report by Nasa's top climate expert saying that the international scientific community got it wrong, and we may be facing an 80-foot rise in the ocean by 2100.
And here is the original paper by Hansen (WARNING! PDF!) first published in the British science journal, Philosophic Transactions of the Royal Society.
So, you see Roger, there is a bit more to proper construction than the luck of having built during a stable climatic period. If Hansen is correct, no construction technique will save St. Augustine, nor New York, nor London, nor most of the major coastal cities of the entire world.
Ghawar Is Dying as we slide Into the Grey Zone
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.
I dunno. We're talking retail here, rooftops. Does retail CSP even exist? All the installations I've ever read about are big farms. Would it even be practical to be constantly sending guys out in trucks to adjust and repair expensive, finicky, delicate, mechanical tracking equipment in a plethora of scattered tiny retail installations? Is even large scale CSP practical in Florida if those delicate tracking systems are going to be wrecked every time a hurricane or large thunderstorm comes through?
As I mentioned in original post this rooftop scheme has no detail to it. Like the Fl State legislature was going to force localities to roll back taxes 30-40%. After a year of back room deals in Talahassee the tax cut in my county turned out to be 4-5%. By the time the Gov., the Terminator, and the various legislatures get a real proposal passed for the ballot this rooftop scheme might be a single panel large enough to run an electric razor.
Crist and the Terminator want to go on record as 'the environmentally aware governors.' If past Florida politics is an indicator, whatever they do will be stupid. They always start out with a fairly sane idea and 2,000 compromises later end up with something that is FUBAR.
Aaaah. Politicians.
Concentrated Solar Power, CSP, can't be put on residential rooftops. They need a clear field so they can track the sun. Or you use a solar tower with heliostats to point the sun at the top of the tower. It is utility grade stuff and not ideal for Florida, due to hazy skies and hurricanes. But Florida could go with batch solar heaters on everyone's roof or in their backyard. These have no moving parts and replace from 50 to 100% of the hot water needs for a family of two. Hot water accounts for 20% of the electric use in Florida homes and solar can eliminate it entirely. With a bit of incentives from the state of Florida utilities could do the job on getting these installed.
I have had a batch heater since 1999 and now look forward to free hot water forever in my home. Many times it is hotter than you can get from an electric heater. I'll know we are serious when we put batch heaters on every roof in Florida.
Solar1, life is full of little ironies. Most of the houses built in South Florida in the 1930s and early 40s were built with integral ( collectors flush with the roof don't blow off in hurricanes : ) thermosiphon domestic hot water heaters. Thermosiphon systems are perfect for South Florida because there is no need for any temperature detection gear or auto drain down because it almost never gets below freezing here. And of course thermosiphon needs no pump, so folks had hot water even during electic outages!
Also, these tended to be small, 2/1 houses with excellent cross-ventilation, a big "Florida room" (screened porch) on the back, and a big yard with a lot of fruit trees. Did these folks know something we need to know?
However, the little "chimneys" on the roof that housed the water tank are almost all gone; I guess I'll be able to time to the day the world all-liquids peak - the day the last of those water tank "chimneys" is removed.
Errol in Miami
PLAN, PLANt, PLANet
I post this icon of catabolic collapse and with apologies to Leanan:
Ahh, the gloom of it all ... JMG is my hero. His writing is quite charming though if you follow it, he's probably running about a defcon 1. I'm thinking of studying Druidry.
With that rambling, I tear my bloodshot eyes from the terminal and wander down to the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market for some vittles.
| The problem will solve itself.
| But not in a nice way.
OMG, considering we aren't even on the downslope yet, that photo is simply horrifying.
Good luck to us all...
Errol in Miami
PLAN, PLANt, PLANet
It points out that during periods of paradigm shift, a lot of things are going to be tried and not all of them are going to be winners. A lot like the Cambrian explosion.
Wind will be a winner, but not every single implementation of it. There will be casualties along the way.
Something I wonder about, in addition, is that if clouds and rain make Florida an uneconomic locale for solar farms - where the equipment can be bought and installed at deeply discounted wholesale rates - how can high-priced retail solar possibly be a going proposition?
I gather from my reading on this issue that they feel that the free cost of rooftops will counterbalance the decrease in economies of scale. The article mentioned the high price of real estate in Florida and stated that the number of full sun hours ranges between 5 and 6. If true, that would be a decent amount of sun for a solar installation.