The petroleum industry is always stating they are pushing back the date of "Peak Oil."
Peak Oil was something scientists held onto as a measure of when dependency on fossil fuels would be impractical. They believed the governments of the world, especially in The West, would move away from fossil fuels and have more and more alternative sources simply because the availability of alternative energy out paced that of fossil fuels.
In 2005, there was a Texas oil man in the White House and his side kick 'Darth Cheney.' Did you know that "Darth Vader" was chosen because is sounds like "Dark Invader?" That would mean Darth Cheney would mean Dark Death Speaker. Something like that.
But, to get back to Peak Oil. I recently had to come to terms with what was scientific optimism and the world we live in, so in reflecting on the observation Peak Oil would curtain fossil fuel I started to realize the morality in those statements.
Besides the severe deterioration of Earth's climate; there was this understanding among the community that the USA would never compromise the standards of the oil to their consumer economy. "Certainly, the USA of all nations would set the standard for quality."
What occurred after 2005 was The Cheney Energy Committee of 2001 and a new national policy. The idea that finding energy for the USA would take every aspect of fossil fuel available on Earth regardless of it's quality at a time when the USA had soldiers engaged in two wars was incredible propaganda.
Part of what scientists believed about the USA in regard to the Greenhouse Effect and fossil fuel use; was it's deep seated morality to conduct high principles over greed of any kind. It was national pride on the line. The USA was to conduct itself morally above all others.That was until the year 2001.
So, has Peak Oil arrived yet?
Peak Oil has not only arrived, but, passed right by the American consumer without anyone noticing.
If you follow oil prices, you’re familiar with the phrase
“light, sweet crude.” “Light” means that
the oil contains a high proportion of the lighter fractions that
give us gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, and jet fuel, and less of
the heavier fractions that give us stuff like bitumen and asphalt.
“Sweet” means that the oil contains a lower proportion
of sulphur. The lighter and sweeter the oil is, the more useful
liquid fuel it contains and the easier and cheaper it is to
refine. Over the last quarter century, the average quality of
conventional crude oil has steadily declined in both these
categories.
Here are two graphs from 2005 showing the long-term trends. First, API Gravity, which is an inverse measure of how heavy the oil is (i.e., the bigger the number, the lighter the oil).
Light crude oil is defined as having an API gravity higher than 31.1°, medium oil as having an API gravity between 31.1° and 22.3°, and heavy oil as having an API gravity below 22.3°. So in the 20 years from 1985-2005, average crude fell an entire grade on this measure of quality.
The sulphur picture is no better:
Higher sulphur content requires more expensive refining processes and newer equipment.
This information is from "Outlook for Liquid Fuels 2010 - 2020."
Jon Bosak
16 October 2010
Peak Oil was something scientists held onto as a measure of when dependency on fossil fuels would be impractical. They believed the governments of the world, especially in The West, would move away from fossil fuels and have more and more alternative sources simply because the availability of alternative energy out paced that of fossil fuels.
In 2005, there was a Texas oil man in the White House and his side kick 'Darth Cheney.' Did you know that "Darth Vader" was chosen because is sounds like "Dark Invader?" That would mean Darth Cheney would mean Dark Death Speaker. Something like that.
But, to get back to Peak Oil. I recently had to come to terms with what was scientific optimism and the world we live in, so in reflecting on the observation Peak Oil would curtain fossil fuel I started to realize the morality in those statements.
Besides the severe deterioration of Earth's climate; there was this understanding among the community that the USA would never compromise the standards of the oil to their consumer economy. "Certainly, the USA of all nations would set the standard for quality."
What occurred after 2005 was The Cheney Energy Committee of 2001 and a new national policy. The idea that finding energy for the USA would take every aspect of fossil fuel available on Earth regardless of it's quality at a time when the USA had soldiers engaged in two wars was incredible propaganda.
Part of what scientists believed about the USA in regard to the Greenhouse Effect and fossil fuel use; was it's deep seated morality to conduct high principles over greed of any kind. It was national pride on the line. The USA was to conduct itself morally above all others.That was until the year 2001.
So, has Peak Oil arrived yet?
Peak Oil has not only arrived, but, passed right by the American consumer without anyone noticing.
If you follow oil prices, you’re familiar with the phrase
“light, sweet crude.” “Light” means that
the oil contains a high proportion of the lighter fractions that
give us gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, and jet fuel, and less of
the heavier fractions that give us stuff like bitumen and asphalt.
“Sweet” means that the oil contains a lower proportion
of sulphur. The lighter and sweeter the oil is, the more useful
liquid fuel it contains and the easier and cheaper it is to
refine. Over the last quarter century, the average quality of
conventional crude oil has steadily declined in both these
categories.Here are two graphs from 2005 showing the long-term trends. First, API Gravity, which is an inverse measure of how heavy the oil is (i.e., the bigger the number, the lighter the oil).
Light crude oil is defined as having an API gravity higher than 31.1°, medium oil as having an API gravity between 31.1° and 22.3°, and heavy oil as having an API gravity below 22.3°. So in the 20 years from 1985-2005, average crude fell an entire grade on this measure of quality.
The sulphur picture is no better:Higher sulphur content requires more expensive refining processes and newer equipment.
This information is from "Outlook for Liquid Fuels 2010 - 2020."
Jon Bosak
16 October 2010
