Freeing energy from the Grid- Here's how, Watch

[terracore]

The US military estimates that if 1/7 of the land in the US currently growing corn was converted to horizontal algae farms it would produce enough energy to equal all of our petroleum use. The Defense Advanced Reseach Projects Agency is currently operating algae farms producing biodiesel and is planning a 50 million-gallon a year farm to go into production next year with the expectation that the price per gallon will be similar to regular diesel. Apparently alternative energy becomes a priority when there is the threat of not enough juice to keep our war machines running. Odd that the military is producing it's own fuel for its exclusive use while the rest of us are at the whims of the market.

[jackson]

Terracore - odd that you find that odd

[tada]

I think the treehuggers make a really good point. When rating the hydrocarbons we should use nat gas first, oil second and coal last. We should use Nat gas first not because it releases the least pollutants but because it is more volatile more likely to waft away and dissapear to the atmosphere. Whereas coal is more inert and likely to remain in the earth.

I never heard this anyplace else. Does it make sense? The sierra club and wwf can pick up this anytime and thank me later.

[MarkP]

Volatile stuff wafting away into the atmosphere is a major concern of the EPA. In its un-burned state coal isn't that bad.

In general this TED talk didn't tell me much. I listened for a long time but never got the point of this talk. Is he looking for money? We already know that cheap solar panels would revolutionize the world. We just haven't gotten there yet.

[PaulW]

"it is more volatile more likely to waft away and dissapear to the atmosphere"

Natural gas is sitting in underground reservoirs where it has been for millions of years. It's not likely to waft away.

[whalesong]

Everybody agrees there is a current glut of natural gas in the U.S., but not everybody agrees on the right response to it. About 2,000 industry members attending the Hart Energy conference in Fort Worth on Wednesday heard one producer and a consultant advocate pursuing numerous measures to boost demand, including exports, while a big user, Dow Chemical, cautioned against the use of government subsidies to accelerate new demand, such as natural gas-fueled vehicles and coal-to-gas switching at electrical utilities. Ken Bromfield, U.S. commercial director at Dow, said his company just committed $4 billion to new facilities, including a new ethylene plant in Louisiana, based on abundant natural gas supply and low prices, which he said give U.S. chemical producers and manufacturers a big advantage over European and Asian competitors. Rather than push exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Bromfield said, "I'd rather export it as value-added products." John Harpole, president of Mercator Energy and a consultant who said he works with both buyers and sellers of natural gas, countered that there's enough gas to do all of the above and still keep prices relatively low.

Several participants agreed that producers have not been inclined to sign long-term contracts at today's $2 price level, the lowest in a decade, although Harpole said he thinks producers' willingness to deal long-term is growing as it appears the glut will prove longer-lasting. David Hill, vice president of Natural Gas Economy at Encana, said a big user that wants to lock in supply at low prices can do so by committing the money to take an interest in production, as one steel company has done. "It's happening," Hill said of such arrangements. The conference ends today.

-- Jim Fuquay

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