Category: Energy

Another unintended consequence of ethanol – loss of wildlife due to loss of habitat

Update: Welcome to those arriving from Million Dollar Way. Hope you enjoy the read. There are plenty of other posts here on ethanol, energy in general, and especially peak oil foolishness. (Thanks for the link!)

It doesn’t compare to forcing the poor to pay lots more so they barely have enough food to stay alive, but there is another unintended consequence directly caused by turning corn into gasoline.

The loss of grassland has reduced the number of game birds, with a resulting drop in hunting and the associated slump in economic activity.

The Dickinson Press has a report:  Ethanol’s rise can mean loss of hunting lands.

It used to be that one particular motel in Fairbury, Nebraska would be packed every day of the week for the first two weeks of the pheasant season and then all weekend for several more weeks. Now, there are a few hunters that show up occasionally.

Why?

Continue reading “Another unintended consequence of ethanol – loss of wildlife due to loss of habitat”

Superb primer on fracking – Down Deep

WPX Energy produced a 25 minute video giving background on fracking and what the industry is doing to drill safely while providing us the energy we need to live a comfortable, modern life.

The video is  Down Deep: Unearthing the Truth About Hydraulic Fracturing.

The website is Down Deep.

The discussion is educational. The video is excellent. The production quality is really high. They did a good job.

A few key ideas from the video and some thoughts after watching it:

Continue reading “Superb primer on fracking – Down Deep”

Non-prosecution for past and future takings of migratory birds. Let me rephrase that: a ten year permit to kill eagles that hang around slice-and-dice farms in Wyoming.

I couldn’t make this up. I’m not that imaginative.

Previous post discussed the guilty plea by Duke Energy Renewables for two misdemeanor violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

In my opinion, the plea agreement signed by Duke is a superb bargain for their operation of wind farms. For only a million bucks, the Department of Justice agrees not to prosecute Duke for any other past takings of migratory birds and any future takings for the next ten years. The agreement covers all four of their wind farm operations in the state of Wyoming. The condition is they need to diligently pursue official permission to take eagles and comply with whatever plans they develop to mitigate migratory bird takings in the meantime.

Let me phrase that differently:  Duke gets an official, enforceable, in-writing promise they won’t be prosecuted for taking eagles for up to 10 years. They won’t be prosecuted for slicing-and-dicing eagles, other raptors, or any migratory birds through October 2023. Or until they get official permission to do so. Whichever comes first.

Again, I’m not creative enough to make this up. Seems to me like it would make a great sub-plot to a hyper-ventilating techno-thriller novel.

Read paragraph 16, on pages 10 and 11 for yourself. You can find the document here. Since it is a public document, I’ll quote it at length, just so you don’t think it is the product of my non-fertile imagination.

From page 10, with my emphasis added: Continue reading “Non-prosecution for past and future takings of migratory birds. Let me rephrase that: a ten year permit to kill eagles that hang around slice-and-dice farms in Wyoming.”

First ever prosecution of wind farm for killing eagles and migratory birds

Duke Energy Resources pled guilty to two misdemeanor violations of the Migratory Bird Act.  Duke admits it killed 163 migratory birds protected by the Act at its Campbell Hill and Top of the World wind farms. The company acknowledges it did not take all reasonable steps to reduce the slice-and-dice casualties. Well, the settlement document doesn’t actually say slice-and-dice, but you get the point.

The AP has the best article I’ve seen on the settlement:  Wind farm gets fined for killing eagles. There are a lot of other articles out as well.

The article says this is the first ever prosecution of any wind farm company under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. That makes this huge news.

You can read the settlement here.

The casualties include counts self-reported by Duke Energy Renewables from 2009 through 2013.

Penalties include: Continue reading “First ever prosecution of wind farm for killing eagles and migratory birds”

How would you like to have this problem: labor force in your city grows 2.58% per month. Yes, over 2%. Per month. For three years. And no end of growth in sight.

That’s the calculation from Dr. David Flynn, writing at the Say Anything Blog: Williston Labor Force May Soon Be Larger Than Grand Forks.

He calculates a 2.58% growth per month over the last three years in Williston. Here are the raw numbers:

In August 2010 the labor force in Williston was 18,819, and by August 2013 it increased to 47,060.

How do you cope with that kind of growth. You can’t. No community can.

Continue reading “How would you like to have this problem: labor force in your city grows 2.58% per month. Yes, over 2%. Per month. For three years. And no end of growth in sight.”

Reality finally impacting ethanol requirements

The EPA has reduced the amount of ethanol that must be used in gasoline. The federal requirement is based on absolute volume of ethanol and not the amount of gasoline sold. Thus, even though gasoline use dropped instead of rising, the amount of ethanol has to increase. This would force us to use E15, which would damage many auto engines on the road.  The AAA asserts that only 5% of the light trucks on the market can use E15.  That linked article also says E15 actually has twice as much corn (ethanol) as E10.

A small victory for consumers who buy gas, everyone that owns a vehicle with an engine that otherwise would be damaged, and the poor who spend a disproportionate share of their income buying artificially high-priced corn.

Other good news:

Continue reading “Reality finally impacting ethanol requirements”

Another prediction for oil production in North Dakota: back off the accelerator a bit

I watch the Million Dollar Way blog closely. I’ve learned much from Mr. Bruce Oksol. Thank you sir.

In his post, Bakken Fanatics; Fasten Your Seatbelts – We’ve Not Seen Anything Yet, he mentions a Goldman Sachs study which predicts 10 years of continued growth in Bakken production. Their worst case scenario is 1.3M bopd in 2017.

More interesting is Mr. Oksol’s speculation that the state may slow things down a bit as an intentional choice.  He says: Continue reading “Another prediction for oil production in North Dakota: back off the accelerator a bit”

Compared to slice-and-dice, wing-toasters, and corn-for-gasoline industries, seems like oil and gas is an oasis of common sense

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Million Dollar Way ponders The Irony Of It All – North Dakota Will Lose More Grassland, More Wetlands To Ethanol Than To The Oil And Gas Industry:

And with an ever-increasing number of slicers and dicers killing bats, eagles, hawks, and whooping cranes, the oil and gas industry is starting to look like an oasis of common sense.

Four industries: wind power, solar power, ethanol, and oil & gas. What common sense is visible seems to be in oil & gas.

Ethanol …

…is environmentally unfriendly. Maybe. Probably. Possibly.

Continue reading “Compared to slice-and-dice, wing-toasters, and corn-for-gasoline industries, seems like oil and gas is an oasis of common sense”

Short overview of Bakken – introducing term ‘boomier’

A 3 minute intro to the Bakken boom with some really nice video of the plains, oil work, and the charm of the prairie.

 

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OS9aZCxESsc]

 

Irish correspondent says the Bakken boom is getting boomier.

Also calls it the new Klondike.

(Hat tip: Bakken Shale) 

9-13 North Dakota oil production 932K bopd – I missed my guess to hit one million barrels by September

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LUQZc4ilyuo]

September production was 932,174 barrels a day. That is a 2.3% increase for the month.

I missed my prediction

Continue reading “9-13 North Dakota oil production 932K bopd – I missed my guess to hit one million barrels by September”

A simple explanation why we will never run out of oil – Peak Oil #32

In one sentence:  Some other energy source, perhaps fusion, will provide our energy needs before we actually use up all the oil.

That is my summary of the comments by Professor Bernard Weinstein in a presentation made in North Dakota, as summarized by The Dickinson Press:  Energy expert:  World will ‘never run out of oil’.

We simply do not know how much oil is recoverable. Check out these two comments: Continue reading “A simple explanation why we will never run out of oil – Peak Oil #32”

Q: What churned up 5M acres of never-before-plowed land, increased carbon output, poisoned rivers, and drove up food prices for the poor?

A: Ethanol.

Yes, gasoline from corn does all that and more.

In what Million Dollar Way calls a Cronkite moment, the AP has a major story out, the title of which I will edit to make neutral as to political parties, since ethanol is the official policy of one R and one D administration:  The secret, dirty cost of {two administration’s} green power push.

Here’s a bit of the information the AP reported:

Environmental damage

The overall conclusion:

The consequences are so severe that environmentalists and many scientists have now rejected corn-based ethanol as bad environmental policy. 

Continue reading “Q: What churned up 5M acres of never-before-plowed land, increased carbon output, poisoned rivers, and drove up food prices for the poor?”

More good stuff on the open frontiers – 11-9-13

I’ve used the analogy of a newly opened frontier in the areas of :

  • education,
  • space,
  • energy, and
  • publishing.

This post starts a new “good stuff” series.  Don’t have time to write a full post commenting on all the cool articles I see, so sometimes I’ll just link to articles and give a brief comment.

Here are some articles talking about the open frontier.

Education

Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 11-9-13”