I don’t write about fossil fuels much here because I consider them, well, to be fossils. The fossil fuel industries are rather large dinosaurs lumbering to their long, drawn-out deaths as the earth continues to get hotter. It’s a scene from “Fantasia.” Unfortunately, so is my vision. Coal, oil and gas are going to be with us for a bit longer.
When I do write about them it is usually about their ills: see Coal – Besides Carbon Dioxide, There’s …, for instance, or Health Impacts – Coal and Oil. I defer to my colleagues at the FPA blog on Energy for in-depth coverage of these industries. (Here’s a thought, though, from Jodi Liss of the Energy blog, on yet another of the many nightmares that fossil fuels spawn: massive corruption. See also “the resource curse.” You don’t get a lot of kickbacks with wind and solar. Why? Because nobody owns them!)
I did want to flag some items to you because there is a growing buzz about “unconventional” fuels at the moment. I noted here the relative promise in a move to natural gas as an alternative to coal. Gas has half of the carbon dioxide output of coal per BTU produced. I have also talked a bit about environmental concerns in the hydraulic fracturing of shale to get at hitherto-inaccessible gas reserves.
The “Financial Times” has some articles today zeroing in on shale gas, coal-bed methane, and tar sands – one of my all-time least-favorite industries, right up there with mountain-top removal coal mining. The FT also has a terrific interactive graphic on these industries that you should definitely see. It’s most informative.
Further, there was a great column the other day in the FT, The true cost of shale gas production, that is sobering indeed on the economics. (The economics of nuclear power are exponentially worse but there seems to be even more enthusiasm for it. Go figure.)
Here’s another item from the very good folks at “The Oil Drum” that takes you to the twilight zone of unconventional: Test results from nuclear stimulation of oil and gas reservoirs. (I think my hair just caught on fire!)
