OK, I'm doing a balncing act to keep this thread from going kaput.
The world needs more food than ethanol.
My professional opinion - we have enough proven O&G reserves in this nation to be totally energy independet for the next 50+ years and time enough to develop proven alternative energy technology.
I agree. There is a reason that natural gas has dropped from $12 and MCF to $3 (was 2 about a mth ago). That reason is lots of new reserves in many locations from Penn/NY/WV to Cal and from Montana to Texas. That does not even count offshore and Canada. Same for oil from TX to Alaska.
Fracturing of oil and gas formations technology has been around for many years, back to early days of nitroglycerin, and directional drilling has been used for many years.
It is digital technology and sophistication of this technology that will solve the energy problem in our country and bring changes to third world countries.
Can you imagine controlling a drill bit miles beneath the surface and transmitting rock and fluid properties to the surface in real time?
I am familiar with the delopment of this technology and it is exciting.
Economics are interesting. And yeah this involves farming and the extreme drought conditions we are now suffering:
A barrel of oil BTU equivalent = ~6,000,000 BTU
Current cost about $85.00
Natural gas BTU per thousand cubic feet = ~1,000,000 BTU
Current cost about $2.50/mcf
Do the math….. we have 50 – 100 years of proven natural gas in this country.
Put the transmission and delivery infrastructure in place and we won’t have to use corn to produce ethanol.
Again my opinion only…..
