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  1. Rod – right on target as always. And I suppose it was inevitable that natural gas would get the CCS greenwash applied as well. I think the Next Big Future post The Case for more resources transformational technology rather than spending money to master hiding waste is right on target as well. Nobody seems to be asking what we do when we have no fossil carbon/hydrocarbon left and/or no more space under the carpet to sweep the waste. Where will the energy and money come from to build the next round of systems?

    It’s a failure of both the politicians and the media IMO, and confirmation that businesses certainly do know how to manipulate both.

  2. Given Europe’s increasing dependence on Gazprom for its gas supplies, I believe it is only a minor exaggeration to describe European opposition to nuclear power as treasonous.

  3. In response to George Carty’s comment about European opposition to nuclear as treasonaous. It is a multinational market place anywhere in the world. Whether it is “Just the Idea” or products such as natural gas instead of nuclear, loyalty is a smoking gun. Recent Russian Energy “Exploration” may make this issue more evident to everyone involved in international markets. That is not to forget military posturing on this day honoring our armed forces. The smoking gun refuses to go away so be vigilant!

  4. The statement about shale and other tight gas exploitation not having an impact on the gas market is something that should be looked at in a bit more detail. This attitude can only come from someone who is convinced that the gas market will continue to grow at such a pace that the introduction of vast new supplies will not have a major negative impact on profits.

    That level of confidence on how firm the market is telling in itself.

  5. @DV82XL try being even more suspicious. Perhaps he knows that shale is a mirage that is actually part of a plan to sell LNG. He might also know that the stricter enforcement of laws that protect water supplies in Europe adds enough cost to make hydraulic fracturing too expensive to compete.

    1. I’m not so sure that tight gas is a mirage. The exploration side of the fossil-fuel industry has a history of dealing with environmental concerns over their activities, and I have no doubt that they will come up with process that is more benign than the current one. Keep in mind one of the early attempts to release tight gas was with a nuclear explosive. While this worked, the gas was a bit radioactive, and the public outraged and the experiment was not repeated (in the US, the USSR tried several shots to loosen up gas with varied results)

      The point being that this field isn’t dead yet, even if they have to go back to the drawing boards.

      While I wouldn’t put the scenario you’re suggesting out of the realm of the possible, given the industry in question, I more suspect that they think they can keep nuclear at bay indefinitely.

      1. Time will tell. One of the things that makes me believe in the theory that I have posed is the incredibly steep depletion curve associated with tight gas wells. You get a big burp initially, but you have to keep drilling and fracking with depressing regularity to keep the gas flowing. I do not think there is anything that the extractors can do that will mitigate some of the surface disruptions from heavy truck traffic and high quantities of water usage.

        Another thing that backs up my theory – at least in my mind – is totaling up the investments made in the LNG infrastructure. Making those hundreds of billions pay off requires high volume sales over a very long amortization period. That means there needs to be a large, highly addicted market that cannot easily make a different purchase decision.

        I am guessing that delaying nuclear projects by a couple of years would be enough to make a new renaissance a distant dream because of all of the disillusioned young nukes who would be off in other lines of endeavor and reluctant to return right at the same time as the older generation decided it was no longer worth hanging around for a few years to actually build something.

        Price wars seem to last forever while they are happening, but looking back, the period of low prices seems awfully short compared to the end result of destroying viable competitors.

  6. And if Germany continues on with their panic plan of shutting down their reactors based on the latest elections, Europe will have tied themselves to gas for a generation or more. Reuters reported Germany will face rolling blackouts this winter unless they buy Russian gas or over-the-border power. Power that will have to be bought at premium rates since Germany will have to buy power on the spot market as they do not have any long term contracts in place due to their panic over Fukushima.

    Then the German businesses will ramp up their manufacturing exodus, German tax revenues will decrease and the German people will be asked to pay more and more to subsidize wind and solar.

    The end of Germany as we know it.

    US to follow suit if we continue to push more wind onto our grid raising our own power prices and taxes while falsely believing a few thousand manufacturing jobs at windmill facilities can replace several hundred thousand manufacturing jobs that have been lost over the past decade or more.

    Bloomberg is reporting that major US corporations are not bringing jobs back here since we are in a no-growth period. Jobs are going outside the US and the companies are trying to keep the non-US income stream from being taxed.

    And we have allowed ourselves to be scared of nuclear power which allowed a anti-nuclear politician to head the very organziation charged with monitoring nuclear power.

    What a hole we are digging for ourselves.

  7. RE: The Project Plowshare gas from underground nuclear explosions. I’ve read that this gas was finally released to market in the 90’s sometime, but I can’t find reference. Does anyone else remember seeing this?

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