Weekly Round-up of Energy News

Keeping an eye on energy news we don’t hear much about. Below are links to articles and my take on them.

Down on Upton: Michigan Energy News Undercuts Rep’s Rap
Henderson is in charge of the Midwest Division of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and is upset that Upton has changed his tune on energy. Henderson believes his efforts with the NRDC are helping improve the planet. In my view, Henderson has a God complex, and nothing he is doing is helping our nation improve it’s economy, even though he says his way of fighting “climate change” is creating jobs. If Henderson was so interested in nature, he would have learned long ago that the earth heals on it’s own, and the world’s climate changes and there is nothing we can do about it. I see little reason for Fred Upton to hear him out on this, but I found it interesting that he tries to convince the reader that his point of view has merit after he says, “Whether you agree with the climate science or not, everyone can agree that eliminating the massive toll taken by air and water pollution that comes along with coal plants—as well as eliminating waste from our energy system—is unambiguously good.” With that sentence, he switches the focus from “climate change” to pollution. The new coal plants are very clean, and brand new technology fights pollutants. The fact is, the renewable energy he is talking about cannot produce the amount of energy that coal can, nor the amount of jobs. Henderson is a coal-industry hater, even though coal is part of nature.

U.S. does not have infrastructure to consume more ethanol
A study done by Purdue University says that unless something is done, ethanol production in America is an exercise in futility. There aren’t enough flex-fuel vehicles on the road, and the owners of many of these types of cars don’t know they can use that type of fuel, or won’t, or can’t find a pump. Wally Tyner used information from the EPA to come to the conclusion that the saturation point has been reached when it comes to ethanol. “Even if you could produce a whole bunch of E85, there is no way to distribute it,” Tyner said. “We would need to install about 2,000 pumps per year through 2022 to do it. You’re not going to go from 100 per year to 2,000 per year overnight. It’s just not going to happen.” Tyner goes on to say that ethanol would have to be cheaper than gasoline in order to be energy efficient.

Scientists: BP’s oil lingers, but bacteria ate natural gas
The title of the article is misleading. The story says they can’t find the oil, but the natural gas was eaten up by bacteria. All that really means is they can’t find the oil (but maybe it was eaten up too, but we can’t prove it.) Fair enough, but this story is something Henderson-with-the-God-complex should read. Isn’t nature wonderful? Or, as a friend of mine said, “”gee, bacteria eats cow farts. someone should inform the EPA.” If you don’t get the reference, read this, Cow Backpacks Trap Methane Gas Oh, the jokes are just careening through me brain.

To Complain About Limited Resources is Like a Trillionaire’s Child Complaining About Allowance; The Case for Optimism from the Ocean Floor
Mark Perry is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the University of Michigan-Flint. You should read it, but Henderson-with-the-God-complex should read it too.

Mother Earth is abundant, she has natural cycles, she heals herself, and adapts to adversity. All of nature does this.