What does Peak Oil look like?

[wokwithm]

Originally Posted by twinotter

http://rudymoore.com/geo575/final/Peak%20Oil%20Map.html

Hi Rudy,
You Map link doesn't work.

[waltermlee]

How does this chart look like if it was only for sweet/light crude oil or if if it only looking at heavy crude oil production?

[herm]

The chart is for sweet crude, there are vast reserves of sour/heavy/shale crude.. but they will need different refineries to handle that oil, at an increased cost.

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by herm

The chart is for sweet crude, there are vast reserves of sour/heavy/shale crude.. but they will need different refineries to handle that oil, at an increased cost.

And AFAIK they have far worse EROEI.

[herm]

Originally Posted by alvaro84

And AFAIK they have far worse EROEI.

Its part of the cost, after all this is free stuff you pump out of the ground.

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by herm

Its part of the cost, after all this is free stuff you pump out of the ground.

It's more than just cost. Nothing under EROEI=1 can do any good, even if it's free.
Or... solar/wind/water oil rigs/refineries, anyone? Sounds like a stupid idea, but I can imagine them as an act of desperation

[xcel]

Hi Herm:

The chart is of all crudes, not just sweet crude. It is what we produce, what we consume and what we import.

Reserves of various grades of crude, crude like or other natural resources is another matter altogether.

Wayne

[herm]

Whats the EROI return on GTL?.. its negative, you lose about 30% of the energy in the NG to make methanol (and worse with higher fuels).. but you are converting the fuel into a more valuable form that is more convenient to use. We dont care, its free stuff that comes out of the ground. It can be sold at higher profits.

EROI on wind power is almost infinite, yet its one of the most expensive forms of electricity available because its intermittent and unpredictable.

[herm]

"I have no data on Ethanol production throughout the North American continent other then the .261 MBD produced here in the US in 2005. I see Ethanol production increasing at a geometric rate until such time that the main ethanol feedstock in the US (corn) has pushed corn based food prices out of reach in that problematic supply/demand scenario. .261 MBD of Ethanol is just a touch above 1% of our daily consumption of crude (20.9 MBD)."

Why are you assuming ethanol has pushed food prices higher?.. it usually has very little correlation since corn prices have very little to do with the cost of a finished food product. Perhaps except meat animals, and bourbon.

Ethanol has probably peaked, since its restricted to 10% blends max and E85 is not that common.. BTW, read a comment recently of an Regal Turbo E85 user, he reports only a 10% economy hit.. so there is some potential for cash savings there if you can get E85 cheaper than that. Try to test one of those with E85 if you can.

[Bike123]

EROEI isn't nearly infinite from any source. Wind turbines, solar panels, etc. have energy invested in them, and they don't have infinite life. A lot of energy goes into drilling, esp. offshore, and the well doesn't produce forever.