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The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

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Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#251

Post by astrodust »

vonmoltke wrote: post #179
astrodust wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A) It's a foot compared to historical levels, it's 10cm since the 1990s. B) It's a constant problem in Miami where high tide is now above the level of many roads so they've had to jack the roads up several feet more. C) Venice, Italy is routinely flooded because of sea-level rise and it's only getting worse.

> B) It's a constant problem in Miami where high tide is now above the level of many roads so they've had to jack the roads up several feet more. No, it isn't. It's a problem during king tides. Yes, king tide flooding is getting worse, but "constant problem" is an exaggeration.

When parts of your city flood every king tide that's a constant problem because that threat has not gone away.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#252

Post by astrodust »

singularity2001 wrote: post #123
astrodust wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A) It's a foot compared to historical levels, it's 10cm since the 1990s. B) It's a constant problem in Miami where high tide is now above the level of many roads so they've had to jack the roads up several feet more. C) Venice, Italy is routinely flooded because of sea-level rise and it's only getting worse.

ok 30 cm is a lot. one thing that I don't fully understand yet: there were always storm surges above 2m (?) how come that 50cm sea-rise without any storm surges are already causing problems?

Having a higher base-line sea level is never going to help with flooding. Remember a component of the rise is that the water is warmer, and warmer water takes up slightly more space, but the real problem is that the increased temperature makes storms more aggressive and from there increases storm surge.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#253

Post by pasbesoin »

joelhoffman wrote: post #228
pasbesoin wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in the U.S., my friend's perfectly capable trail horse (who also has a variety of other training and has even done a bit of dressage) was around a $1000, a few years ago. Camels have a reputation (I'm not sure to what extent it's deserved) of being somewhat more obstreperous; nonetheless, I have a hard time extrapolating to 50K, were camels in a like position to horses in the U.S. Not for a "decent" camel. In cu…

To whatever distance their relevant relationship to llamas extends, it's deserved.

I don't remember the exact wording, but I've heard and read that alpacas are fairly nice, while llamas will wait to knife you when your back is turned.

I have a friend down under (to the right of Oz) who has the former and has some knowledge of the latter. I seem to recall her confirming this, when I mentioned it.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#254

Post by beat »

petre wrote: post #232
beat wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without abandoning piston engines entirely and going to turbines or something, modern auto engines are approaching maximum practical thermal efficiency for the conditions under which they must operate (being primarily horsepower-oriented rather than torque-oriented). You can get maybe 50% better if you're powering an oil tanker rather than a car, but you're not powering an oil tanker, but rather something that has to…

We still have to see how HPPI and turning off two cylinders out of four at low speed improves fuel consumption. There are also alternative fuel options for ICE vehicles such as LPG for petrol powered vehicles and DME for diesel vehicles. Current diesels already do 65 mpg which is a big deal compared to 36 mpg. DME can be produced locally out of syngas from industrial processes or biomass.

Regardless, an all-electric car is going to be pushing 90% thermal efficiency - transforming energy into acceleration. A combustion car isn't going to break 40%. Exotic tech like variable timing and taking cylinders out of service isn't going to get huge gains - they're actually a lot of work for tiny gains, because all the huge gains have already been had. Moreover, electric cars will get that efficiency with no compromise in performance, unlike combustion cars with tiny, weak, "fuel efficient" motors. A Tesla Model S is the fastest car in its class, as well as the most efficient.

The only big win for combustion-based cars is the range potential, because the energy storage of liquid fuels is so much denser. I don't expect to see electric commercial aircraft in my lifetime. But biomass-based liquid fuel? Sure. It just won't be cost-competitive with solar/wind into a battery. It'll be limited to specialized applications where power/weight matters.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#255

Post by vonmoltke »

astrodust wrote: post #251
vonmoltke wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> B) It's a constant problem in Miami where high tide is now above the level of many roads so they've had to jack the roads up several feet more. No, it isn't. It's a problem during king tides. Yes, king tide flooding is getting worse, but "constant problem" is an exaggeration.

When parts of your city flood every king tide that's a constant problem because that threat has not gone away.

Parts of South Florida have flooded during king tides for decades. This is not a new occurrence.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#256

Post by astrodust »

vonmoltke wrote: post #255
astrodust wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When parts of your city flood every king tide that's a constant problem because that threat has not gone away.

Parts of South Florida have flooded during king tides for decades. This is not a new occurrence.

Obviously, but when new parts get flooded and the flooding becomes ever more frequent, it is.

Or you can stubbornly deny this.

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#257

Post by xref »

unexpected wrote: post #247
xref wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

curious, would fracking be used years or decades down the line to extend well life?

potentially, if it's economic enough. The typical shale wells that you see being drilled have very high initial rates, but then fall dramatically. They are a totally different well profile than the wells offshore (where shale is not being targeted). Will shale ever be targeted offshore? Maybe, in a world where oil is $150/barrel and we're all still demanding it. A few things are holding back hydraulically fracking of…

Wow thank you for the long form answer, very helpful to read insights like this from someone in the industry!

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#258

Post by oh_sigh »

wonderbear wrote: post #214
oh_sigh wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived with some bedouins in Morocco near merzouga for a few months who had about a hundred camels. I really doubt they were sitting on millions of dollars of camels.

Wait, what? Why?

I met a guy on a bus who was studying English in the city but heading back to his parents to bring veterinary medicine. We hit it off and he invited me back to his family's compound, and it turns out his family was super cool and invited me to stay a couple of days. I kept finding things to do to be helpful, and they were more than willing to keep feeding and housing me. I helped some of the cousins practice English, set up some radios for them, and also worked a bit to get a website up and running for a tourist business they were trying to set up(basically airbnbing their place and showing off traditional bedouin lifestyle).

Re: The United States Is Now the Largest Global Crude Oil Producer

#259

Post by BrandonMarc »

headmelted wrote: post #218
maxerickson wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can just fill a can with gas and bring it to the car. (this is what a tow service will do if you've only run out of gas)

Yes, but I ignored that because it didn't support my argument. And you caught me! You're right of course, although I still maintain plugging the car into a wall socket for an hour is easy to do almost anywhere - realistically this would get enough charge for most people to get to a charger (in my case it would get me to a rapid which would top up the rest of the battery in another 25 minutes).

I wonder if the day will come soon when tow trucks feature inverters and outlets as a standard feature, in order to help "gas up" a stranded (electric) motorist.
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