Energy News

The Dirty Green Energy Solution. This isn't pie in the sky stuff. It's a very simple, down to earth solution to reduce our energy demand, reduce our dependence on imported oil, and save the environment. The industry terms for what they talk about are CoGen and WHRU's. I've had some exposure to them at work and they work extremely well if you set them up right. The biggest thing holding them back is high initial costs (defrayed by later savings, though) and energy regulations. You might say, well, give tax incentives and deregulate, but remember Enron was a child of the deregulation movement. You've got to be careful how you do it.

Bloggers visit Shell Brutus TLP. I'm absolutely shocked they didn't comment on the food. They did comment on the safety program, which is impressive. Every morning, there is a meeting about safety. The first thing people do is read off all the observed safety issues (usually not wearing proper PPE). Violators are never punished and reporters are always recognized. Those incident reports (near misses, etc.) are fed back to the training facilities who then emphasize whatever seems to be lacking. And then it's time for breakfast. Did I mention the food is really good?

Cheney on the economy. What I found interesting: The budget guys pushed back: Can't we wait until crude prices level off? No, the word came back from Cheney, this was urgent. That was all it took. "He doesn't weigh in on a ton of issues," said a person close to those negotiations. "But when he does... SPR has been the one thing the current administration hasn't played politics with and I applaud them for boosting capacity and installing some very competent people at the top.

Robert Hirsch lays out various oil production scenarios [PDF] Gives you an idea where oil production might head.