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$100 oil

ComeBackMudPuddles

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No its actually simple IF you have the WILL Power


I THINK you MEAN willpower.

Anyway, I think things are a bit more complicated than you suggest and would necessitate breaking the golden "no politics" rule to properly discuss it.
 

drjeff

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I THINK you MEAN willpower.

Anyway, I think things are a bit more complicated than you suggest and would necessitate breaking the golden "no politics" rule to properly discuss it.

Bottomline, as long as there continues to be long lines at Dunkin Donut's each morning and lots of people continuing to filter into convienence stores all day long buying $20+ worth of scratch tickets and $50 cartons of cigarrettes then people may bi&*h about energy prices but the really aren't as affected by them as they think. When they have to start rationing out the money that they spend on everyday "disposable income" items, then maybe change will occur.
 

ctenidae

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This is such a total over reactionary BS maneuver today. Big deal, there's a short lived cold snap across maybe 1/3rd of the country, and voila oil jumps almost $4 a barrel before falling back a bit towards the end of trading. Big deal, it's North America, it's January and it's cold, quite a newsflash! The biggest B.S. move will be tommorrow when some gas station owner spikes the price .10 to .15 a gallon based on this, when the oil that was traded today isn't even close to the refinery that will finally turn it into what we'll use a fuel likely WEEKS from now!

This is almost a perfect example of how modern technology/communications can be a BAD thing at instilling unneeded volitility in commodities markets!


Well, a cold snap, plus political unrest in Pakistan, supply cuts in Nigeria, increasing demand in China, Chavez beeing silly, and OPEC once more not raising quotas. But yeah, reactionary.

As mentioned, it's nothing new, and we, as a world, have had our thumbs up our backsides not worrying about it. Oil will run out eventually, maybe sooner than later, but for the past 30 years our energy policy has been, essentially, "Saudi Arabia has all teh oil we'll ever need, and always will". Well, not so much.

Gas prices affect a hell of a lot more than just your morning commute or ski trip. What do you think is used to raise, process, and transport your food? How about your clothes? Your everything-else-you-might-ever-buy? Here's a hint- it wasn't magic fairy dust. Core inflation (which includes food and energy prices) is expected to be close to 6% by the end of the year. The government, and particulary the Fed, conveniently doesn't report core inflation generally. They do inflation excluding food and energy. but guess what we spend most of our money on. Here's another hint- it's not fuzzy bunny slippers.

Breaking $100 is an important psychological event. Now that it's done it, it'll be back. Within a couple of weeks, oil will probably be over $100 to stay, adn by the end of the year we'll be looking back and saying "Boy, remember when oil was only $100 a barrel? Those were good times."
 

ckofer

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There's no doubt that we need to find a more sustainable approach in regards to our energy demands. We share the planet with 6.7 billion others. What if you could harvest the energy that is just dumped out of your radiator or clothes dryer? Or think about the warm seasons-we use energy to remove energy from our homes and cars...
 

Marc

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Unfortunately thermodynamics tells us that heat is the most entropic form of energy, the form in which all energy tends to end up as. Meaning it's hard and typically not energy or cost efficient to extract work from it, however- energy storage like you speak of is already being utilized.

The most basic form was the ice harvest which was enormously common before the invention of the refrigeration cycle. Ice stored and insulated in sawdust acted as a huge heat sink in the summer to keep heat out of perishables.

Along the same lines, but not quite the type of heat storage you're speaking of, geothermal heating systems (using heat pumps) use a small amount of work input to consolidate and move heat to one insulated location (house) to sustain a high temperature. They extract heat from the ground below the frost line where the earth stays a more constant temperature. And they're great because the can reverse the process in the summer and extract heat from the house and dump it underground.

The solutions are out there and they're being developed rapidly now that the end the fossil fuel era is in site. There's no use in trying to force the issue though, that just creates more problems then it solves.
 

snoseek

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This needs to happen at some point so people and manufacturers make better decisions. I hope it goes even higher (and yes I'm aware of the economic impact, sort of).
 

ckofer

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Unfortunately thermodynamics tells us that heat is the most entropic form of energy, the form in which all energy tends to end up as. Meaning it's hard and typically not energy or cost efficient to extract work from it, however- energy storage like you speak of is already being utilized.

Nicely put but I'm not giving up hope that some Nobel-prize-winning thinking will find a way to make better use of waste heat and other small energy gradients. I'm thinking steam-engine technology with the sun/heat waste converting to motion. Even eductors that use the sun's energy to draw cooler air from underground.
 

Marc

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Nicely put but I'm not giving up hope that some Nobel-prize-winning thinking will find a way to make better use of waste heat and other small energy gradients. I'm thinking steam-engine technology with the sun/heat waste converting to motion. Even eductors that use the sun's energy to draw cooler air from underground.

What you're thinking of will probably be very possible with advancements nanotechnology, but that's a little ways off yet. Fortunately we already have very viable and practical solutions and even better ones just around the corner. They'll be ready and economical when the conditions are right, so I don't freak out about it too much. I just go with the flow, mang :)
 

ckofer

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I'm currently building a building for my business and hope to incorporate a simple heating technology(see below). Rather than heating just the air, I have quite a mass of dry crushed stone under the floor. I think that if I can warm the under-slab area all fall, then I will have at least a non-freezing area through the winter. It seems to be the most efficient use of solar energy around here. This is offered as an example and not an endorsement of any brand:

The SunMate™ Solar Panel is the ideal choice for homeowners that want an environmentally friendly, low-cost air heating option. The SunMate™ pulls cool air from your home, channels it through the absorber plate where it’s warmed by energy from the sun, then circulates it back into your home. A built-in thermostat automatically turns on the fan when the absorber plate reaches 110° F and shuts the fan off when the plate reaches 90°F.
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The SunMate by Environmental Solar System is efficient and affordable. A single panel heats up to 750 square feet. Double-sealed solar glass eliminates air infiltration and water leaks. Polyisocyanurate insulation results in extremely low heat loss and an 8.5 Watt fan operates for just pennies per day. You can run the SunMate completely without AC power by connecting the fan to a 20 Watt solar module!
The SunMate™ is installed vertically and mounted on the side of your home or building. The design accommodates 2” x 4” or 2” x 6” construction. Parallel installation allows you to integrate multiple panels for larger heating areas.
Sunmate_diagram.jpg
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Marc

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I'm currently building a building for my business and hope to incorporate a simple heating technology(see below). Rather than heating just the air, I have quite a mass of dry crushed stone under the floor. I think that if I can warm the under-slab area all fall, then I will have at least a non-freezing area through the winter. It seems to be the most efficient use of solar energy around here. This is offered as an example and not an endorsement of any brand:

I don't want to seem like I'm poo pooing your idea, but your thermal mass would need to be well insulated for it to last any length of time.
 

ckofer

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I don't want to seem like I'm poo pooing your idea, but your thermal mass would need to be well insulated for it to last any length of time.

Insulation is certainly an important part of the equation. I'm basically trying to keep this area at 45 F and use a large heater for very short periods when we are in the shop restocking trucks. I've 2 parallel 60' runs of 4" perforated pipe about 20' apart (under the floor). I plan to pump the warmed air into one and use the other for return. The investment is minimal now. If I feel that just warming the air in the shop works better, that will be easy to change. I plan to be careful about insulating and managing drafts.
 

ctenidae

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Your contention is unknowable, at best.

Malthus was right.
He just didn't factor in technology very well.

These guys have a pretty good system for load shifting: http://www.ice-energy.com/

On the thermodynamics issue, there are several groups working on Sterling engines, and most say that, at base, it's a materials problem that is not far from resolution.

I still say algal biodiesel is where it's at. If only someone would give me a couple mil to prove it...
 
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