Thermodynamics and Money [Oil/Energy]

Forbes.com ^ | 10-31-05 | Peter Huber

[norraad]

..the math is convincing, the proof is compelling,

the truth leaves them both in the dust!

[GregoryFul]

Believe it if you want to. But I would advise you to become acquainted with the issue before you placate yourself with an easy answer. The information was in the discovery and production figures long before the Greenies came on the scene

[CGVet58]

true. Though not mentioned above, Julian Simon's "Ultimate Resource" books 1 & 2, especially 2; handily explain why Hubbert and all the other 'zero-growth' energy-heads are wrong - in a nutshell, human ingenuity, technology and the free market are what make the difference.

To which I humbly add that we humans are predictably so prone to hubris, assuming that our present level of knowledge - being the accumulation of all these centuries of accumulation/seduced by our apparent superiority as evidenced by our inexorable progress - is always the end and be all of everything. Including disregarding the simplest fact in any discussion regarding resources - that we've only merely scratched the surface of the planet in our attempts to extract what we need.

[CGVet58]

layman question here regarding hydrogen: am generally aware of the current problems regarding extraction/production/storage/delivery of hydrogen energy, notably the fact that at current market levels, it costs more to make that unit of usable hydrogen energy than it does to continue using fossil fuels.

My question is, suppose the current energy model - oilfield>transport>refinery>transport to local gas station>purchase by end user - was changed so that the end user would not be so dependent upon the middleman/corporates in getting the energy to us?

Though this is a far-flung spear into "what-if" land, tech progress has been so phenom-fast that I almost expect an advance in the near future where the end-user can have a sort of "mini-plant" in the home that can provide hydrogen based fuel/energy w/out having to resort to/depend on Saudi oil that costs 2 dollars/bbl to extract and for which he gets raked to the tune of $112 ($2.50 per gallon of gas X 45) per barrel for.

[Matchett-PI]

"Though this is a far-flung spear into "what-if" land, tech progress has been so phenom-fast that I almost expect an advance in the near future where the end-user can have a sort of "mini-plant" in the home that can provide hydrogen based fuel/energy w/out having to resort to/depend on Saudi oil that costs 2 dollars/bbl to extract and for which he gets raked to the tune of $112 ($2.50 per gallon of gas X 45) per barrel for." ~ CGVet58

Here's an interesting item for those who like to think outside the box:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0134.html?printable=1

Excerpts:

"...The Singularity is technological change so rapid and so profound that it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. Some would say that we cannot comprehend the Singularity, at least with our current level of understanding, and that it is impossible, therefore, to look past its "event horizon" and make sense of what lies beyond. ..."

"...when the human genome scan started fourteen years ago, critics pointed out that given the speed with which the genome could then be scanned, it would take thousands of years to finish the project. Yet the fifteen year project was nonetheless completed slightly ahead of schedule. .."

Reverse Engineering the Human Brain

The most compelling scenario for mastering the software of intelligence is to tap into the blueprint of the best example we can get our hands on of an intelligent process. There is no reason why we cannot reverse engineer the human brain, and essentially copy its design. Although it took its original designer several billion years to develop, it's readily available to us, and not (yet) copyrighted. Although there's a skull around the brain, it is not hidden from our view.

The most immediately accessible way to accomplish this is through destructive scanning: we take a frozen brain, preferably one frozen just slightly before rather than slightly after it was going to die anyway, and examine one brain layer--one very thin slice--at a time. We can readily see every neuron and every connection and every neurotransmitter concentration represented in each synapse-thin layer.

Human brain scanning has already started. A condemned killer allowed his brain and body to be scanned and you can access all 10 billion bytes of him on the Internet ...". Access that link here: http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0134.html?printable=1

[snip]