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To: SeekAndFind

Oil: The new renewable energy source.


5 posted on 12/20/2009 2:46:31 PM PST by lonestar67 ("I love my country a lot more than I love politics," President George W. Bush)
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To: lonestar67

Saudis, Iranians and Russians worst fears. Time to put the Donovan back in the hot rod?


9 posted on 12/20/2009 2:54:21 PM PST by mazda77 (Rubio for US Senate - West FL22nd - Dockery for Gov.)
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To: lonestar67

This could explain why oil is present when old wells are reopened?


20 posted on 12/20/2009 3:28:53 PM PST by abclily
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To: lonestar67; squarebarb; SeekAndFind; tet68; anymouse
Oil Without Dinosaurs ?

You do know that the "oil is dead dinosaurs" myth is a strawman? Biomass on land usually turns to coal (gradually from peat to hard coal), whereas the scientific theory says that oil comes from plankton / algae (which are chemically astonishingly similar to petroleum).

Oil: The new renewable energy source.

Yeah, except that methane (CH4) isn't oil (which consists of much longer hydrocarbon chains).

It never did make sense to me, a non-oilperson and certainly not a chemist or biologist, that all oil came from multi-million-year-old organic matters ‘sandwiched’ between rock.

How could that happen? The rock would have to form, and that would takes thousands of years, and the organic matter didn’t rot away and disappear in those thousands of years?


There's surprisingly little rot at the pressures and oxygen levels you find miles below the sea surface. And yes, I'm aware that decompoisition happens there, too, just want to point out that your frame of reference is completely wrong.

Where and when did this come from...

Location of oil fields relative to prehistoric lakes and oceans.

... and how is it supported?

Chemical composition. E.g. similarity of molecules found in algae and in petroleum like porphyrin from petroleum vs. chlorophyll.

He was open to the possibility, but had not seen enough evidence to support the theory.

That's exactly the point. Abiotic hydrocarbons are certainly possible, especially simple ones like methane. But when it comes to the majority of more complex hydrocarbons like petroleum, it's just inferior as a theory (explains less, more holes...). So it boils down to a simple point: If you look at that facts, you keep your mind open without getting your hopes up. But if you're looking for something to pin your hopes to, to believe in, well then, at least it's better than sharia law.
50 posted on 12/21/2009 4:49:45 AM PST by wolf78 (Inflation is a form of taxation, too. Cranky Libertarian - equal opportunity offender.)
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