Posts Tagged by Matt Simmons
National Security, Environmental Damage, Lung Disease, and Peak Oil
| January 26, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
Readers may be interested in the conversation Glenn Doty and I are having on electric vehicles, as comments to my piece: Lateral Power, Distributed Generation, and the Third Industrial Revolution. Here’s another question for Glenn (and anyone else who would like to join in) on the subject.
Glenn: You make some terrific points here, and you have my promise that I’ll try to continue to merit your respect.
Going back to this deal about gasoline, aren’t you at all concerned about the fact that we’re apparently running out of it? Everyone I can find (except the spokespeople for the American Petroleum Institute) seem to concur. As Matt Simmons told me shortly before he passed away, “National security, environmental damage, and lung disease are all reasons that we SHOULD do something about our oil addiction. Peak oil, on the other hand, is the reason that we MUST.”
About Matt Simmons, Contributor to “Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies”
| August 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
Matthew Simmons contributed to the book’s chapter on Peak Oil. Simmons served as energy adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush. His landmark book Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy points to the idea of “Peak Oil” – the concept that we’ve passed the peak at which the world’s supply of oil can be extracted.
I’m deeply saddened that industry colleague and true visionary, Matt Simmons, passed away August 8th, 2010. He will be sorely missed by all of us who follow this industry and care about the quality of the planet we will leave to our children.
Liquid Ammonia as Fuel — Summary
| June 5, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
Like hydrogen as a fuel, liquid ammonia is a carrier of energy, as opposed to a source of energy. When we create ammonia out of nitrogen and hydrogen, we add energy to form a compound that can later be broken down, releasing some of that energy for useful purposes at a time and place of our choosing.
In that sense, ammonia is like compressed air or batteries: you can only take out the energy you had put in earlier. As a substance, this is constrated against gasoline and other fossil fuels, the chemical energy in which was created by our sun long ago.
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Liquid Ammonia as Fuel
| May 5, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
In a recent post, Bill Paul points out that the reaction to the oil spill in the Gulf should be algae-generated biofuels. But why not liquid ammonia, as Peak Oil pundit Matt Simmons would suggest? As Matt old me when I interviewed him for my book on renewables (and then reminded me in a phone call the other day) anhydrous ammonia is an ultra-clean, energy-dense alternative liquid fuel, for which an enormous delivery infrastructure is already in place. With the exception of hydrogen (for there is virtually no delivery infrastructure) ammonia is the only fuel that produces no greenhouse gases (GHG) on combustion. Ammonia will power diesel and spark-ignited internal combustion engines, and can be manufactured from simply water and air using clean renewable energy.
I’ll see if I can see Bill to comment on this.
Peak Oil
| January 25, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
I’m hoping that readers of my upcoming book on renewables will enjoy my conversation with Matt Simmons, arguably the loudest voice on the issue of peak oil. And, although the subject remains controversial, it’s probably a good deal less so today that it was last week, now that two extremely senior automotive industry executives have come out with statements that support it.
In particular, note the recent comments of GM’s Bob Lutz, global climate change skeptic, who is nonetheless a strong proponent of the Volt and the electrification of the automobile. Lutz argues that continued dependence on oil as demand inevitably increases will simply exacerbate boom and bust economic cycles. He notes that, in 20 years the China auto market will equal the rest of the world combined and adds, “At that point we have to have alternative drive systems, which to me have to be electric.”
And check out the remarks of Jim Lentz, President and COO of Toyota Motor Sales. He apparently stunned his interviewer during a recent Commonwealth Club event, in which he stated unequivocally that Toyota believes that peak oil will occur sometime in the later half of this decade.
Peak oil – just one of the many reasons for the rapid migration to renewable energy.
Ammonia as Fuel
| January 9, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Energy Storage |
During my interview with Matt Simmons on “peak oil” for my book on renewables, I asked about suggestions for averting the imminent disaster he sees associated with maintain the status quo in energy generation and consumption. The response:
Large wind turbines will soon be built at the University of Maine and tested off the Maine coast, made from advanced composites with breakthrough characteristics in strength, weight, and cost. Once put into production, they can be used to produce large quantities of ammonia.
Matt pointed out that anhydrous ammonia (NH3), also known as “the other hydrogen,” is ultra-clean and energy-dense — the closest thing to a perfect transportation fuel.
He laid out a significant list of benefits:
- Liquid at ambient temperatures and moderate pressures (~125 psi)
- Has 52% of the energy density of gasoline, more than 50% more energy dense than liquid hydrogen
- Can be used directly in internal combustion engines, using relatively straightforward conversions of gasoline and diesel ICEs
- Easy to store and deliver in large quantities
- Current worldwide annual production of ammonia is ~130 million tons
- A storage and delivery infrastructure of pipelines, barges, rail and truck already exists for ammonia, with 3000 miles of pipeline in the US heartland; retail ammonia outlets exist in almost every state
- Can be produced cleanly from coal and natural gas with carbon sequestration, and also from biomass, renewable energy sources and nuclear power, using nitrogen from the air
- Contains no carbon, so releases no GHGs on combustion; also any NOx is easily neutralized
I propose to conduct a bit more research on this subject, and post my findings when they are available. In the meanwhile, please feel free to comment.
Renewable Energy and Morality
| January 8, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
In the talk Dr. David Mills gave recently in on solar thermal, he closed by telling his audience that renewable energy was “a moral issue,” meaning, of course, that we as a species have a series of related ethical obligations regarding our environment. When I put this together with the ideas of some other people I’ve interviewed for my book on renewables, I arrive at a considerable laundry list of clear consequences of pursuing the status quo in terms of power generation and consumption:
Increasing rates of serious diseases directly and indirectly caused by fossil fuel extraction, refinement, distribution and combustion
Suffering of other animals brought about by reduction in habitable areas, food supplies, and accelerated extinction of species
Storms, droughts, and famines associated with global climate change
Destruction of crustaceans and associated ecosystems due to ocean acidification
Increased violence from terrorist groups and rogue states empowered by wealth derived from oil
Reduced quality of life for our descendents
Social chaos engendered by imminent gasoline shortages
In my talk yesterday with Matt Simmons of “peak oil” fame, he pointed out that social chaos will ensue as oil becomes scarce and gasoline becomes unavailable in an increasing number locations over increasingly long periods of time. I asked Matt, not generally known for his rose-colored predictions of the future for an oil-addicted world, for a solution. To my surprise and delight, he provided one without a moment’s hesitation. More on this tomorrow.
Peak Oil – Calling Matt Simmons
| October 1, 2009 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
I’m hoping that I can get Matthew Simmons to help me with the “peak oil” section of the book I’m writing on Renewable Energy. Though I’ve never met Matt personally, he’s a friend of numerous friends, and I have a good feeling that this will ultimately happen. And to stimulate discussion on the topic, I’ve begun writing posts on a variety of blogs in which the subject is discussed.
Here’s what I wrote on the distinguished R-Squared, in response to a heated discussion on Mr. Simmons’ credentials as a scientist:
I strain to understand the fascination for the fine points of this subject, i.e., exactly when the world experienced – or will experience – peak oil. Whether or not you agree with Matt Simmons’ analysis and conclusion (which I happen to, personally), I think you have to concede that CO2 levels of 385 ppm and climbing means taking an unacceptable risk with the future of our planet – in terms of both global climate change and ocean acidification. I’m less interested in the rhetoric surrounding peak oil — and more interested in beginning to create what I know will be a monumental effort to build legislation that establishes a level playing field for renewables, as I’ve written in numerous blogposts at 2GreenEnergy.com, e.g., this morning’s.
