Oil companies and alternative energy

[TEG]

For vehicles that need to run nearly 24x7 to be competitive, and have to travel great distances between 'refuel' - like jet planes, and freight trucks, there is a need for a petroleum substitute. So, yeah, I think bio-whatever is needed for some applications.

But for joe-random-commuter, pure EV (and solar charged at home if possible) is the way to go.

 

[AnOutsider]

That was a weird read. Feels like it was written 3 years ago.

Yeah, it was a bunch of fluff and filler, no real information, no real point... just ramblings of a (drunken?) mind...

 

[JRP3]

Why Ethanol Not Electric Cars and Hybrids Is the Answer: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance

Vinod Khosla thinks ethanol is better than electric cars. His reasons:

1) Batteries are expensive, and not getting cheaper in the foreseeable future;

2) Battery cars pollute more than ethanol [they're "coal powered"];

3) Biofuels are a "low risk" technology that can be implemented in a short period of time;

4) The ICE can be made forty percent efficient. This efficiency, combined with ethanol, will be the best low carbon technology for "most of the world" over the next fifteen years.

Wow, wrong on all points.

 

[mt2]

That was a weird read. Feels like it was written 3 years ago.

True enough. But oddly accurate. Note the reference to Tesla designing a new chassis - I expected another "electrified Elise" comment. And then there was the interesting, "... this choice makes the Roadster one of the least expensive cars with an entirely carbon fiber skin." I guess I never thought of it that way.

What was weird to me was why Tesla was even mentioned in the first place. It's like "kev" was just dying to rave about the Roadster and used this Shell advertisement as a contrived excuse.

No matter, he said good things.

 

[Serge]

ExxonMobil to Launch Biofuels Program

ExxonMobil to Launch Biofuels Program

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company has entered into a research and development alliance with SGI, a privately held company focused on developing genomic-driven solutions and founded by genome pioneer, Dr. J. Craig Venter7, to develop advanced biofuels from photosynthetic algae that are compatible with today’s gasoline and diesel fuels.

Under the program, if research and development milestones are successfully met, ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million, which includes $300 million in internal costs and potentially more than $300 million to SGI.

The money pile is staggering, but considering the following statement:

ExxonMobil has invested more than $1.5 billion over the past five years on activities that improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

My question is how effective were these activities in improving energy efficiency and reduction of GHG emissions?

 

[DaveD]

SGI, a privately held company focused on developing genomic-driven solutions and founded by genome pioneer, Dr. J. Craig Venter

I'm enjoying the irony that Dr. Venter is a roadster owner.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/tesla-roadster/1624-production-delivery-status-31.html#post22824

 

[vfx]

Public image. Craig is certainly in the right circles to have learned about the car.

 

[dpeilow]

Just watched this: BBC iPlayer - BBC Scotland Investigates: 2008: Truth, Lies, Oil and Scotland

Good account of the relationship between big oil and government and also how new technology is being used to exploit fields that were considered dead.

See also: BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Oil reserves 'will last decades'

 

[doug]

Just watched this: BBC iPlayer - BBC Scotland Investigates: 2008: Truth, Lies, Oil and Scotland

Unfortunately not available to those of us on this side of the pond.

 

[vfx]

We get:

Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only, but all BBC iPlayer Radio programmes are available to you. Why?

If you are in the UK and see this message please read this advice.

Go to Radio channels home page​

.

 

[JRP3]

If anyone cares enough you may be able to go through a proxy located in the UK to see the video.

 

[dpeilow]

Where BP's really at:

BBC NEWS | Business | BP in 'giant' new oil discovery

What BP's New Oil Strike Means - BusinessWeek

 

[vfx]

BBC NEWS | Business | BP in 'giant' new oil discovery

The company said it had drilled the well, dubbed Tiber, to a total depth of about 35,055ft (10,685m), making it one of the deepest wells drilled to date.

A deep oil well has the same proportions as a human hair ten feet long.

 

[Alfred]

Oil companies & electric traction

You should not read too much into such statements.
An oil company is an oil company. Their managers made their career in this environment. Electric traction is something that happens "elsewhere". As one older manager once said to me: "You have to understand that I cannot visualise a world without service stations". This is not ill will or anything machiavellian, but a classic situation any industry finds itself in when being confronted with a possible change in paradigm and it merely shows how the human mind is wired. Also managers are human - after all: What we do not know or have some familiarity with is not imaginable.

A second aspect is the view often held that a company should stick to its main business. Diversification should be left to shareholders.

 

[vfx]

Big Oil Goes Green | Newsweek Environment | Newsweek.com

So does the fact that oil companies are among the world's biggest energy users, and will ultimately need to offset emissions. "I believe the large integrated oil firms will eventually become major players—perhaps even the dominant players—in alternative energy," says Don Paul, a former Chevron executive who now runs the University of Southern California's Energy Institute.

For example, Valero is building windmills to power refineries, and Chevron is using solar power to make steam to extract tough-to-reach oil.

 

[dpeilow]

DISCOVER and Shell Present | DISCOVER Magazine





.

 

[dpeilow]

The Green Rush: Shell chief on greedy oil majors, consumers and gas flaring - Times Online

Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Shell, considers some of these controversies in his contribution to The Green Rush, our series on business and the environment.

Few would dispute that the business practices of an oil company appear to be at odds with environmentally friendly endeavours, but Mr van der Veer attacks the familiar image of the oil major.

"I'm always amazed that people think that oil companies are just there for the money and greedy and like to do a lousy job," he says.

 

[dpeilow]

In tonight's London Evening Standard there was quite a large advert by ExxonMobil extolling their efforts to combat global warming.

As one of the posters here notes, it is interesting for them to admit that gw is a problem but also interesting that they are advertising in the UK (Exxon is not a brand that has direct contact with the general public): Exxon adverts

I haven't seen the advert online, but the campaign itself does have a website: http://www.media.exxonmobil.com/media/microsite/index1.html

Amongst other things, they were of course talking about their work on fuel cells resulting in a 45% reduction in emissions (but not other ZEV technologies).

One of our most promising new developments in vehicle and fuel systems is the on-board hydrogen fuel system. This technology could one day substantially boost fuel economy and help overcome a key barrier to the adoption of fuel cell vehicles by converting conventional fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and biofuels into hydrogen right under a vehicle’s hood...

It seems the FUD continues.

 

[doug]

Amongst other things, they were of course talking about their work on fuel cells resulting in a 45% reduction in emissions (but not other ZEV technologies).

It seems the FUD continues.

Of course they're out for their own interests, but I'm happy to hear them talking about on-board reformation. Then maybe we can bypass all that hydrogen infrastructure idiocy.

A new vehicle technology could bring important environmental gains - ExxonMobile

... On Earth, hydrogen molecules rarely exist by themselves. They must be made from other compounds and then delivered efficiently to be used for vehicle fuel cells.

Most prototype fuel cell vehicles on the road today use hydrogen that has been manufactured in a process unit, then compressed or liquefied before being delivered to distribution points and stored in a tank at high pressure on board the vehicle. This process uses energy and produces greenhouse gas emissions. Also, widespread adoption of these vehicles would require a new and expensive infrastructure to produce and deliver hydrogen. There are safety concerns associated with transporting and storing hydrogen on board vehicles, too.

This is all basically correct. The true FUD about HFCVs.

But together with partners in industry and the research community, ExxonMobil is developing a technology that we believe could help solve these problems: an innovative on-board hydrogen-powered fuel cell system.

How does it work? This system converts conventional hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline or diesel into hydrogen for a fuel cell right under a vehicle’s hood. No new power plants or service stations required.

Sure the "no new power plants" part is a dig at BEVs, but I love the "no new ... service stations required" bit.

...
This pioneering technology, which has been under development for the past five years, will first be targeted at warehouse vehicles such as forklifts. Some day, it could be applied to passenger vehicles.

There is still a long road ahead. It will require sustained effort and could be decades before this technology reaches consumers. But thanks to groundbreaking work by ExxonMobil and others, hydrogen on board is one of the many promising vehicle and fuel innovations on the horizon.

Ha ha... now the real goal comes out! Delay the alternatives. But I'm happy if they delay silly stuff like hydrogen fueling stations while more sensible technologies advance. Lets stick these guys in a room with the hydrogen advocates and have them duke it out.

(Though they also claim to be working on Li-ion batteries: charging ahead)

 

[Serge]

Ha ha... now the real goal comes out! Delay the alternatives. But I'm happy if they delay silly stuff like hydrogen fueling stations while more sensible technologies advance. Lets stick these guys in a room with the hydrogen advocates and have them duke it out.

Excerpt from an article published by SAE in March, 2001:

Larry Burns, GM Vice President for Research and Development, said that GM and ExxonMobil have developed a better way to extract hydrogen from gasoline. "Our joint progress on gasoline processor technology means that clean, efficient fuel-cell-electric vehicles could be in consumers' garages by the end of the decade," he said. The gasoline reformer is said to have an 80% conversion efficiency. With such a fuel processor, said Burns, GM could build a fuel-cell vehicle that uses 40% of the energy in gasoline - almost double what a typical car does today in average driving. Although the current system is not emissions-free, it nonetheless emits just half the carbon dioxide and significantly less carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides than current gasoline engines.

8 years later Mr. Burns is out of his job and ExxonMobil keep singing the same old tune. I consider this a good development as the Big Buns are now signaling withdrawal of their support for Hydrogen Highway boondoggle.