* NPR | Gulf Spill May Far Exceed Official Estimates
Bottom line: Flow rate from the major riser leak is at least 4 times larger than the Conventional 5000-Barrel-Per-Day Wisdom.
* SCPR | Investigators Find Slew Of Problems At Oil Rig
I’d like to know who is helping the House investigative subcommittee understand all the oil industry lingo and methodology.
* New York Times | U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits
As I said to a commenter regarding yesterday’s post, pro-regulation doesn’t necessarily mean pro-new-regulation. It implies getting governing bodies to do their jobs, i.e. forcing them to force the industry to follow existing regulations.
* National Geographic | Gulf Oil Leaks Could Gush for Years
… such recovery operations have never been done before in the extreme deep-sea environment around the wellhead, noted Matthew Simmons, retired chair of the energy-industry investment banking firm Simmons & Company International.
For instance, at the depth of the gushing wellhead”5,000 feet (about 1,500 meters)”containment technologies have to withstand pressures of up to 40,000 pounds per square inch (about 28,100 kilograms per square meter), he said.
Also, slant drilling”a technique used to relieve pressure near the leak”is difficult at these depths, because the relief well has to tap into the original pipe, a tiny target at about 7 inches (18 centimeters) wide, Simmons noted.
“We don’t have any idea how to stop this,” Simmons said of the Gulf leak. Some of the proposed strategies”such as temporarily plugging the leaking pipe with a jet of golf balls and other material”are a “joke,” he added.
“We really are in unprecedented waters.”
I hold out hope that the new well will reach its target. What I’m not too hopeful about is anything else working in the meantime. Other than Kevin Costner’s plan. Does this technology involve aquatic human mutants by any chance?
pro-regulation doesn’t necessarily mean pro-new-regulation. It implies getting governing bodies to do their jobs, i.e. forcing them to force the industry to follow existing regulations.
You ain’t kiddin’. My greatest fear in all this is that the powers that be will come up with a host of showy new regulations without any intention of enforcing them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOfsFF7bAzE&feature=player_embedded This is how I feel. Solutions for cheap alternatives to fossil fuels are abundant. All of America’s greatest achievements, came from an even greater sacrifice. This time it’s not just our necks on the line the entire world is dependent on us making the right decisions right now. It is now time for us to step up and lead the world into the positive energy future.