Using solar to extend fossil fuel supplies

[billvon 2,434]

I figure this is something that both sides might be able to agree on as a good idea . . . .

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Manama, Bahrain -- Solar energy is cheaper than natural gas in powering enhanced oil recovery projects in the Middle East that tap heavy, viscous forms of crude, a developer of the technology said.

Solar power for so-called EOR projects costs about $5 to $7 per million British thermal units of energy, half of the $12 to $18 price for liquefied natural gas, according to Rod Macgregor chief executive officer of California-based GlassPoint Solar Inc., a company offering solar projects to the oil industry.

The region holds about 475 billion barrels of heavy crude, almost double Saudi Arabia’s conventional reserves, according to Ernst & Young. The heavy oil projects require steam or some other method to heat crude before it can flow up into a well. The consultant said many countries are facing a gas shortage and must import supplies from abroad for oil recovery projects.

“If you rely on importing LNG to generate your steam, you will be at the mercy of others and that’s not good for oil supply security,” Macgregor said by phone from Oman. “No one can shut down your sun.”

Oman, the only Middle Eastern nation using steam generated from solar panels to recover oil, currently uses 22 percent of its natural gas to produce steam for enhanced oil recovery projects. Gas demand is also increasing for households, making solar energy “an attractive economic proposition” for the oil industry, McGregor said.
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http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/01/solar-beats-natural-gas-to-unlock-middle-easts-heavy-oil-says-glassdoor-solar?cmpid=rss

[lawrocket 3]

Of course this makes sense. I don't think there are many deniers out there ho have a problem with people and companies spending their own money on solar projects and the like. Solar energy to extract oil in the Middle East? Sure!

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[davjohns 1]

Since I was a kid, I've wondered why we didn't make greater use of renewable energy. For my retirement, I still plan to build the earth-sheltered home I've planned all my life. I plan to incorporate as many self-sustaining ideas as practicable. We could obviously do so much better.

I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet..

But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course.

[rickjump1 0]

davjohns

Since I was a kid, I've wondered why we didn't make greater use of renewable energy. For my retirement, I still plan to build the earth-sheltered home I've planned all my life. I plan to incorporate as many self-sustaining ideas as practicable. We could obviously do so much better.

Make sure you have a backup generator. The people I know living off the grid have one.

One eighty yrs. +retired nuclear engineer was off the grid until last year when he had a chance to hook up to the local elec. coop. Now he goes 50/50. I think his being blind in one eye and age made him go the other way. I'm sure his wife had a say in this decision too.
When you wire your house you might consider that.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

[Rick 67]

My Uncle in Michigan was using a wind generator to power his home up until a few years ago, He just got to old and arthritic to be able to maintain it. He lived pretty much off the grid for several decades. He bought a bunch of batteries from a golf course that was replacing all of their golf cart batteries and built himself a 12 volt system to run his house. He had wood stoves for heat in the winter. They grew there own vegetables and raised livestock to eat and sell for cash. Supplemented by hunting. It just took a lot of work and as he got older he found it to hard to maintain.

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

[rickjump1 0]

It's hard to think about those things when you're young. I always liked wood stoves (have one with a catalytic converter), and I like the exercise cutting, splitting, and moving firewood, but there will come a time when we go propane or something else. It's tough being a FOP (fucking old person).

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

[brenthutch 388]

+1