Hello, again, to my favorite people! Your most trusted source of energy information is back, after a hiatus:) Any further discussion on anything remotely connected to energy has to talk about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. What a month this last one has been!
The Good: Fossil fuels are the best source of energy known to mankind. The energy density of these fuels per unit of price is unparalleled; the power delivered to your gas tank at a gas station is around 10 MW, a hopelessly high number. We have become irreparably dependent on oil, gas and coal over the last century. Most of these natural resources are dispersed in the natural systems and need to be taken out.
The Bad: Finding and extracting these natural resources is a process fraught with danger, as we have increasingly found out in the recent times. These operations are very resource intensive as well and take a heavy toll on the ecosystems of the region. Despite this, 87% of our energy needs are being met by these fossil fuels.
The Ugly: The recent memory serves me two painful accidents. Coal mine disasters are as commonplace as peanut butter and the recent US accident was another scary reminder of what could be the downside of plundering with disdain. The event that takes spotlight has to be the BP Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico. It has been a grand spectacle of insatiable greed for such resources, unbelievable regulatory and operational negligence, technical impotence despite the best resources and an ecological heartache.
Now for some background of this case, which most of you would be sick of by now. I will repeat the obvious anyway, so please bear with me. Deepwater Horizon, the flagship Transocean oil exploration rig exploded in an accident off the Gulf Coast in the US on the 20th of April. The blast was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the oil well and shot up the drill column. The gas expanded quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding. The explosion was so powerful as to take down one of the largest oil rigs in the world in a day. Deepwater Horizon has been credited with drilling the deepest oil well in the world. The excellent testimonies that I had heard from the BP executives who visited MIT campus is still fresh in my mind. In short, the rig was supposed to be a technical marvel in the oil industry. This was a BIG incident.
The oil well has been spewing about 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day of oil into the ocean by the most recent estimate, totaling to anywhere between 18 to 28 million gallons in the last 5 weeks. This is by far the biggest oil spill in the history of United States. So much so that Exxon, the villain in the Valdez spill 21 years ago, seems like an angel these days. Oh, BP!
What has followed is heart rendering! The best technical experts in this land have been trying to stem the flow of oil gushing through the God-forsaken well. The techniques have exotic names but have done absolutely nothing to improve the situation. It goes a long way to show how much we really know about deep sea drilling and related safety measures. Its really scary given the size of our oil companies, such behemoths!
Its a sordid tail and one can keep writing tomes on this topic about what should have been done and what should be done. One just wishes that the flow could come to a halt and the damages done to the local people and their livelihood could be limited in any possible way! So much for Drill, Baby, Drill!
I have always strived to be an objective reporter of the developments in the energy space in this blog, trying my level best to avoid any personal predilections. However, there are certain special situations under which one is forced to vent it out, and this is one such rare moment for me. According to me, this oil spill points us to two major takeaways. First, we cannot afford to have smaller governments and less regulations. The financial crises, both in the US and EU, and the coal and oil disasters have brought home the point that we NEED a STRONG government and stronger regulations. End of discussion! What is ironic is the rant of conservatives about the inadequacies of the Obama administration in grappling with the problem.
The second, and a big personal, comment is on the urgency of a shift towards renewable resources. As we move into ever more difficult terrains, looking for that last ton of coal, that last liter of oil or that last cubic feet of gas, we expose ourselves to greater dangers. The shift towards low carbon energy alternatives is not only a demand of the climate change supporters but also a need for safer ecology. I am reminded of a oft-repeated statement here which says that the oil age will not end because of lack of oil as the stone age had not ended due to the lack of stone.
Its time to move on!
