Product Description
This is your highest-yielding oil and gas investment. Period. Do you have money ... or time ... in an upstream oil and gas deal? ... as investor?, landowner?, or professional? in (or associated with) the upstream oil business? If you do, get this book. MONEY IN THE GROUND has been coninuously in print for 19 years. It has become THE standard reference on the subject of oil and gas deals. The industry-standard reference on oil & gas investment by a world-class geologist. He starts at square one to give you the background. Then you get inside information on specific details...with examples. Vital down-to-earth tips on taxes & securities. Plus real-world practical know-how (not theory!) on how the money side of the oil game is played! Required reading for: Land Owners, Investors, Lawyers, Bankers, Accountants, Mineral & Royalty Owners! LET'S TALK AN OIL DEAL--Your Key To Oil Patch Lingo. 1991. 120 pp. $13.50. 4x7" paper. ISBN 0-9615776-2-2. You'll never again be at the mercy of the oil companies, with this key to their oil jargon! Every term you need to know is here: mineral rights & overriding royalties; farm-outs & turnkeys; back-ins & payout; blue-sky laws, behind-pipe, bottoms up, & more. Pocket-handy!
Customer Reviews:
Must Read Book On Oil and gas Well Investing.......2007-07-13
Oil and gas well investing is risky and very profitable. This book provides a great detailed over view of the industry, gas well geology, the risks associated with investing and the science behind successful investing.
Don't tread into the oil and gas patch before reading this book.
Good Primer For Anyone Looking At Oil & Gas Opportunities.......2006-07-05
Mr. Orban has penned a very useful guide to the oil business. He covers all the important aspects of the industry and packages it especially for the investor. After reading this book, you'll know most everything you'll need to know in order to enter an intelligent, informed discussion with most anyone on the subject of oil & gas. The book is particularly helpful in directing you to ask the right questions of the right people to evaluate any deal or project. If you're new to oil & gas investing, this book is a must.
Great Book For Investors.......2006-02-25
I bought this book to evaluate an oil investment opportunity. Prior to reading this book, I knew nothing about the oil business. After reading the book, I felt comfortable enough to invest. The book gave me the knowledge I needed to ask the right questions and to evaluate the fundamental assumptions upon which the investment was based. I'd recommend this book to anyone who knows little about the industry, but wants a good overview to evaluate a potential investment opportunity.
Good book for the novice investor.......2005-10-14
Being a newly acquired employee of the oil and gas industry this has really helped me out in a number of ways. It puts things in very basic terms on what goes on in an oil deal and how all the components of downstream and upstream work together. It has a great section in the book about the tax benefits related to the oil and gas industry. It really should be called "The oil business for dummies" book. I would suggest this book to any one that is a mineral owner or just some one that is interested in investing in an O&G Fund or O&G company.
Book Description
Oil & Gas Pipelines in Nontechnical Language examines the processes, techniques, equipment, and facilities used to transport liquids such as refined products, crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids through cross-country pipelines.
Topics include the importance of the pipeline infrastructure; planning, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining pipelines; regulatory requirements; and the challenges for the future. Special emphasis is included on control and leak detection systems as well as emerging technologies and systems to ensure safe and environmentally sound operation. Thorough but easy to read, this text is useful for anyone who wants to learn about pipelines, from petroleum industry newcomers and students to personnel in related arenas such as legal, accounting, financial, government, and others.
Features and benefits:
Concise overviews of the various pipeline functions and operations;
Individual coverage of oil, natural gas, and chemical pipeline operations and their differences;
Descriptive photos, charts, and tables for easy comprehension.
Average customer rating:
- Wake up, world
- This book is great!
- an excellent job covering alternative renewable energy sources
- A pre-review
- eloquently argued
|
Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy
George A. Olah ,
Alain Goeppert , and
G. K. Surya Prakash
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Gasification
ASIN: 3527312757 |
Book Description
In this masterpiece, the renowned chemistry Nobel Laureate, George A. Olah and his colleagues discuss in a clear and readily accessible manner the use of methanol as a viable alternative to our diminishing fossil fuel resources. They look at the pros and cons of our current main energy sources, namely oil and natural gas, and varied renewable energies, and new ways to overcome obstacles.
Following an introduction, Olah, Goeppert and Prakash look at the interrelation of fuels and energy, and at the extent of our non-renewable fossil fuel resources. Despite the diminishing reserve and global warming, the authors point out the continuing need for hydrocarbons and their products. They also discuss the envisioned hydrogen economy and its significant shortcomings. The main section then focuses on the methanol economy, including the conversion carbon dioxide from industrial exhausts (such as flue gases from fossil fuel burning power plants) and carbon dioxide contained in the atmoshere into convenient liquid methanol for fuel uses (notably in fuel cells) and as a raw material for hydrocarbons. The book is rounded off with a glimpse into the future.
A forward-looking and inspiring work regarding the major challenges of future energy and environmental problems.
Customer Reviews:
Wake up, world.......2007-10-01
The extraordinarily wide-ranging review of our major energy sources should be manadtory reading for everybody.
The case is then made for developing (and researching further) the use of methanol as a future energy source. It is compelling.
Why do we not hear politicians and the press screaming for this work to be done?
Creating a practical new source of energy whilst having an impact on CO2 greenhouse gases seems to be a possibility.
Wake up world ! - it's time for a paradigm shift.
This is a masterpiece - a remarkable book at an amazingly low price.
This book is great!.......2007-02-14
1. The author is highly knowledgeable (He won a Nobel Prize for this work.)
2. Applying these concepts in the marketplace would change the global economy.
3. We intend to buy 10 more copies for distribution to others.
an excellent job covering alternative renewable energy sources.......2006-11-24
Olah (1994 Nobel laureate carbocation chemistry, director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute) and his coauthors do an excellent job going over fossil fuel(coal, natural gas, oil) resources, how close we are to running out of each, the vast number of uses for these resources, and the likelihood of climate change due to their burning. It is assumed that in the future we will have abundant energy available from nuclear and alternative sources. Methanol would then be one of the prime carriers of this energy, and an alternate source for all petrochemicals.
They also cover alternative renewable energy sources, compare using hydrogen versus methanol as a carrier of energy from new renewable energy sources and nuclear energy plants. The authors do a thorough job pointing out the enormous use of hydrocarbons throughout the industrial world for a huge array of products. Not only do we need vast new renewable sources of energy we also need to be able to use this energy to change new carbon sources into useful products. The new source of carbon, methanol from CO2 and H2! Olah, et al shows in great detail how methanol can be changed chemically into the precursors for just about anything and at very high efficiencies. We would use energy from nuclear and new renewable energy sources directly where we can, such as powering our factories and homes' electrical systems. We would use some of this new energy to change CO2 from emissions and hydrogen from electrolysis of water, into methanol to run our cars, trucks, etc., and provide feedstock for all the products now produced from petroleum. Note that methanol formed this way adds no new CO2 since CO2 from the surroundings is used to make it. This is very similar to using ethanol produced from corn or other biomass, except it involves more chemistry.
The new process involves using electrochemical or photochemical reduction of CO2, which forms methanol, formic acid and formaldehyde, CO2 + 2H2 -> CH3OH with additional products which are also changed to CH3OH,
HCHO + HCO2H -> CH3OH + CO2
They don't give a lot of details, because they have a patent pending on the process.
In the interim, while we are developing and building alternative renewable energy sources, we can change coal, natural gas, biomass, etc., into methanol. This is already done to a small degree and existing infrastructure for gas and oil can be used with small adjustments. The authors also compare using hydrogen and methanol, as storage and transport media.
It was a surprise to me that there is more hydrogen in a liter of liquid methanol (98.8 g of hydrogen) than in a liter of liquid hydrogen (70.8 g at -253?C), water for comparison has 111g of hydrogen. Methanol would store and transport much more easily than liquid hydrogen.
The first sources of CO2 would be exhaust gas from utilities and big factories, which generate a lot of CO2, hydrogen would come from water being electrolyzed, CO2 + 3H2 -> CH3OH + H2O. Then as our CO2 capture methods get better it would be captured directly from the air. Anyone in the world would with access to energy, would then have a source for a vast array of chemicals! Note that if CO2 becomes a useful commodity people and nations will compete to pull it out of the atmosphere, and prevent it from being released since it has value. This has much greater appeal than other proposals such as sequestering of the CO2. A lot would depend on how efficient the process is. It would be useful if they would give some information on this, but Olah replied to me that `...we have of course extensive patent coverage filed for and in process. For obvious reasons in our book we could not go into any details.
The driving force for the Methanol Economy is new energy from nuclear and alternative renewable energy sources, which we don't have yet, replacing hydrocarbons as fuel. Olah, et al has great confidence that the many problems facing these new energy sources are solvable. The authors are quite negative on the safety of hydrogen, but don't seem to see a major non solvable problem with nuclear. Nuclear as we know certainly has its problems, and most of us are wary of nuclear. Scientific American had an article (December 2005 issue) on the latest nuclear plant design which uses 99% of the fuel rather than 1% in current plants. It would also have proportionally less radioactive waste, with a much shorter halflife. One of the hookers is using two separate liquid Na (at 600?C) loops as a coolant. Not a minor engineering feat. Another recent Scientific American article Sept 2006, instead sings the praises for 3rd generation nukes with improved technology, but with the same problems we currently have.
A fuel cell is being developed which uses methanol directly.
Anode: CH3OH + H2O -> CO2 + 6H+ + 6e-
Cathode: 1.5O2 + 6H+ + 6e- -> 3H2O
Overall: CH3OH + 1.5O2 -> CO2 + 2H2O
It has a theoretical efficiency of 97%, so far 34% has been achieved, while using H2 and O2 in a fuel cell has a theoretical efficiency of 83%. Of course methanol produces CO2 (which would eventually be used as feedstock) as compared to H2 which just produces water, a great advantage.
Anytime we contemplate huge installations for generating energy, whether they are nuclear or renewable we face the problem of transporting the energy to the user. Methanol, since it can use existing infrastructure of pipelines, trucks, gas stations with few changes would appear to be far cheaper than hydrogen. A July 2006 article in Scientific American `A Power Grid for the Hydrogen Economy' pointed out that our nation's electrical grid is experiencing problems and a possible solution would be to create a new national grid which would carry electricity from distant plants-renewable, nuclear, coal fired etc., by a superconductor cooled by liquid hydrogen. You would have the electricity almost resistance free (about 10% is currently lost in transmission) and the hydrogen for chemical uses. The economics of all these proposals is very hazy.
Some further food for thought is a 1998 study that indicates that the unsubsidized price of gasoline was between $6- 15/gal. A number of other studies place it at $3-11. If their methodology is close to correct then the current subsidy is much higher now, and if this subsidy were available to alternative energy sources they would be much more competitive.
A pre-review.......2006-07-08
Obnoxious to review a book before even receiving it, but it is a call to arms. So 4 points only because I haven't read it.
I heard a corner of an interview with Olah on NPR, he chuffing expansively around Everything while the whiny host became more miffed at not being able to keep his guest on track in the 3 minutes alloted between ads (yes NPR is as bad as TV) and was reduced to puerile apoplexy. So I have ordered the book. But I am pessimistic about its prospects.
Too easy for America to ignore even Nobel laureates with names like Olah, Goeppert and Prakash; and if Nader, say, were to join their party it would be even easier to write a new methanol-based industry ("Methanol") off as sub-fringe. Even the voices for urgency in the energy - greenhouse gas crisis like Al Gore will not notice it. It will take a nation with bizarre politics like South Africa (lots of coal, long tradition of gasoline manufacture from coal, perpetual revolutions bubbling under the surface), or Denmark (Just Say No) to invest massively against the common wisdom in a pilot methanol system to get attention. The US is Exxon-Mobil, Disney non-science of the space station, NFL, Murdoch; it is the buffalo herd heading for the cliff.
The essence of Methanol is:
++ carbon dioxide waste from point sources such as coal-fired plants can be converted to methanol (of course it takes more energy; Methanol is not a perpetual energy dream); but is it not a bit more advanced to recycle your carbon dioxide than to pump it underground as in the supposedly innovative notions on the table for reducing greenhouse emission?
++ methanol is a safe chemical which can be directly added to the current gasoline stream (OK minor modifications, but it is not a completely unrealistic new system, and highly unsafe, like hydrogen); methanol is not going to cause explosions devastating port and city or require a completely new distribution system;
++ methanol can be the basis of just about any chemical synthesis (fuels, plastics) currently using fossil fuels;
++ ethanol is in contrast a boondoggle pushed by the corn lobby dominated by Archer Daniels Midland ("supermarket to the world" on NPR); it takes huge subsidy to produce, some ridiculous amount of gasoline or diesel to make a gallon of gas; and yes our former Dem Senate leader Daschle was one of ADM's finger puppets; but you can make ethanol very easily from methanol if you really want it);
++ hydrogen as a major fuel is so unrealistic it is quite evident that for Bush et al it is just a diversion.
What Methanol needs is scions (sound bites for short witted Americans), and advocates such as a Hillary for whom Methanol would be an additional stigma (she ain't gonna get there anyway folks) but who could at least put it on the table. I do not know if this book may eventually become a bible for Methanol, but it probably will not be the seminal point because the US (the big buckeroo) is such unreceptive soil to actual intelligence. We are deafened by the disintelligence.
eloquently argued.......2006-06-29
In this very topical book, Olah and his co-authors advocate using methanol to drive a future economy. Olah's authority is impeccable, having won a Nobel for work on hydrocarbon research.
The book analyses other proposed energy sources. Notably nuclear and biomass. All against a backdrop of diminishing fossil fuels. They pan the former. And they suggest for the latter that its disadvantages are becoming clearer each year. Like the greenhouse effect and global warming. Along with the lesser and lesser likelihood of massive new fossil fuel finds.
The use of methanol is then scrutinised. How it is synthesised, to how it is stored, transported and burnt. A strong chemistry background is needed to understand if the text fully makes sense.
Book Description
Reliable source on oil and gas law. This authoritative coverage focuses on the legal rules that govern the development of privately owned mineral rights, which often also apply to governmentally owned resources. Text covers topics such as the nature, protection, and conveying of oil and gas rights, leasing, and taxation.
Customer Reviews:
Good for the beginner who has basic knowledge of contracts.......2006-02-27
I bought this book because I have to be involved in oil and gas transaction. It is very useful to cover basic cases and theories on this business area. However, because this book presumes that they understand the basic concepts of contract laws and realty laws, the readers are required to know 101 of, say, what is the reminder or what is the fee simple absolute etc. If you are not educated in the country which takes case law system, before reading it, it would be better to skim through the outline of contracts/realty law.
Good book for mineral owners as well as students.......2002-01-28
The third edition of this book was very helpful, and also included more recent case law cites than the second edition. I would assume this it true with the fourth as well (and there have been quite a few post 1995 court cases affecting royalty payments among other things). John Lowe is a well-respected professor of oil and gas law and has written many papers as well as several books on the subject.I find his writing style easy to understand, even for a layman like myself.I also found it to be much more than a "nutshell" approach in that the explanations of complicated ideas are fairly complete in most cases. He even touches on the structure and content of oil and gas sales contracts near the end of the book, which I found helpful as well.
Average customer rating:
|
Surface Production Operations, Volume 2:, Second Edition: Design of Gas-Handling Systems and Facilities (Surface Production Operations)
Ken Arnold , and
Maurice Stewart
Manufacturer: Gulf Professional Publishing
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ASIN: 0884158225 |
Book Description
This revised edition puts the most current information about gas-handling systems and facilities at your fingertips. The authors channeled their classroom and field experience into this volume, which features many new sections such as:
* Heat recovery units
* Kinetic inhibitors and anti-agglomerators
* Trays and packing for distillation and absorption towers
* Compressor valves
* Foundation design considerations for reciprocating compressors
* Pressure vessel issues and components
* Nox reduction in engines and turbines
* Safety management systems
This book walks you through the equipment and processes used in gas-handling operations to help you design and manage a production facility. Production engineers will keep this volume on the desktop for the latest information on how to DESIGN, SPECIFY, and OPERATE gas-handling systems and facilities. The book allows engineers with little or background in production facility design to easily locate details about equipment, processes, and design parameters. With this volume, you will more completely comprehend the techniques of handling produced fluids from gas wells so your facility can be more efficient and productive.
* Revised edition puts the most current information about gas-handling systems at your fingertips
* Features brand new sections!
Customer Reviews:
Good Intro to Accounting for Energy Industry.......2006-02-22
I'm using this book for an Energy Accounting course. Though I have not yet finished going through it, so far has been a good source for those who wants to get an early exposure into the accounting side of the energy industry, especially oil and gas. With only basic knowldedge of finacial and managerial accounting that I took a couple of years ago, I find that the text is not too confusing to follow. It may also due to the way the author(s) present the materials as well as the flow of it. It also provides plenty of examples. Overall, it's a pretty neat text.
Book Description
This nontechnical treatment is a great introduction to oil and gas production for anyone from beginning petroleum engineering and geology students to accountants, salespersons, and other professionals interested in the industry. Co-authored by Martin Raymond, a veteran production manager, and William Leffler, one of the top petroleum nontechnical writers, it is an easy-to-read reference for those who deal with petroleum industry personnel and production issues in their jobs, but need a quick overview of the technical and business issues. Complete with helpful charts and diagrams, this book covers everything from production equipment and processes to theory, business operations, and strategies.
Book Description
Covers repair, maintenance and service of gasoline engines up to and service of gasoline engines up to and including 20 horsepower (except OHC). Engines included are Briggs & Stratton, Clinton, Kawasaki, Kohler and Tecumseh. (Keywords: General-Interest Manuals)
Customer Reviews:
Out of Date.......2007-08-14
The "Product Details" Amazon lists for this book which states "Haynes Manuals, Inc.; 1 edition (September 25, 1998)" is WRONG. Haynes is a different publisher and their 1998 publication is a totally different book. This Chilton book is copyrighted 1994 and is, consequently, 13 years out of date as of this review (August 2007). I verified this by ISBN number to a copy I checked out from my local library. Further, 1994 is the current edition listed on Chilton's website. So, if your engine is newer than 1994, the data will not be current.
That said, this seems to be the most detailed and useful small engine repair book I have found. It may still be useful for some later models that may not have changed much. As previous reviewers have recommended, check your local library copy to see if the information might apply to your engine.
small engine repair book.......2007-01-03
My husband was very excited to get this book - now if he would just repair all of the small engine things we have to be fixed it would be great!
Dated material, marginal index.......2006-02-23
I can't bring myself to be as harsh as the one star reviewers, but they more or less have it. If your engine is 10 years old or newer, you might be disappointed.
My other complaint is that the index is not very good. It is not comprehensive, and it is split up by manufacturer (the latter could be good or bad per search).
Lack of Information - WHAT A RIP OFF!.......2006-02-01
The book, "Small Engine Repairs" was from 1992 and earlier. When I ordered the book, there was no information on the book to tell me what years the book covered. I paid $19.95 for the book and shipping. When I returned the book I was re-imbursed under $8.00, half of what I paid for the book. I needed a repair manual from 1995 to current. I will tell everyone I know what a rip off amazon.com is! I could understand paying for return shippment, but half for a book I could'nt use? I am very dissatisfied with your services. Brenda
Check your library before you buy.......2001-06-19
Don't buy this book unless you're absolutely sure it will help you. The other reviewer had it right, go to the library, match your engine with those covered. If you have an older small engine this book may be of use, if your engine is newer than 1994, good luck. Many of the diagrams are small and compact, a magnifying glass helped.
If you have some knowledge of small engines it is a good publication as you'll know what is being discussed. If you have little knowledge, phrases like "drain the fuel tank" will you leave you wondering HOW to drain the fuel tank. If your library can't help, hire a small engine mechanic.
Book Description
Science tells us that an oil crisis is inevitable. Why and when? And what will our future look like without our favorite fuel?
Our rate of oil discovery has reached its peak and will never be exceeded; rather, it is certain to decline—perhaps rapidly—forever forward. Meanwhile, over the past century, we have developed lifestyles firmly rooted in the promise of an endless, cheap supply. In this book, David Goodstein, professor of physics at Caltech, explains the underlying scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel shortage we face. He outlines the drastic effects a fossil fuel shortage will bring down on us. And he shows that there is an important silver lining to the need to switch to other sources of energy, for when we have burned up all the available oil, the earth's climate will have moved toward a truly life-threatening state.
With its easy-to-grasp explanations of the science behind every aspect of our most urgent environmental policy decisions, Out of Gas is a handbook for the future of civilization.
Customer Reviews:
Engines and Oil.......2007-07-11
Exactly what I had hoped to read in the first 1/4 of the book and the last 1/4 of the book. A good discussion of the status of our oil supply and the prognosis for the future based on current and probable future demand.
My only problem with the book, and this seems to not have been mentioned in previous reviews, is that the author devotes about half of the book to the science of thermodynamics and the design of engines. This is a good basic review on about the junior high level of physical science but it is not the reason that I had picked up the book.
The author is a scientist and has written books on thermodynamics which may be the reason he feels it is important to devote about half the book to this subject. This does give you a good understanding of why it is so difficult to come up with alternatives to the powerful gasoline engine. I would have appreciated more information on the status of oil reserves in Mexico, Iran, Russia etc. in addition to what he had discussed on Saudi Arabia. These countries figure importantly in the future and are not covered in depth in this book.
In genereal this is a good book but I felt the need to read more on the subject after completing it.
out of gas.......2006-11-10
This book asks the question "How long can the worldwide oil economy last"?
The answer: "Not very long". The age of oil is fast coming to a close. What will replace it? Well, immediately reduce consumption of remaining carbon based fuels and other products or learn to reuse them. Many tons per capita in carbon based waste in landfills must be lowered NOW!
Long term solutions must include moves to renewables and sustainable uses. The great "nuclear furnace in the sky" can provide over 50% of the earth's energy needs with today's technology without much change in North American lifestyles. To accomodate a population of 6+ billion at such levels would require 3 or 4 more planets like the earth. We ain't got 'em. So, what is one alternative to this growing probem? - get rid of a huge portion of the current population! One way or the other, the planet will fix itself and restore balance. Simple... if we don't do something soon, the planet WILL. Our choice?
Succinct, focused, readable.......2006-09-11
For those of you who are just getting interested in the subject, David Goodstein's Out of Gas is the book you want to read first. I have read several books on the impending energy crisis, including:
Deffeyes, Kenneth S. Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak (2005)
Heinberg, Richard. The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies (2nd Ed., 2005)
Huber, Peter W. and Mark P. Mills. The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy (2005)
Leeb, Stephen and Donna Leeb. The Oil Factor: Protect Yourself--and Profit--from the Coming Energy Crisis (2005)
Simmons, Matthew R. Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy (2005)
and I can say that Professor Goodstein's modest, short and very much to the point book is as good as, if not better than, any of those five. He introduces the subject in a clear and no nonsense way and includes a lot of background information essential to understanding how energy works and why we are about to face a crisis. For readers who are expert on the physics and technology of heat engines and entropy, this book will be a little too basic in part. But even for such experts, Goodstein is essential reading because not only does he understand the science of the energy crisis, he understands the politics. Especially edifying is the material in the Postscript. Let me reference a few ideas:
OPEC (a cartel, as Goodstein explains, patterned after the Texas Railroad Commission which was the cartel that controlled oil production in the US before our supply peaked) likes to maintain prices within a range, "partly in order not to discourage demand for oil, but also to prevent investment in alternative fuels." This we know, of course. But Goodstein adds, "The implied threat is, if you invest money to develop a competitor to oil, we will flood the market with cheap oil and wipe out your investment." (pp. 126-127)
This explains in part why we have been so slow to develop alternative sources. Investors are afraid. However, as Goodstein explains, if OPEC no longer has "excess pumping capacity" to flood the market, theirs becomes an empty threat. Notice another point here: not only are OPEC countries tempted to overstate capacity so that by OPEC rules they are allowed to pump more oil, they are induced to lie about their reserves to scare potential investors away from alternative energy sources. In fact the entire oil industry itself "has a very strong incentive to deny any looming shortage of oil." In other words, to overstate their reserves. Another reason they overstate their reserves "is to keep down the price of oil properties they would like to acquire." (p. 127)
Goodstein also explains why "reserves to production" (R/P) numbers have stayed about the same for many decades and why many experts say we still have forty years of oil left, same as we have had for most of the twentieth century. Quite simply "proven" reserves are reported as "whatever fits the current needs" of the company. (p. 128) It used to be the case that under-reporting was good since it kept the price of oil from plummeting. Now the real danger is to acknowledge that a company doesn't have much oil left. This will cause their stock price to plunge, which is what happened to the Royal Dutch Shell Group "when it was forced by outside auditors to reduce its claims of proven reserves..." (p. 129)
Goodstein's take on the various alternatives to oil, including coal, shale oil, nuclear energy, renewables, etc. is very much in concert with the opinions of other experts. We will be using more coal, dirty as it is, and more nuclear energy, and natural gas. These are the three main alternatives. Not long after we run out of oil we will run out of natural gas and then coal and then even nuclear power plants will grow cold for lack of uranium, which if used to supply energy at the current rate of consumption will be depleted in five to twenty-five years. (p. 106)
Goodstein explores wind and solar and makes it clear that in the long run--if we and civilization are going to make it to the long run--we will have to develop the technology to exploit these renewable sources. This will require a huge investment. We will need the political leadership and will to make the kind of commitment that President Kennedy made in putting a man on the moon. Goodstein believes that solving the energy problem will require the same sort of formidable and creative technology as did the space program. He adds that "Unfortunately, our present national and international leadership is reluctant even to acknowledge that there is a problem." (p. 123)
It is essential that we make the commitment to develop alternatives fuels and we make that commitment NOW because (1) we will need the oil we have left to make the thousands of petrochemical products we will continue to use; (2) we need to free ourselves from dependence on the oil producing countries; and (3) there is an outside danger that the continued burning of fossils fuels will trigger a runaway greenhouse catastrophe that could lead to sterilizing the earth as has happened on Venus. Note well this horrific downside--far worse than any "nuclear winter"--and note too we could go past the point of no return without even realizing it, and be left with no way to stop the meltdown.
Bottom line: "The challenge is enormous but the stakes are even larger. If future generations are to thrive, we who have consumed Earth's legacy of cheap oil must now provide for a world without it." (p. 131)
Best introduction to fuel (oil) depletion I have read..........2006-07-31
This book is a short read, so the review should be short, too. This is the best book on fuel depletion on the market, in my opinion: short, accurate, factual, non-polarizing, objective, useful, and scientifically correct. Reviewers who quibble over small stuff are missing the point. There is an annotated bibliography for those who want more. You can't go wrong with this one.
This book played fast with the facts.......2006-06-26
After reading this book, I sold my copy as a used book on Amazon --- and I almost never do this. I have read 5 books about the end of oil prior to reading OUT OF GAS, and I felt that the author played with the facts to make his point. Clearly, the author wanted the make the crisis that we are facing seem less urgent and dire than the other books on the topic. While I am not a scientist who has studied this topic first hand, I have studied books and other literature on this topic, and feel that other sources provide better information. Specifically, Hubbard's Peak is not as clearly explained here as in other books.
If you are looking for an excellent (if a bit gloomy) book on PEAK OIL, I can recommend THE PARTY'S OVER.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent practical tool........2001-04-28
This book is an excellent practical tool to gain understanding on how the Production Sharing Contracts/ Agreements of the international oil industry work and how the negotiations on PSA normally flow. Johnston does not concentrate on cultural aspects of a particular country, but rather on the mechanics of the PSA and its major issues. The topics that Johnston covers are "Petroleum Fiscal Systems," "Concessionary Systems," "Production Sharing Contracts," "Risk Service Contracts," "Threshold Field Size Analysis," "Global Market for Exploration Acreage," "Production Sharing Contract Outline" "Accounting Principles," and "Double Taxation." This introductory comprehensive overview of PSA concepts is written in a clear and understandable manner so that even a person without a background in accounting, taxation, and oil engineering is able to understand the author's explanations and conclusions. This source will be most helpful to consult if one is interested in learning or simply clarifying the concepts of exploration economics, oil taxation, contract/fiscal terms, and PSA negotiations in the international context.
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