Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sorry For The Delay in Responding To Comments
My filter moved all "anonymous" comments and comments from some regular readers over to the spam folder for some reason. I had the filter set to prevent that from happening, but apparently from the volume of comments being sent in, the filter thought the "anonymous" comments were spam. I will get to them now that I have found them.
Solar Technology Company To Shut Down in California -- Gravy Train for Lobbyists -- Even With Government Subsidies Can't Make It -- 1,000 California Jobs Lost Along With Half Billion Tax-Payer Dollars
Link here. Cartoon of the day.
Solyndra, a major manufacturer of solar technology in Fremont, has shut its doors, according to employees at the campus.
Shortly after it opened a massive $700 million facility, it canceled plans for a public stock offering earlier this year and warned it would be in significant trouble if federal loan guarantees did not go through.
Solyndra was touted by the Obama administration as a prime example of how green technology could deliver jobs. The President visited the facility in May of last year.
The federal government offered $535 million in low cost loan guarantees from the Department of Energy. NBC Bay Area has contacted the White House asking for a statement.
I have nothing against solar energy. But the numbers simply don't work, even with massive government subsidies.
For those who write and tell me I'm all wrong on this, you may want to look at the list of lobbyists promoting this short-lived company:
For those who write and tell me I'm all wrong on this, you may want to look at the list of lobbyists promoting this short-lived company:
In July, Solyndra retained the powerful Glover Park Group, where the company's lobbyists include top Max Baucus aide and Environment & Public Works Committee staffer Catherine Ransom, longtime Republican aide Alex Mistri, and Energy and Commerce staffer (and former John Kerry Legislative Director) Gregg Rothschild .... are just a few of the lobbyists ... more at the link.
Construction West of Williston, North Dakota -- Bakken
Last night I walked six miles from where I am staying in Williston out to the four-mile corner to take photographs of the buildings of oil service companies west of Williston. And six miles back, I walked at least 12 miles.
I started out at 6:30 p.m. and got back to where I am staying at 11:00 p.m. I stopped at the way home at a pub to get a drink. The pub, by the way, a bar and grill, is without a doubt, the best sports bar west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, and I have visited sports bars across the country. But I digress.
Here's the new Schlumberger building west of town:
I started out at 6:30 p.m. and got back to where I am staying at 11:00 p.m. I stopped at the way home at a pub to get a drink. The pub, by the way, a bar and grill, is without a doubt, the best sports bar west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, and I have visited sports bars across the country. But I digress.
Here's the new Schlumberger building west of town:
And then just west of the new Schlumberger site is this building (I do not know who will occupy this building):, which is where McCody Concrete will be going (see first comment below).
I started out walking in daylight; I didn't have a watch or cellphone, but based on "number of hands between sun and horizon" I figured I had two hours of sunlight. And I was about right; here it is right when I got back to Williston:
Even Without the Keystone XL, That Canadian Oil Will Get to the US
Link here.
But that's not the reason for posting yet another story on the XL. The reason I posted the story is in the third paragraph. I am noticing that in almost every story that has to do with oil production in North America, the Bakken comes up in discussion.
EnSys Energy & Systems Inc. and Navigistics Consulting concluded in a report issued as part of the US Department of State’s final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline that it is “almost impossible…to conceive of a situation” wherein the anticipated 1.4 million b/d growth in Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin crude could not be shipped to the US, even if Keystone XL is not approved.I continue to post stories about the Keystone XL because I know folks are interested in the story, but for me, I've lost interest. The Keystone XL won't be built in my lifetime. If it is started, it won't be completed in my lifetime.
The report, “Keystone XL Assessment—No Expansion Update,” examines three tiers of potential transportation: Tier 1, major new pipeline projects (Keystone XL and Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline to Canada’s west coast); Tier 2, modification-expansion of existing pipelines; and Tier 3, rail, barge, and tanker transport. It notes that as options move from Tier 1 toward Tier 3 the capacity of individual projects drops and the $/bbl transport rate climbs. But it also notes that capital costs, scale of commitment, difficulty in permitting, and time to implement all drop, while available transport options expand.
The EnSys report describes rail alone as being able to provide the additional 1.25 million b/d in WCSB take-away capacity anticipated as necessary by 2030, subtracting 0.15 million b/d as upgraded-in-place. EnSys notes that the roughly 100,000 b/d/year expansion rate required is well below the current 250,000 b/d/year expansion rate currently undertaken in the Bakken shale, and equate to adding just 1-2 unit trains/day/year out of WCSB between 2016 and 2030.
But that's not the reason for posting yet another story on the XL. The reason I posted the story is in the third paragraph. I am noticing that in almost every story that has to do with oil production in North America, the Bakken comes up in discussion.
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