ROCKMAN wrote:And there also small skid mounted NG fired electric generators that can use flare gas. Cheaper to run electric lines than pipelines. But we're still back to the caped requirement for whatever infrastructure is required. But it doesn't matter if the economics look good on paper if investors don't invest. As I've said many times I don't like the idea of the fed gov't crossing over into the free market but this is one area it might help...if they did it properly.
Natural gas probably isn't running your car, but it may soon be lubricating your engine.
Royal Dutch Shell, which owns Pennzoil, Quaker State and other brands, is announcing Friday that it has already started selling a premium motor oil that is derived from natural gas and not crude.
The process begins with Shell's $19 billion Pearl GTL, a gas-to-liquids facility in Qatar, where the company converts natural gas into a variety of fuels and feedstocks, including the base oil used to manufacture the motor oil found on the shelves of auto supply stores.
Shell began producing base oil at Pearl in 2012. But while base oil is typically derived from crude, the company said it now will use only base oil made from natural gas at Pearl for its premium motor oil brands.
"Shell is unique in having this product, and they are not selling it to others, and it will make a great motor oil, there's no doubt about it," said Stephen Ames, managing director for SBA Consulting, which consults for the lubricants and refining industries. "Will it be better than other people's motor oil remains to be seen."
Shell's base oil from natural gas is cheaper than that derived from crude, which Ames said gives the company an advantage.
GHung wrote:
The sure sign of peak oil is the amount of bargaining technological innovation going on.
Plantagenet wrote:A new chemical method can cheaply convert natural gas into alcohol, a liquid fuel that can replace gasoline in many applications in the transportation market.
Whew....thats a relief. Peak Oil isn't such a big problem if we can use NG to replace oil. After all, the USA has a 100 year supply of natural gas. Just convert it to alcohol and power up the dragster and go.
PROBLEM SOLVED.
GHung wrote:Plantagenet, you haven't fixed the problems of costs at scale, a financial sector bent on implosion, and a finite feed stock that already has massive claims on it. With out fixing those things, your technological innovation becomes a niche market rather than the liquid fuel of choice for an $85 trillion global economy. Most people aren't even aware that there's a problem. Vroooom!
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