The Magical Solution to Peak Oil
According to wiki: “Abracadabra” is an incantation used as a magic word in conjuring tricks… “Hocus pocus“ is a generic term that may be derived from an ancient language and is used by magicians, usually the magic words spoken when bringing about some sort of instant change.
Merry Christmas! Happy New year! Congratulations!! We’re saved!! We have found the solution to all our problems…It only requires a small investment of time on your part this New Year’s Eve…and if we do this all together, I’m sure it will work.
All you have to do is listen and learn the magic incantation called “Hocus Pocus” (by the group Focus.) As you’ll see, the words are easy to learn and if we all chant it at the same time on New Year’s Eve, exactly at 00:00, this peak oil crisis thing and all of its repercussions will disappear instantly. [IMPORTANT!: review the video carefully since its essential to gesticulate and whistle correctly...]
If you don’t feel confident about this solution, perhaps the magical solution recently published in EL PAIS will be more convincing to you: Una revolución a todo gas – Los nuevos hallazgos disparan las reservas y cambian las reglas del mercado. I must admit I prefer the Hocus Pocus option. It seems that just when the rest of the industry stakeholders began to doubt the panacea effects of non-conventional gas, EL PAIS discovered it and guess what?…¡Abracadabra!
Irony aside, there is no doubt that non-conventional gas represents an enormous business and investment opportunity and (apparently) will not accelerate the rate of decline down the ride side of the curve. But if we consider the ratio of energy return on energy invested (EROEI) vs the ratio of cheap oil (the basic building block of the current world economy) and the environmental impact of harvesting non-conventional gas, we’ll quickly see that it is not the magical solution after all. For a closer look at the subject, I recommend a read through Antonio Turiel’s latest blog post at The Oil Crash.
PS – to maximize the power our “hocus pocus” incantation, the more we are, the better…Pass it along.
January 22, 2011 at 5:40 pm
LOLs, Joe, thanks for taking me back there a ways with Hocus Pocus. “Aaah-aahhhh-aaaah-aaah-AH-AAAAAHHHHH!’
On the origin of “Hocus Pocus,” some say it is a riff on the latin Hoc est corpus meum, used in the consecration of the eucharist.
Interesting take on natural gas. You know, Upstate New York has been a scene of economic devastation for decades now, but all of a sudden there has been an influx of natural gas speculators up there, paying farmers cheap dollar on the acree in order to rush in and get their wells up and working. They remind me of Daniel Day Lewis’ character Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml2Ae2SIXac
Of course, precious little attention has been paid to what “fracking” will do to the groundwater. What about that? What are the environmental hazards of poorly regulated natural gas extraction
January 23, 2011 at 9:11 pm
Hey Jeff, thanks for checking in. I have to say that most of my blog time is on the Spanish version (my limited circle of influence is here in Spain after all…) The toughest part of blogging for me has been trying keep two language versions going – very time consuming!
Yes, the New York activity has been world famous and of course there are very positive things about it. But there are plenty of holes in the glorious promises about gas and the fracking that goes with it. Yet, desperate times call for desperate measures: Fracturing is a method used to break apart tight rock formations, allowing gas to escape, in which a million gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals are shot down a well under immense pressure. What chemicals? Hydrochloric acid, solvents, surfactants, petroleum-based lubricants, corrosion inhibitors, microbe killers. Basically, it’s a lot of the same carcinogenic chemicals found in household cleaners like Formula 409 and Drano. The obvious danger is to aquifers and other sources of drinking water. There have been numerous accidents with nasty outcomes for the drinkers… “(“he chose poorly”)
http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/28/cabot-hydraulic-fracturing-business-energy-fracking.html
If you want to practice your Spanish and join the more active forum you can check out my Spanish blog, or even better, see my colleagues at: http://crashoil.blogspot.com/ for excellent stuff on PO.
Un abrazo, – JS
January 23, 2011 at 10:13 pm
Thanks Joe. I’ll take a look.