Stories tagged with "abiotic oil"

Cornucopians - A Guide for the Perplexed

Posted by Dave Cohen on September 2, 2006 - 1:14pm
Topic: Sociology/Psychology
Tags: abiotic oil, cornucopians, iea, jerome corsi, julian simon, leonardo maugeri, lindsey grant, paul ehrlich, peter huber, pfc energy, steven levitt, thomas gold, vaclav smil [list all tags]

The Oil Drum continually attracts new readers interested in what those concerned about peak oil are saying. This story is mostly for them but also may serve as an amusing review for veteran contributors or readers. It is always a good idea to get back to basics. First time posters are welcome.

Part 1 defines Cornucopian Fallacies and gives a mainstream view from PFC Energy by way of contrasting such extreme views with a moderate voice in the center.

Part 2 presents a taxonomy of some present day Cornucopians who believe that there are no limits to growth. Bear in mind that those concerned about peak oil are sometimes labelled with a broad brush as Cassandras predicting eschatological doom. All of us fit somewhere on this scale.

The Doom & Gloomers are on the far left. The Cornucopians are on the far right. I am in the position left of center marked by an X today but that may change tomorrow should circumstances change. I believe we should never lose our sense of humor around here, a crime of which I have been guilty on occasion. Naturally, many serious points are made along the way.

This post does not deal with some optimists in the energy business like Amory Lovins, CERA, Michael Lynch and CGES who deserve a more extended treatment. That will be the subject of another story.

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An exercise in civil discussion

Posted by Yankee on December 8, 2005 - 11:33pm
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: abiotic oil, peak oil [list all tags]

I know that some readers aren't so happy when we seriously entertain the abiotic oil theory here. Others of you, however, have compellingly argued (IMHO) that as the concept of peak oil becomes more prevalent, we're going to see more and more people rallying to the side of abiotic oil, well, because it's a lot more comforting than peak oil itself it.

I was looking around the web today, and I came across a website (which I probably should not even be linking to) that had a small blurb mentioning that Rigzone pulled Corsi's "Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil" off their website. In the comments, people there started to discuss abiotic oil, and one response in particular got me to thinking.

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Here It Comes: 'Fossil fuel' theory takes hit with NASA finding

Posted by Prof. Goose on December 2, 2005 - 12:10am
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: abiogenesis, abiotic oil, jerome corsi, natural gas, oil, peak oil [list all tags]

NASA scientists are about to publish conclusive studies showing abundant methane of a non-biologic nature is found on Saturn's giant moon Titan, a finding that validates a new book's contention that oil is not a fossil fuel.

"This finding confirms one of the key arguments in 'Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil,'" claims co-author Jerome R. Corsi. "We argue that oil and natural gas are abiotic products, not 'fossil fuels' that are biologically created by the debris of dead dinosaurs and ancient forests."
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47675. Discuss.
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Abiotic Snake Oil

Posted by Dave Cohen on November 4, 2005 - 6:25pm
Topic: Geology/Exploration
Tags: abiogenesis, abiotic oil, black lion, thomas gold, vietnam, white tiger [list all tags]

A few days ago, Energy Bulletin reported that CNBC hosts 'Deep Oil vs. Peak Oil' debate. This turned out to be brief dialogue between Matt Simmons and Craig R. Smith, author of Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil. This book promotes the theory of abiogenic petroleum formation as we see from this worldnetdaily.com blurb.
Smith and co-author Jerome Corsi contend in "Black Gold Stranglehold" that oil is not a product of decaying dinosaurs and prehistoric forests, but that oil is constantly being produced by the earth, far below the planet's surface, and that it is brought to attainable depths by the centrifugal forces of the earth's rotation.
The book seems to be a follow-up to Thomas Gold's 1998 book The Deep Hot Biosphere in which the maverick astronomer contends that
Gold's theory of oil formation, which he expounded in a book entitled The Deep Hot Biosphere, is that hydrogen and carbon, under high temperatures and pressures found in the mantle during the formation of the Earth, form hydrocarbon molecules which have gradually leaked up to the surface through cracks in rocks.
Here, we will examine some specific claims made by Smith during his CNBC debate (mov clip) with Simmons to see if they are true. We will defer a more theoretical discussion of abiotic oil claims to a later date but as a bonus, we'll learn something about petroleum geology as it relates to Vietnam's oil production where the alleged "super deep" oil comes from.
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