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The Forum > Article Comments > Clean oil that only costs $20 > Comments

Clean oil that only costs $20 : Comments

By James Stafford, published 19/2/2018

If there's one big reason for the U.S. energy revolution, it's that new technology has allowed American companies to beat the competition.

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" that's walk away safe, molten salt, thorium."

Given the problems and enormous time scale (40 years) involved in cleaning up after the only thorium reactor to have been built, I wouldn't call it walk-away safe. Perhaps run-away. Quickly.

" any fuel/oil company with a spare thorium reactor or two, will be well placed!"

Yes they will be well placed....because they'll be the only one's with such a device. They don't exist and a commercial reactor won't exist until at least 2035, if at all.
Posted by mhaze, Monday, 19 February 2018 3:09:20 PM
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Well the alleged difficulties with cleaning up the (alleged) only thorium reactor were caused, it would seem, by folk from big nuclear who hadn't a clue about a very different reaction. And tried to treat it as a solid fueled reactor? (their alleged expertise) And because this walk away safe reactor threatened to shut down a very lucrative business model, i.e., solid fuel fabrication?

Highly credentialed NASA scientist and nuclear technologist, Kirk Sorensen was given unfettered access to the total sum of the operating scientist's notes and a couple of those scientists; and is on the public record refuting some of those same claims? See for yourself.

PKH is a term I've borrowed from Ivy league Professor (ret) economist, Robert Hargreaves, as he gave a short summary of his book, Thorium cheaper than coal And means, as far as I understand, Per kilowatt Hour?

Thorium, Super fuel, subtitled, green energy by prize winning investigative Journalist, Richard Martin, is also an informative read which debunks some of the negative claims created by big nuclear enthusiasts trying, it would seem, by fair or foul means to protect a very lucrative income stream.

We don't yet have a nuclear powered industry! And would be well served if we followed the lead of dozens of other countries trying to get out from under the yoke of OPEC and big nuclear and like them chart our own course as a nuclear/thorium powered nation! Simply put, nothing else is either possible or available!
Alan B.
Posted by Alan B., Monday, 19 February 2018 3:50:45 PM
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WE are in the ridiculous position of selling our gas to offshore users and after being ripped off by foreign price gouging, tax avoiding foreigners, for our own gas!

Forced the national government to threaten them with a regulated market to restore sanity?

Why we even export silica sand to Korea, where they use our gas to turn it into glass, Ten ship it back as glass, with a two way transport component included! All while we bury mountains of recyclable glass in landfill!

Moreover we sell our coal at bargain basement prices as fast as we can dig out of our ground. Even as we pay premium prices, with the assistance of our government? For fully refined, fully imported diesel and petrol.

And at last reports for an annual expenditure in scare export dollars, somewhere north of 26 billion PA.

Ever since the second world war we have known how to make either from coal. The only drawback was the exorbitant cost of the required energy! Walkaway safe, molten salt thorium, completely changes that! And should we choose to do so again, pocket the 26 plus billions we are now forking out to foreign fuel suppliers!

Taswegian, the technology you reference, is proven rather than hypothetical. Moreover, the $32.00 a (150 litre) barrel was for the finished alternative fuel product! What's that? Around 20 cents a litre?
Alan B.
Posted by Alan B., Monday, 19 February 2018 4:17:54 PM
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AB synfuel could solve all our problems and to hell with oil. It doesn't inspire confidence that it will power jumbo jets when it's only demonstrated on model aeroplanes
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-navy-turns-seawater-into-fuel-2015-5?IR=T
Posted by Taswegian, Monday, 19 February 2018 5:01:26 PM
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the world was running out of oil 50 years ago when the Great Barrier Reef was to be no more!
Posted by runner, Monday, 19 February 2018 5:08:19 PM
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Considering the source of tis article it has to be taken seriously.
However it is not the full picture.

http://tinyurl.com/y7gkqnqy

It seems that development costs and returns are going the wrong way.
They are plagued with short lifetimes which have been bypassed
by multiple drilling from each platform.
Never the less falling ERoEI is always haunting the industry.
The oil sands will die on the cost of natural gas as it is used to
melt the bitumen so it can be pumped to the treatment plant.
That is a major cost and an increase in the cost of gas will kill it again.

While all that puffing has been going on about tight shale oil behind
the scenes conventional, the great bulk of the industry has been
declining, although recently there was a bit of a lift.
Look at the rest of the world, that is not as happy faced.
Posted by Bazz, Monday, 19 February 2018 10:10:24 PM
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