This (geo)graphic is pulled from Robert Hefner’s not yet released book, The Grand Energy Transition (The GET).
I know it isn’t released, but if this guy isn’t completely daffy, then I will have to completely rework all of my assumptions about how to tackle global warming, alternative energy generation, and reducing dependence on foreign oil. After listening to Saul Griffith calculate (or recalculate…) the globe’s energy requirements and the alternative energy requirements that must be met in order to avoid certain cataclysmic carbon thresholds, I figured that we were beyond the point of no return. All of his calculations involved building or deploying so many or so much so fast, starting yesterday, that I saw no way to hit the mark before 2050.
Then comes this guy, “The Father of Deep Natural Gas”, in this Aspen Strategy Group forum. I tell you what, his diagnosis of the situation, his estimate of the amount of Deep Natural Gas available in North America (and worldwide for that matter), his commentary on the politics of oil and why Official Washington has ignored natural gas, makes me very concerned that the Obama Administration is jumping to a cap and trade system before looking at this. Especially given his commentary on what cap and trade would and would not be capable of solving. And, given what he sees being achieved in merely 5 years, if the right resources were applied (e.g., STIMULUS PACKAGE!!!!), I think someone at the White House should be paying attention.
But, then again, perhaps this guy is a nut job. However, I simply suspect that Hefner is right, and it is one of those things that Official Washington ignores because it is inconvenient. Of course, “An Inconvenient Truth” has recently been deemed not-so-inconvenient. So, I guess we are at an impasse. If “An Inconvenient Truth” is not too inconvenient, then why should this be?