Posted by laima on August 18, 2006, at 20:35:17
In reply to Re: oil business and profits » laima, posted by Jost on August 18, 2006, at 19:18:35
Yes, for demmand to fall would be key.My brother did his phd work searching for alternative clean-burning fuels for large engines, and improving the mechanics of large engines to burn cleaner and more efficiently in the first place-but the only job offers after graduation came from oil companies, to his dismay. So he took a job. Now what he does is concerned with safety and efficiency inspections and recomendations for their operations around the world, in hopes of preventing future disasters and/or waste. (No, doesn't work for the company with the recent snafu in Alaska.) Looking at developing stronger, more reliable materials for pipes, less invasive ways to drill, recomendations to make structures more sound (less vulnerable to waves, earthquakes, corrosion, explosions, etc), etc.
I DEFINATELY get the impression that the engineers and scientists are not on the same page as the business and marketing people, based on conversations I've had with him and some of his peers. True, they don't share quite the same urgency that I feel about the perils of fossil fuels, but they are inquisitive, and quite interested in fuels in general. Again, when I used to quiz them about alternative fuel sources and methods, being engineers they were quite interested in the topic, but the conversations always devolved into, "sure, we know about some promising technologies, most big oil and energy companies have even tinkered with a few side-experiments in anticipation of the future- but it's only that- no one is willing to provide funding for alternatives while oil is so cheap, and it would be very, very expensive to get anything like that rolling on a large scale now. Consumers won't pick up the tab. There's no real incentive, not feasable at this time."
I really, really believe, based on these conversations, that if someone came up with some massive funding to get an affordable alternative to oil into wide use, plenty of quality engineers and scientists would go for the challenge. These people are very interested in these sorts of challenges and puzzles, and they like to tinker. Interestingly, in the US, oil is, of course, subsidized by the govt. I believe that is widely known, and I understand that's why it's so much cheaper here for consumers than it is in say, Europe. The price at the pump, even at "3.50$" isn't close to the "real" price at all...
That's just the conversations I heard- I can't provide any "proof" or references for any of it- nor do I wish to reveal his company.
> Depending on how much demand was lowered, prices might fall.
>
> Oil companies haven't been promoting conservation or the development of alternative fuels, which you'd expect them to do, if they perceived it to be in their interest.
>
> It's not a question of what scientists at oil companies think is worth doing, it's the direction that management at the companies decide to take.
>
> What does your brother do in the oil business?
>
> Jost
poster:laima
thread:675260
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060809/msgs/677930.html