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Natural Gas Abhors a Vacuum

Posted December 24, 2015 12:00 AM by Engineering360 eNewsletter

Natural gas is cheap. Whenever a commodity gets cheap, people start looking for new ways to take advantage of the glut. In the case of gas, its traditional uses are being eclipsed by power generation and a few others you might not have imagined. Gas-powered air-conditioning is widely popular in Europe, but only recently started gaining traction in North America. Diesel locomotives retrofitted to run on natural gas can lower their total fuel costs by as much as 50%. The expansion of natural gas into transportation, according to American Gas Magazine, has even extended to cruise ships, where gas helps meet new European Union emissions rules. The real question, of course, is what happens when gas prices rise.


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Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

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#1

Re: Natural Gas Abhors a Vacuum

12/24/2015 3:34 AM

Natural Gas Abhors a Vacuum ?
No no no...

The mega corporations that produce the stuff just lay off loads of workers and mothball equipment to try and drive the price back up...
As long as they are ok... stuff the rest of us.
Del

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Guru

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#2

Re: Natural Gas Abhors a Vacuum

12/25/2015 5:59 AM

I agree.

IMHO:

The recent surge in supply is simply a thinly veiled attempt to drive competitors out

of business,such as biomass generator,solar and wind.

The electric utilities are already bucking solar in many places,actually charging people for putting power back into the grid.

Their justification:"We paid for all the infrastructure for distribution.Why should they get to use it for free?"

Seriously? The customers actually paid for everything,including the overpaid management of the utilities.

I don't recall an executive taking a pay cut to build new distribution lines.

I do recall customers paying a surcharge for such things as fuel price increases,new nuclear plants,etc.

When the competition has finally disappeared,big oil will yield to the environmentalists and stop fracking,blamelessly allowing the oil industries sole control of the world fuel supply.

The fracking technology is not old technology.

It has been held as a card in the deck of astute poker player managers of the oil industry.

Perhaps they have waited too long to play the card,and allowed alternatives to gather too much momentum.

I hope so,and that their power plays prove to be the dying struggle of a diseased technology.

The problem is,corporations never die.

They are simply reincarnated as another corporation,run by the same executives that

bailed out of the doomed aircraft using their golden parachutes.

I'm paranoid,you say?

Sure,but nowadays a little paranoia is very healthy.

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Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

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#3
In reply to #2

Re: Natural Gas Abhors a Vacuum

12/25/2015 6:53 AM

In the Uk the wealth gap is widening.

The most wealthy 1% have more wealth than the bottom 57% .

Yeah, but they can divert attention from that fact by blaming, immigrants, benefit scroungers, any minority de jour, the EU, Father Christmas etc. (mainly 'cos they own the press)
The gullible public buys it hook line and sinker.

Happy Christmas
Del

(BTW I got the usual bonus at work.... £0.00 )

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Guru

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#4
In reply to #3

Re: Natural Gas Abhors a Vacuum

12/25/2015 7:36 AM

Here is a link you may find relevant.

A warning for all of those that live in Ivory Towers and want to get "their life back."

https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~wyllys/manwhoe.html

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