Sunday, December 29, 2019

A Fracking Ban Would Trigger Global Recession

A fracking rig at sunset. iStock

Manhattan Institute: Issues 2020: A Fracking Ban Would Trigger Global Recession

The Narrative
"I will ban fracking—everywhere."[1]
— Elizabeth Warren

"Any proposal to avert the climate crisis must include a full fracking ban on public and private lands."[2]
— Bernie Sanders

"I favor a ban on new fracking and a rapid end to existing fracking."[3]
— Pete Buttigieg

Reality

The extraction of oil and gas through the techniques of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (colloquially, “fracking”) has catapulted the United States into leadership of the world’s energy markets. Since 2007, fracking has doubled U.S. oil production and increased gas production by 60%. Instead of a major importer, America is rapidly becoming the largest exporter of oil and is expected to supply the majority of net new energy traded on global markets over the next two decades.

If the U.S. imposed a fracking ban, the supply disruption would trigger the biggest oil and natural gas price spikes in history—almost certainly by more than 200%—which would, in turn, tip the world into recession. Even the expectation that a ban could be enacted would destabilize markets. U.S. imports and the trade imbalance would soar, as would consumers’ spending on energy. To keep the lights on, America would have to nearly double the quantity of coal burned, as well as import up to 1 million barrels of oil per day for dual-fueled power plants that would lose access to natural gas.

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WNU Editor: And the pundits wonder why President Trump has the support that he does.

7 comments:

Randy Hughes-King said...

Trump promised to save coal. Dems promise to end fracking. Once in office the reality will temper the efforts. The article focuses on how to replace the burden with coal and oil imports; a Dem solution surely would replace with cleaner energy sources rather than emergency backpedal to even worse options. I've checked this blog every day for two years now; and never felt something was so off base as this as to require comment.

Anonymous said...

Randy,

Have you ever calculated how many wind turbines would be needed to see if there was a feasible solution or is this solution you are expounding nebulous?

I'll note that Leftwing Californians have been blowing up dams since the early 1990s. So now they do not have enough water for irrigation or human consumption in lean years.But they keep adding people.

Myself I like solar and have followed it, since the L5 Society proposed putting solar arrays in space. I am not wedded to oil, but I am wedded to success. The L5 Society was sort of pie in the sky too. L5 was proposing that insurance companies 'voluntarily' give their funds to the construction of these arrays and for the needed space transport.

L5 has been defunct for over a generation (1987).

https://space.nss.org/l5-news-laser-sps/

The problem with the AGW crowd is the same problem we had with the people forcing use of the CFC. These are the same people who can barely use crayons much less add and subtract forced CFCs and voila inside of 10 years we had LEDs. But these neanderthals forces dirty, toxic mercury filled CFCs on the public. These are not the people you follow in regards to energy or the environment.

Mike Feldhake said...

Talk about wind turbines, I drive a lot through fields of these and it's not uncommon to see them not turning because of no wind. I would like to see a cost-benefits analysis done

Bob Huntley said...

Wind turbines are usually placed up high, so even if there isn't enough wind to be noticed at ground level there may still be enough up by the propellor to get it turning.

On days where the wind is variable and will occasionally be able to produce power the managers will keep the blades turning using grid power. This is done to keep the generators in sync with the grid. The net exchange of power though will still be positive.

I read of a hydro power plant that, during most of the year, used surplus power to pump water, excess to its needs, to reservoirs higher up so it could be released when the water flow diminished during dry times. About 2/3 of the power used to pump the water up to storage was recovered during the down flow.

Bob Huntley said...

,,,

Anonymous said...

And yet it moves.

Anonymous said...

The brave new world of Bob

Horrifying moment 250ft-tall turbine SNAPS off in high winds, topples onto a billboard and flattens cars below - just two weeks after it was installed