This very US centric 45 min documentary about the history of the modern oil industry is certainly worth a watch to get a feel for how the oil industry evolved, particularly in the early years before and around the early 1900′s. The famous Rockerfeller is at the heart of the story and most of the major International Oil Companies (IOCs) are a spin off from his original Standard Oil Company. Skip to the end of part 4 or start of part 5 if you would like to see some imagery of the last major oil shocks in the 1970′s.
Energy
Geophysics Lecture 2 – Petroleum Reservoirs and Trapping Mechanisms
To back up the other lecture from Doug Haywick, though i would only recommend it to the hardcore, it’s very geologically minded.
This one is about:
- how oil and gas is trapped in reservoirs
- types of geological structures that can become reservoirs
- porosity and all the different flavours.
The actual lecture kicks in at the 14:50 mark, a summary of the previous lecture at 6:50.
Geophysics Lecture – Petroleum Generation & Formation
Curtesy of Dr. Doug Haywick of the Uni of South Alabama, this lecture describes:
- the process of how organic material is converted into oil and gas
- the composition of oil and gas
- the migration of oil and gas from source rocks to reservoirs
The juicy stuff starts around 27:30 in although if you want to know a bit about types of roles geologists play in the oil and gas industry, start from around 8 mins in.
Cheers Doug.
Tropical Asian Biofuels?
While traditional biofuels are very borderline on being energy positive, if a region is going to be able to it, it would likely be places like south east Asia. This talk is an interesting concept about using available land on asian islands to grow biofuel compatible crops. Devil is in the details of course.
Canada’s Dirty Oil
While the maker of the film doesn’t quite appreciate the difference between clean energy and liquid fuels, this video does capture the main points of oil sands production, the first 5 mins or so.
H2Oil – Documentary Trailer
For more info visit h2oildoc.com or IMDb.com
H2Oil – Canadian Tar Sands
An animated look at the Canadian tar sands extraction.
Gas Powered Everything
While I am not and do not want to get into the habit of promoting companies, this ad for the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle is so absurd yet far closer to the truth of how we power our lives that i just had to put it up.
Arithmetic, Population and Energy – Al Bartlett
On first glance it would be hard to see why, but this talk by Professor Bartlett is one of the most utterly compelling things I have watched and makes you totally rethink what “reasonable growth” means. A must watch.
Professor Al Bartlett begins his one-hour talk with the statement, “The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.” He talks about:
- arithmetic of steady growth
- concept of doubling time
- impact of unending steady growth on population
- consequences steady growth in a finite environment
- growth as applied to fossil fuel consumption
- oddly reassuring statements from “experts”, the media and political leaders – statements that are dramatically inconsistent with the facts
- widespread worship of economic growth and population growth in western society
The talk brings the listener to understand and appreciate the implications of unending growth on a finite planet, and closes noting the crucial need for education topic.