Converting Uranium to Liquid Fuel

It is estimated that there is 1.5 trillion barrels of oil trapped in Western Shale. That is 300 years worth of oil at 5 billion barrels annual consumption. There are around a dozen private companies working on the technology to unleash this oil. Shell engineers have estimated that they can make a profit at $30/barrel price levels. That means it probably will be competitive at $100/barrel, but here we are.

The devil is in the details. Existing techniques include crushing the shale and treating it. But this produces massive amounts of toxic waste. New techniques are proprietary, but here’s one I’ve been able to find out.

It involves creating a ring of ice (freeze seal) around a deposit to keep out the groundwater. Once the freeze seal is in place, heating elements are inserted into the oil shale to heat it to 600-700F. At that temperature, the petroleum is released from the shale and would need to enter some type of collection system. Estimates are that 3 units of energy would be generated by one unit of energy. The output is light, sweet crude.

Small, portable nuclear power plants would be the perfect electricity source to provide the freeze seal as well as the electricity for the heating elements. Bill might just have to dust off the old patent pen and get to work on this one.

Update: The freeze seal does not keep groundwater out of the oil, it keeps the oil out of the groundwater.

New Respect for John McCain

Brilliant plan, brilliant execution, brilliant choice.

Brilliant Plan

Obama’s text message thing on Friday, oops I meant 10am Saturday, oops I really meant 3am, oops it got leaked to the press early was juvenile.

McCain used the various news outlets to spread rumors and kept himself above the fray and in the news during the Democratic convention. His message to Obama was classy.

Obama gave a pretty good speech (if you didn’t notice that his eyes were 20 degrees up and 45 degrees to the left or right, reading off of teleprompters during substance, this drove me nuts, check it out). The speech was at 10:30pm and was out of the news cycle when people woke up.

Brilliant Execution

John McCain kept the secret. Intrade bought the fakes. No leaks. His operational security allowed him to command the morning news cycle.

Brilliant Choice

1. The morning after Obama was talking about taking AK-47s away from the criminals who are not allowed to have them in the first place; there is a video of Palin firing an M-16. It was enough to give a gun nut like me goose bumps; Solidify Conservative Base.
2. She will bring over an unknown number of female voters just because of her gender. She is relatively immune from criticism because if she is criticized, the ugly female vote will swing hard victim; Win Women’s Vote.
3. #2 neuters Biden in the Vice Presidential debate; Win Debate.
4. Her son is an enlisted infantryman in the Army. People are sick of politican’s sons’ being military reporters and lawyers, earning their ‘war veteran’ status as REMFs. This will compliment McCain’s son’s service well; Win Working Class.
5. Former Ms. Alaska turned head-cracker with five kids. I don't think she's lost her looks; Win Win Win.

Good move, Senator McCain.

Four Marines

Brick Oven congratulates former- Marine Sergeant Jose Luis Nazario on his acquittal on all counts by a jury that seemed angry at the government prosecutors. Congratulations also to Ryan Weemer and Jermaine Nelson, for refusing to testify against Nazario at trial. Weemer was shot three times by the ‘innocent Iraqis’ he still stands accused of murdering. Semper Fidelis.

This is the piece of shit that sent Sergeant Nazario, who earned a Navy Commendation Medal with Valor at the Battle of Fallejah, to court. Lt. General Helland. He flew helicopters.

Why Russians Have Male Leadership

This is Patti Solis Doyle’s writing, Clinton’s fired chief of staff. It is an example of why I hate affirmative action, quotas, and the concept of multiculturalism in general. American standards have had to drop to accommodate people. When standards are lowered for some, they are lowered for all. This removes the positive societal force of shame, and increases our chances for personal failure.

These are the Clinton Internal Memos . I’ve kind of convinced myself that the status quo is unsustainable, that people will stop lending the federal government money, and that real ‘Change’ will be imposed upon us. These memos will probably be Exhibit ‘A’.

Have no fear, Barack hired Patti, so she’s still got a job.

This Is Spinal Tap

More Sheila

Hey, it’s “The Blogs Are Out of Control” Sheila again! She was going to take steps to fix them. She made Bloomberg today in any case:

"More banks will come on the list as credit problems worsen," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said;

"The results were pretty dismal, and we don't see a return to the high earnings levels of previous years any time soon,";

Lenders on the "problem list" had assets of $78.3 billion at the end of the second quarter, triple the $26.3 billion in the first quarter, the agency said.

Then there’s this, also from today:

"I do worry that some of the investors have taken short positions on the ABX," an index based on subprime-mortgage-backed securities, Ms. Bair said in an interview.

Ms. Bair, who was a leading figure in developing the mortgage-rescue plan, didn't identify specific investors who she believes are shorting the market. She said she had no evidence to back up her concern...

'Ms. Bair' is married to Scott Cooper. Feeling any better?

Housing Report

“Home Prices Drop by Sharpest Rate Ever”

Not really. As we have been tracking, cities that are not being inundated with new immigrants are seeing their real estate values rise, not fall. Dallas is an exception because of high oil prices. I do not have an explanation for Portland and Seattle, but their losses are negligible (0.2% for the month).

Cities Up
Denver
Atlanta
Chicago
Boston
Minneapolis
Charlotte
New York
Cleveland
Dallas

Cities Down
Phoenix
Los Angeles
San Diego
San Francisco
Washington DC
Miami
Tampa
Detroit
Las Vegas
Portland
Seattle

This is a good time to buy real estate in rural areas. Rural real estate is now safer than cash.