Retired

Catherine3678ab

Retired

Silver Dolphin

Nice thank you.  I think petro is the compresed ancient sea life that rotted and putrified by thousands of years.

Catherine3678ab

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1gecko

First of all - thank you greatly for the shaders!!!  they are much appreciated and I look forward to the next group of liquids! 

Secondly, (and I *cringe* to bring this up) - I used to work with some geologists at the U.S.G.S. (United States Geological Survey - the agency in charge of basically keeping track of EVERYTHING actually happening in the environment from a scientific standpoint - lots and lots of PhD.s that actually WORK in their fields)... and I happened to bring up the question of Oil (and the 'fossil fuel' discussion).

After much cursing on their part, they explained:

The entire term 'Fossil Fuels' and references to dead *anything* comes from an interview with a geologist from one of the big oil companies back in the 1950s era. The reporter kept asking the question of "but where does oil come from?" and apparently would not take "we don't know for sure" as an answer.  Finally, in frustration the geologist in question shot back something to the effect of, "From dead dinosaurs for all we know!"  It was meant as a nonsensical answer to shut up the reporter but it unfortunately was sensational enough that the idiot (reporter) ran with it.  ... and the media embraced it.  ... and pop-culture of the time carved it in stone.  ... and time has made it one of those "well EVERONE knows" bits of 'knowledge' - that is completely incorrect.  Yes, geologists have tried explaining it in detail, but a bunch of PhDs sitting around talking about boring facts makes for poor TV and isn't exciting and sensational enough to really take hold so they are pretty much ignored.

So this 'knowledge' is sort of like Napolean being short - he was actually tall (for the time).  Yet he even has the "Napolean Complex" named after him for being 'short'!

To the best of modern knowledge, oil comes from bacterial action on various minerals found deep in the Earth.  Yes, there is bacteria down that far - the deepest sampling of rock ever taken (at over 6 miles below the Earth's surface and in an environment that science used to believe could not POSSIBLY have life) finds a fair abundance of bacteria living.  Totally different types than elsewhere of course.  There is even a bacteria that *eats* raw uranium ore!!! O.o (which has the effect of 'refining' it and is the major source of rich deposits - the deposit is a bacterial 'septic tank').

We also know that oil is continuously being created/generated - there are numbers of old, 'dry' wells that the U.S.G.S. monitors that have oil in them again - just not 'good' quality enough to warrant pumping out - though it is improving over time (hence the strong evidence of current bacterial action).  This action is also where we get those lovely landscape areas like peat bogs, tar pits, oil 'sumps' (where oil oozes to the surface - often in swamps and such), etc. 

 

Oil / fuel use is totally 'sustainable' as an energy resource - the only questions are: 1) Is the *RATE* we are using it sustainable? 2) Are we creating too much polution in our current use of oil/fuel?
(two questions I will TOTALLY not answer since fewer than 10% of people agree with any given answer).  But this is why the literally hundreds of THOUSANDS of people directly involved in searching, drilling, pumping, refining, etc. of oil continue to do so - they aren't actually 'evil', stupid or greedy... they just happen to know a bit of knowledge that is not socially accepted in the modern world.  Sort of like how herbalists were all ran out of town/burned for being witches in the middle ages - just now people know to keep their mouths shut! LOL!

 

Catherine3678ab

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Catherine3678ab

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mclaugh

1gecko said:

The entire term 'Fossil Fuels' and references to dead *anything* comes from an interview with a geologist from one of the big oil companies back in the 1950s era. The reporter kept asking the question of "but where does oil come from?" and apparently would not take "we don't know for sure" as an answer.  Finally, in frustration the geologist in question shot back something to the effect of, "From dead dinosaurs for all we know!"  It was meant as a nonsensical answer to shut up the reporter but it unfortunately was sensational enough that the idiot (reporter) ran with it.  ... and the media embraced it.  ... and pop-culture of the time carved it in stone.  ... and time has made it one of those "well EVERONE knows" bits of 'knowledge' - that is completely incorrect.  Yes, geologists have tried explaining it in detail, but a bunch of PhDs sitting around talking about boring facts makes for poor TV and isn't exciting and sensational enough to really take hold so they are pretty much ignored.

Uh ... SInclair Oil started capitalizing on the (supposed) dinosaur-oil connection in the 1930s.

And, besides, EVERYONE knows that oil is really bee pee. 

Catherine3678ab

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DannisWrites

Thanks for the shaders! and also for the interesting discussion of what oil really is. I love stuff like this!