h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If nothing else, this should finally bring home to Americans the terrible price the rest of the world must pay to bring us the almighty oil.

It is my fervent hope that this will keep the attention of the masses focused in a way that war, famine, extortion, profiteering and general abuse of the rest of the planet never has.

"You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." Let this be the thing that changes us for the better, forever.

I hear you pay more than four dollars for a gallon in the US now

We pay six and a half at the moment. Six and above has been the norm for years. Back in 2005 we paid over seven dollars

Most of these prices are taxes. They motivate people to buy cars that use less - good for the environment, national economics and society at large

I don't have a car. Chose not to since I don't really need it. Not because I hate cars, in fact I love to drive, but I can find a lot more sensible ways of spending my

I don't drive a car, either. Of course, that's a lot easier to do when you live on an island only 2 miles wide and 4 miles long, and my work commute is a 4 block walk.

However, I did actively choose to live this way.

I do get some flack about food and supplies having to be trucked in here, but I figure we split the transportation costs of that by about 24,000 people (or 80,000 during events) so I don't have issues with it.

good for you

We're doing a small happy dance here - the new containment cap was lowered over the oil well this afternoon at 13:30, then gradually sealed until no oil is flowing. The Director of Operations says that we will begin the six hour/48 hour testing phase now to make sure the pressure doesn't cause a blowout in the pipe casing below.

Since these engineers have performed the equivalent of an emergency trip to the moon in getting this new equipment ready, I think we owe them a big thank you. I hope their persistence and ingenuity pay off.

As you might imagine, the live video feeds from the wellhead were overwhelmed by people trying to look, so we can leave those until tomorrow.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal took this mildly jubilant moment to start giving the oil company a hard time, as usual. I understand his motivation, but he could have let it rest for one afternoon before continuing his perpetual harangue. Pretty soon, he is going to disappear up his own personal wellhead.

Wish us luck! This could be the start of something good!

more good news: an enviromental expert (swedish, i think) said the other day that the oil spill may not effect the environment nearly as badly as feared. he pointed at an earlier big spill whose effects are almost invisible today

don't know if he's right, but i grab at any straw

Thank you KWDave

We have had the latest pictures already on our TV screens on this side of the pond. It does look promising and now we must just hope and pray that it will succeed. As you say all those who have worked so hard to correct this awful tragedy deserve our thanks.

I think however that alternative sources of energy must be sought.
I have a granddaughter who is a mechanical engineer and is involved in the design and production of wind farms.

Go well

Christinae
AR80

Friday 15th July, 2010 18/07 BST

I read something similar about the Exxon Valdez spill. Long term it was not as disastrous as first thought, and wildlife etc. did recover eventually. The damage was done with local business and livelihoods and international trade and tourism in the comparative short term.

Oil is after all a natural substance in that state, just in the wrong place. The trouble is the survival of so much wildlife is already hanging in the balance that this doesn't help.

I agree with you, Christiane, that there has to be a better way, and I really hope this makes them stop and think about drilling in such dangerous conditions.

Websailor

imagine all the coastlines hundreds of miles from exxon valdez still covered with crude oil...

the disaster is and was big enough and maybe it doesn't help much that it could have been even worse - it's all a question of balance

oil is indeed a natural substance and i wonder why it isn't CO2 neutral

anyway, we should look way harder for other options - and not just because we are running out of oil soon

we have all the energy we need from the sun, the wind, the waves and hydrogen

I agree, and I think we are going to have to get used to the idea that it might cost more - but then what is this disaster costing with repercussions possibly for years environmentally and financially.

Websailor

Now that the emergency well cap has completely stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf for six days, everyone seems to be moving at a much more rational and measured pace.

Of course, everybody had media fatigue, and it's been nice to do a routine check daily and find out that the cap is holding without much fanfare, and behaving mostly like they hoped it would.

Some of the science information that could not get through the hype is now beginning to emerge, and it's hopeful. Marine biologists who specialize in the Gulf of Mexico have been testing and monitoring oil-eating microbes that function normally in the Gulf. The microbes are doing their jobs, and that's measurable because they use up the dissolved oxygen in the water column as they break down the hydrocarbons, and that's happening.

Substantial weathering is occurring, and many of the disagreeable parts of crude oil are NOT washing up on beaches and in estuaries. Tar balls, yes. Pure red raw crude, no. Friends in Pensacola tell me that the smell of benzene in the air is barely noticeable now, as opposed to two weeks ago when it was overpowering.

These are not major victories, but they are encouraging. The attention of Washington is still focused on the Gulf as it should be, and the company is settling claims quickly for people who were able to document their losses. Many many people are employed to boom, siphon and clean up beached oil, and that is also a (perversely) good thing in a tough economy. The engineers and government representatives also seem to be working in concert rather than at odds, and the efforts now are orderly, focused, well thought through and unified.

Most importantly, the squeaky-wheeled politicians have turned down the constant harangue of their rhetoric at least a notch or two, and that was where we really needed to put a sock in it.

I'm wondering why they can't attach a pipe to the wellhead and start pumping again, since they now have a triple blowout protector stacked on it, but I'm sure they would rather kill this well and be clear of the curse of Macondo. It has certainly been a very expensive education in the fine art of deep-water oil drilling.

We now have Invest 97 in the Caribbean, and Invest 98 in the Bay of Campeche and they are guaranteed to do some more weathering, oxygenating and diluting over the next four or five days. The Gulf of Mexico is a tough old bird. We'll see what the weather brings.

- to us all

Thanks for such comprehensive information KWD. It is encouraging that things have calmed down a little, especially the rhetoric which was very much over the top here too. Hopefully many lessons will have been learnt or am I being too optimistic?

to all,

Websailor

Dear KWDave,

Thank you for your comprehensive analysis of the latest developments . We have had an announcement that all operations are being suspended because of the "tropical storm" which is forecast to arrive in the area tomorrow, Saturday 24/VII/2010

May I ask if "tropical storm" is a euphemism for "hurricane" which apparently you always expect at this time of the year?

Anyway, I note that you do not advocate stopping very deep oil drilling, nor searching for alterative sources of energy which could be less damaging to our planet when exploration goes awry.



Kind regards and I hope that the "tropical storm" turns out to be no more than that.

Christiane
AlsoRan80

Friday 23rd.July 2010 8.51 BST

Christiane, there are several levels of air pressure, wind speed and storm surge that go into the definitions of hurricane-related storms, and a tropical storm is the least of them. They expect no winds higher than 43 knots (79 kph), little rain, and a rise in the surface level of the water at the center of the low pressure cell to be no more than 1 or 2 feet. This affects mostly ships at sea, and they have all been instructed to batten down the hatches and make fast the lines.

Key West is very much an environmentally oriented place, and no one here is interested in having this happen again. We would much rather see wind farms and solar, coupled with new tidal flow technologies for the production of our electricity. However, we have limited land space for solar and wind, and tidal flow is still in development. Until we can better develop these resources, our dependence on oil will continue.

It would seem that I write and forget to tick publish so lose my posts to you. I wrote - I thought - this morning because I had heard that thee was going to be a storm near you and was commiserating with you about it.

It now seems that it was not as serious as they thoght it was going to be.
I am determined that you are going to receive this so shall immediately go and strike publish without editing it o so forive any typing erors please. !!

Christiane
Ar80

saturday 24/VII/2010 19.30 BST

Our tropical storm was barely that, a mild depression. I was annoyed mostly because I had a day off from work on Friday and had planned to take full advantage of the low air pressure and sleep all day. Low air pressure does that to one.

Instead, we got a glorious day of clear skies, no clouds, and certainly no rain at all. The center of the depression hit south and west of Miami, in Cutler Ridge, and they got four inches of rain and nothing else before it skipped Florida altogether, and headed for the Gulf of Mexico.

In the Gulf, it pretty much continued to do nothing noteworthy whatsoever before running aground and raining a little in Louisiana.

For which we are truly grateful, if a little let down. I took a fitful nap, then went outside and played in the sunshine.

I hope this will be an auspicious start to what they are calling a "truly devastating" hurricane season this summer.

However, we know better, and are prepared.

Dear KWDave,

Thank you for your reply. I am pleased that it was not a serious "tropical storm".

I have just had a very brief visit from my second granddaughter who is a mechanical engineer, and is employed by a firm in Holland She designs, seta up and supervises wind farms in various part of Europe. She works in a team and is really interested in the eniromnent and in trying to keep it as clean and stable as possible. Apparently a lot of the Netherlands is below sea leve, so keeping themselves "above water" so to speak is an integral part of their life. !! There they also do not have very much land above sea level in this case.

I am really going to miss her.

go well,

Christiane
Also Ran80

Wednesday 28th July 2010 13.00 BST

This is a public update for operations going on currently in the Florida Panhandle. Keith Seilhan is one of the emergency response coordinators for the Mobile area, and if you want to hear an authentic Alabama/Mississippi/Louisiana coast Southern accent, this is it.

Please note the quality of sand that lines the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico where they are working. This is a very fine, very white quartzite, and it is not something anyone wants to see ruined, and may give you a better sense of the urgency of the locals to protect it.

Also please note that while this is undoubtedly a very good publicity opportunity, it seems well thought out, thorough, and focused on what really matters to the local people; teamwork and success.

Enjoy!

http://bp.concerts.com/gom/mobile_command_center_update_072410.htm