Short Quiz No. 2 - Questions + Suggested Answers

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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Short Quiz No. 2 - Questions + Suggested Answers

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Question 1

As Al Gore asks in his 17 July 2008 Challenge to America, did “The Stone Age” end because of a shortage of stones?

Answer 1

No.

Question 2

How much wind blows through America’s Midwest corridor every day?

Answer 2

Enough to supply 100% of America’s energy needs (not just electricity)!!!

Question 3

How much solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes?

Answer 3

Enough to supply 100% of the world’s energy needs (not just electricity)!!!

Question 4

Why is Saudi Arabia different from the other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”)?

Answer 4

Saudi Arabia has proved oil reserves that will last well in excess of a century, while the supplies of most of the other OPEC countries will last only a small fraction of that time.

Question 5

What policy has this difference caused the Saudis to follow for the 35 years that OPEC has been setting oil prices?

Answer 5

During most of the 35 years that OPEC has been setting oil prices, Saudi Arabia has had the ability (and willingness) to flood the market in order to drive prices down. Or the ability (and willingness) to shut in enough of its own production to make OPEC prices stick.

The OPEC members that do not have long-lived reserves tend to want to gouge the market for all it can bear, with no fear for the consequences.

The Saudis, historically, have always been wary of permitting OPEC prices to rise high enough that the technology for alternatives becomes economic and the value of Saudi Arabia’s long-lived reserves imperiled.

Question 6

Would it appear that this policy has caused the recent decline in oil prices? And should the decline put us back to sleep re solving our oil-import problem for another 35 years?

Answer 6

Yes (although reduced demand in the face of the enormous price increases of earlier this year also played a role).

Not if we want to think of ourselves as sane.

Question 7

Will the price of generating electricity from wind and solar power decline as a result of economies of scale?

Answer 7

Yes.

Question 8

Will the price of generating electricity from wind and solar power decline as a result of future scientific improvements?

Answer 8

Yes.

Question 9

Is Thomas Friedman (a NY Times OpEd writer who authored one of our optional background books) naïve in thinking that China will ever pay us any royalties for our wind and solar technology if they are so notorious in pirating Hollywood movies, etc? In thinking any other country will volunteer royalties if China refuses to pay?

Answer 9

Yes. Yes.

Question 10

Do we need a US government “Manhattan Project” (which developed the atomic bomb) or “Tennessee Valley Authority” (a massive Depression-era power-generation organization) to finance Al Gore’s challenge? Particularly if the Saudis will try to drive the price of crude oil down to make the project uneconomic, if every country will want to wait so that some other country "takes on the chin" the costs of developing economies of scale and the cost of scientific research, and if the world’s governments can be expected to steal the technology that is developed at the expense of whatever "chump" country goes ahead?

Answer 10

Yes, though it would be worthwhile to attempt to enlist the participation of Europe and China in such a project (Russia is a “lost cause” since it is a major exporter of oil & gas).

But if we can't, then we should "go it alone" before only a small percentage of the individuals in the nation and the world who can afford their own personal oxygen tanks are able to survive (in this regard, please see the National Institute of Health paper, "Decreased Oxygen Content in the Atmosphere - An Ecological Disaster Imperceptibly Sneaking Up?" at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7550172 -- which notes that dinosaurs became extinct because of a decline of 2% in the percentage of oxygen in the earth's atmosphere (currently about 21%) and that human beings will become extinct if that percentage drops another 2% - 3%!!!).

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