Industrialized Cyclist Notepad


NPR repeats false fracking narratives

As NPR’s Tom Gjelten reports:

“Petroleum engineers have always known about the untapped underground oil in the United States, but it was unreachable, trapped in tight shale rock. Then the engineers figured out how to crack the rock. Hydraulic fracturing — fracking — got that ‘tight oil’ finally flowing in places like North Dakota.”

via Huge Boost In U.S. Oil Output Set To Transform Global Market : The Two-Way : NPR.

Wrong, Tom. The tight oil has been ‘reachable’ for several decades, it was just such an expensive process that it made no sense to do it when oil was cheap — a money-losing proposition. Now, all the cheap oil is gone, and out comes the ‘unconventional’ oil.

Gjelten also said that the decline in oil consumption in the US was due to efficiency (check the VMT chart Tom). There was no mention of depletion of existing fields, or the striking decline rate of fracked shale wells. And he reported that cheaper oil is just over the horizon.

Would it hurt Mr. Gjelten to do just a tiny bit of research on the topic of his reports so he doesn’t sound like a complete idiot?



The Carbon Fallacy

Chris Martenson, smart about energy, busts the O administration for its disingenuous claims about lowering carbon emissions with natural gas:

To claim credit for lowered carbon emissions due to natural gas and then also support the idea of exporting LNG (where fully 25% of the base energy is combusted in order to simply liquefy the product) is hypocritical. These are two ideas that work against each other.  Either you use natural gas wisely and efficiently as you move away from coal resources and claim a carbon credit for these actions, or you support throwing 25% of natural gas’ energy right into the atmosphere just to cool it for transport.  

So it’s a fallacy to imply that exporting natural gas will help lower carbon emissions. In all honesty, total emissions will most likely be higher than otherwise – because let’s be realistic; the most likely path is for humanity to burn up all the natural gas and then burn up the coal next.

Further, where the U.S. carbon emissions have gone down due to less coal being burned, that happy circumstance resulted in Europe doing exactly the opposite:

[...]

Does natural gas help to lower carbon emissions?  No, it merely pushes the carbon emissions elsewhere while the U.S. feasts on relatively cheap natural gas domestically.  The only thing that lowers carbon emissions is NOT burning coal, natural gas, or petroleum – collectively.

via The Obama Administration's Policy on LNG Makes No Energy Sense | Peak Prosperity.



VeloNews hails Di Luca defeat as good for cycling

This strikes me as hypocritical and simple-minded stuff from Neal Rogers, cheering Di Luca’s getting caught by young unknown riders who have yet to be caught in any doping dragnets.

Garmin is packed full of “riders with controversial pasts.” Let’s see if he has the same venom for them as they defend their Giro title.

While his move was bold, that Di Luca was unable to hold his attack on Tuesday is encouraging.

The day when the pro peloton is clear of suspicion will likely never materialize. However, the day when the peloton is clear of riders with controversial pasts may be only a few years away.

via Commentary: Why Battaglin’s Giro stage win matters.

Translation: Di Luca’s defeat helps us pretend that they’re not all still doping.



Hurst Quoted in Costco Connection Magazine

Big Time Stuff, y’all.

Costco Connection – May 2013 – Page 48-49.

…Some helmets offer more protection, with harder shells and fewer ventilation holes, but will not be as comfortable for long rides, says Robert Hurst, the author of several bicycle-related books, including The Bicycle Commuter’s Handbook (FalconGuides, 2013). “You don’t need to spend a ton of cash to get a decent helmet, but steer clear of bargain-bin knock-offs that haven’t been certified by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,” he says.



Silliest “concept bike” yet

This fellow took not thinking much about how and why bicycles work to a new level before he drew up this “concept bike.”

Just looking at the “custom saddle” makes my Special Area hurt.

Levitation Bike.

stupidconceptbike

stupidconceptbike2
click to enlarge



More Misplaced Efforts on “Bike Safety”

Capt. Jack Danilecki of the Boston police, former commander of the tactical bicycle unit, said that five cyclists were killed in Boston last year. Police are taking an initial step to address the problem by issuing reminders — in the form of $20 tickets — to cyclists who run red lights and stop signs that they are legally bound to obey the rules of the road.

via How to protect cyclists | Harvard Gazette.



Ischia-Forio TTT

Stage two looks pretty cool. Short. Little island.

ischia

via http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-2




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