One of the first things we ever saw Doomberg write:
"In the battle between physics and platitudes, physics remains undefeated."
(If we could write like that our posts wouldn't be 4,000 words. On the other hand, they motivated us, big time, when we started reading their stuff in spring 2022.)
We're just a group of environmental professionals who had enough watching the reporting alternating between greenwashing sustainabilchemy unicorns and anthropogenic-driven apocalypse.
Both were/are wrong.
Substack just gave us an out to peel back the outer layer of the onion that captures all the attention (and none of the substance or real story beneath it....).
I am going to publish my Tribute to you and your work later week. I would like to know who you are, but I promise to keep your confidentiality if you wish. steve@heins.net
I have always thought Fermi picked a lousy location, and suspected it was based on something that they already owned and wanted a way to sell, not because of its strategic importance. Chevron of course, is in the middle of the one place in the US where they are least likely to have much pushback against such a project. Population of Reeves County is 4.5 people per square mile. The cattle population is about the same. The number of oil and gas wells however is quite large, and Reeves County leads the state of Texas in condensate production, and is a current drilling hot spot. Large condensate production (a liquid halfway between oil and gas) means they also have considerable associated gas production. Finding more gas in Reeves County is probably the easiest thing a geologist could ever be asked to do. That co-produced gas is what drives prices down in the Delaware basin for gas. While Fermi's Project Matador may sit next to interstate pipelines, they are not at the point of sale, nor are they gas producers, like Chevron will be, so they will be price takers and not price makers. Likewise the Hugoton Gas Field that Fermi is situated over is about 70% depleted, with some zones down to 25 psi (nearly nothing left). Hugoton is mostly known now for its helium production, so maybe Fermi needs to find a way to utilize helium, and not natural gas (not likely). I hope both projects succeed, and ultimately they will compete for very different markets anyway.
The fear of producing gas in the Permian Basin oil industry is hard to fight, but new multi-Tcf gas plays are abundant there. I suspect Chevron's idea will be copied soon by other operators in the Permian. Why only pump CO2 underground for carbon credits when you can make more money selling power (and maybe sequester the carbon too)? The Permian could easily become known for data centers as much as for oil and gas production. And if Chevron wants to I am sure they can easily generate carbon credits for Microsoft at the same time in the same place. The neighbors are too far away to care, the ranches are huge (100,000 acre ranches are common), and the cattle don't complain.
3) We're very fortunate, and grateful, to have subscribers and regular commenters like you who come from industry.
Now a question that's been bugging us since we began writing this piece. You may or may not know the answer since it has more to do with Big Tech's water use inside the data center.
It's about Chevron's comment regarding the planned water use at Kilby. And not for the power plant (or we surmise they would've included it in the prior statement about the power plant's water use...):
" Chevron is also working to advance solutions for reuse of produced water from oil and gas operations."
Forgetting what's actually in it for a moment, produced water in that geology is brackish (high TDS), if I'm not mistaken. Add back what comes out of that geology IN that brackish water and I'm wondering about its use for cooling data centers.
My question isn't about surfactants and proppants and additives. More about what would be expected to come up in produced water in that geology (guessing here, but some metal compounds or changes to pH that dramatically change the corrosivity profile. I surmise if corrosivity is the issue we're suspecting, then either treating it or coating inside heat exchange gear is possible but costly.
On the other hand, if scientists/engineers at Chevron can figure that out then, as we wrote, that produced water could go - theoretically - from a substantial expense/liability to a revenue stream. If so, we could see the Permian gas situation turning Reeves and Pecos counties into something that makes "data center alley" in Virginia look like a small, quaint, Route 66 relic.
Curious for your industry thoughts on that water and its potential for that specific use.
I am a geologist, something of a geochemist, but not an engineer. Yes, corrosion is the main concern, but bacteria and oil in the water is another. The current industry in the Permian has mostly mastered using produced water as frac water, which means they remove the solids, the oil residue, and the bacteria, but don't usually remove the dissolved solids because these are actually beneficial in some frac'ing situations (reduced risk of clay swelling). So the current treatment of produced water is halfway there for use as cooling water. The Total Dissolved Solids in the Permian run 100,000 to 150,000 ppm commonly and are mostly sodium and chloride left over from the connate (primal ocean) waters that fill these rocks- modern ocean water is about 35,000 ppm. So I would assume Chevron is planning to explore various methods of desalinization, either using some of their waste heat, or reverse osmosis. It can be done, and with few sources of fresh water available here, it is the only likely source of larger volumes of fresh water. While they are at it they may find other benefits, like removing lithium from produced water (it is present in concentrations just under what is considered economic to produce). Texas recently ruled on produced water ownership in Cactus Water Services, LLC v. COG Operating, LLC giving the operator ownership of the water and likely the minerals dissolved in that water, which is not the case in some states. So there could be yet another income stream for this project in the form of lithium.
Great piece and the research 🔬 is incredible too! I can’t imagine the hours required to publish such an informative and engaging article. The opening line is a real zinger. Another great example of a line my dad preached to me growing up. “Reality is stubborn, accepting it saves you time and energy” and every year my dad’s looking smarter and smarter 🤠
Believe it or not, the research for this one was light compared to many. Chevron's press release, Engine No. 1's, quotes from our two past posts, and some basic research about the region and the projects. No populating Excel spreadsheets and generating graphs/charts.
This story almost wrote itself.
Bet you'd took your Dad's advice when you began training and accepted some pupils from litters that taught you how stubborn reality actually is (and that its hard to make chicken salad out of chicken sh#t....).
Stubborn isn’t a deal breaker issue, “too much drive” can be moderated in most cases. The real difficulty lies in low grade/inferior genetics, that doesn’t provide the hard wired traits needed to be highly effective as a pointing dog.
Well done, again! Let's put it into a parable that even the morons can understand:
A fourth grader comes to dad and says I need help with homework. Dad asks what the assignment is, and he says that he has to write a paragraph that uses "theory" and "reality" and clearly illustrates the difference between them. Dad says well, let me give you an example and I think you'll be able to write a fine essay.
First, go upstairs and ask your mom if she would do anything with a greasy slimy man who offers her a million dollars for her favors.
I can't do that! He screams!
Yes, you can, tell her that it's part of your homework. When the boy does, mom sits him down and explains that for no amount of money she should do that because it is immoral. HOWEVER, she says....a million dollars is a lot of money and with that, I could quit my job, spend more time taking care of you, your teenage sister, and your dad, and he could work much less overtime....and for those reasons only.... Yes, I'd do it.
The boy runs back downstairs and tells dad the answer. Dad smiled and said to the boy, now go back upstairs and ask your teenage sister the same question. He does, and she answers in a heartbeat, you bet I would that's a lot of money! The boy runs back down to dad and reports the results.
Dad sits him down and says, well here's your lesson son: In theory, you and I are sitting here on two million bucks, but in reality, we're living with a couple of whores!
I wonder about the earthquakes, etc. that removing that brackish water might engender. I also wonder how much energy it takes to bring that brackish water to surface use points. I also wonder why we need data centers. I'm told locally (NM) by a guy who undoubtedly will profit if any of this gets done that we need data centers because the Chinese and Russians have them and will disrupt our information systems. Sounds like a "new" cold war (the old one never REALLY went away) with the concomitant problems those competitions caused. I am not one to enthusiastically support the newest thing without first questioning probable consequences.
The EQ risk is a reasonable question, but we have insufficient data to answer it at present.
If we’re talking about produced water from fracking, it comes to the surface as part of the process. And lots of it. The industry has gotten pretty good about dealing with it.
We don’t buy the “because China and Russia!” fear about AI and data centers. We’re ambivalent on AI itself (certainly don’t fear it) and aren’t in a position to judge how necessary they are. But we’re going to get a bunch whether they are or aren’t!
One of the groups I worked with at the weapons lab was the hot dry rock group. I know how fracking works. I don't know that the brackish water will be brought to the surface by fracking. Fracking may not be necessary as the brackish water is shown as a sort of underground very large lake. I don't know how far down it is.
once again you guys have produced incredible information here. However, I, for one, am not remotely surprised. while my background is on Wall Street, and all my energy readings are because I understand the Doomberg Energy = Life concept, and have since before Doomberg wrote it, here's the Wall Street angle, money, money, money. Engine No.1 likely has zero actual interest in net zero or green technology or anything of the sort, at least in a fundamental, green religion way. as a hedge fund, they exist to make money for their investors. for a long time, while the climate grift was accelerating, being on that side of the argument was where the money was. But now that this administration has basically called them all out, and implemented policies that dramatically reduce the grift, Engine No. 1 needed a new way to make money. hence, Joulent and their newfound belief in the "climate" benefits of natty as the best way forward. Chris James changed sides as soon as he realized that's where the money was.
Much to the dismay of the Ecofacsists and green grifters, Big Tech has learned the fundamental rule of life. Reality always trumps ideology.
Bingo.
One of the first things we ever saw Doomberg write:
"In the battle between physics and platitudes, physics remains undefeated."
(If we could write like that our posts wouldn't be 4,000 words. On the other hand, they motivated us, big time, when we started reading their stuff in spring 2022.)
I use that statement all the time, so succinct and accurate
Wow, the length and breadth of your scholarship is a sight to behold, Environmental. I am going to start a Tribute to you and your remarkable work.
That's too kind, Stephen.
We're just a group of environmental professionals who had enough watching the reporting alternating between greenwashing sustainabilchemy unicorns and anthropogenic-driven apocalypse.
Both were/are wrong.
Substack just gave us an out to peel back the outer layer of the onion that captures all the attention (and none of the substance or real story beneath it....).
I am going to publish my Tribute to you and your work later week. I would like to know who you are, but I promise to keep your confidentiality if you wish. steve@heins.net
Oh, Geez. You were serious!
(We thought it was just a real nice compliment, Stephen!).
I'll reach out tomorrow....
I have always thought Fermi picked a lousy location, and suspected it was based on something that they already owned and wanted a way to sell, not because of its strategic importance. Chevron of course, is in the middle of the one place in the US where they are least likely to have much pushback against such a project. Population of Reeves County is 4.5 people per square mile. The cattle population is about the same. The number of oil and gas wells however is quite large, and Reeves County leads the state of Texas in condensate production, and is a current drilling hot spot. Large condensate production (a liquid halfway between oil and gas) means they also have considerable associated gas production. Finding more gas in Reeves County is probably the easiest thing a geologist could ever be asked to do. That co-produced gas is what drives prices down in the Delaware basin for gas. While Fermi's Project Matador may sit next to interstate pipelines, they are not at the point of sale, nor are they gas producers, like Chevron will be, so they will be price takers and not price makers. Likewise the Hugoton Gas Field that Fermi is situated over is about 70% depleted, with some zones down to 25 psi (nearly nothing left). Hugoton is mostly known now for its helium production, so maybe Fermi needs to find a way to utilize helium, and not natural gas (not likely). I hope both projects succeed, and ultimately they will compete for very different markets anyway.
The fear of producing gas in the Permian Basin oil industry is hard to fight, but new multi-Tcf gas plays are abundant there. I suspect Chevron's idea will be copied soon by other operators in the Permian. Why only pump CO2 underground for carbon credits when you can make more money selling power (and maybe sequester the carbon too)? The Permian could easily become known for data centers as much as for oil and gas production. And if Chevron wants to I am sure they can easily generate carbon credits for Microsoft at the same time in the same place. The neighbors are too far away to care, the ranches are huge (100,000 acre ranches are common), and the cattle don't complain.
I remain skeptical of Engine No. 1.
Three comments to start:
1) Very, very valuable and insightful color.
2) Thank you, very much.
3) We're very fortunate, and grateful, to have subscribers and regular commenters like you who come from industry.
Now a question that's been bugging us since we began writing this piece. You may or may not know the answer since it has more to do with Big Tech's water use inside the data center.
It's about Chevron's comment regarding the planned water use at Kilby. And not for the power plant (or we surmise they would've included it in the prior statement about the power plant's water use...):
" Chevron is also working to advance solutions for reuse of produced water from oil and gas operations."
Forgetting what's actually in it for a moment, produced water in that geology is brackish (high TDS), if I'm not mistaken. Add back what comes out of that geology IN that brackish water and I'm wondering about its use for cooling data centers.
My question isn't about surfactants and proppants and additives. More about what would be expected to come up in produced water in that geology (guessing here, but some metal compounds or changes to pH that dramatically change the corrosivity profile. I surmise if corrosivity is the issue we're suspecting, then either treating it or coating inside heat exchange gear is possible but costly.
On the other hand, if scientists/engineers at Chevron can figure that out then, as we wrote, that produced water could go - theoretically - from a substantial expense/liability to a revenue stream. If so, we could see the Permian gas situation turning Reeves and Pecos counties into something that makes "data center alley" in Virginia look like a small, quaint, Route 66 relic.
Curious for your industry thoughts on that water and its potential for that specific use.
And thanks for being a regular here!
I am a geologist, something of a geochemist, but not an engineer. Yes, corrosion is the main concern, but bacteria and oil in the water is another. The current industry in the Permian has mostly mastered using produced water as frac water, which means they remove the solids, the oil residue, and the bacteria, but don't usually remove the dissolved solids because these are actually beneficial in some frac'ing situations (reduced risk of clay swelling). So the current treatment of produced water is halfway there for use as cooling water. The Total Dissolved Solids in the Permian run 100,000 to 150,000 ppm commonly and are mostly sodium and chloride left over from the connate (primal ocean) waters that fill these rocks- modern ocean water is about 35,000 ppm. So I would assume Chevron is planning to explore various methods of desalinization, either using some of their waste heat, or reverse osmosis. It can be done, and with few sources of fresh water available here, it is the only likely source of larger volumes of fresh water. While they are at it they may find other benefits, like removing lithium from produced water (it is present in concentrations just under what is considered economic to produce). Texas recently ruled on produced water ownership in Cactus Water Services, LLC v. COG Operating, LLC giving the operator ownership of the water and likely the minerals dissolved in that water, which is not the case in some states. So there could be yet another income stream for this project in the form of lithium.
Great piece and the research 🔬 is incredible too! I can’t imagine the hours required to publish such an informative and engaging article. The opening line is a real zinger. Another great example of a line my dad preached to me growing up. “Reality is stubborn, accepting it saves you time and energy” and every year my dad’s looking smarter and smarter 🤠
Thanks, Dave.
Believe it or not, the research for this one was light compared to many. Chevron's press release, Engine No. 1's, quotes from our two past posts, and some basic research about the region and the projects. No populating Excel spreadsheets and generating graphs/charts.
This story almost wrote itself.
Bet you'd took your Dad's advice when you began training and accepted some pupils from litters that taught you how stubborn reality actually is (and that its hard to make chicken salad out of chicken sh#t....).
;)
Stubborn isn’t a deal breaker issue, “too much drive” can be moderated in most cases. The real difficulty lies in low grade/inferior genetics, that doesn’t provide the hard wired traits needed to be highly effective as a pointing dog.
Last year I saw the greatest 10.5 mo old GSP ever in the field in Argentina.
This year she was 22.5 mos and blows away most 5 yr old seasoned pros.
Trainer did awesome job. But genetics.
environMENTAL
Well done, again! Let's put it into a parable that even the morons can understand:
A fourth grader comes to dad and says I need help with homework. Dad asks what the assignment is, and he says that he has to write a paragraph that uses "theory" and "reality" and clearly illustrates the difference between them. Dad says well, let me give you an example and I think you'll be able to write a fine essay.
First, go upstairs and ask your mom if she would do anything with a greasy slimy man who offers her a million dollars for her favors.
I can't do that! He screams!
Yes, you can, tell her that it's part of your homework. When the boy does, mom sits him down and explains that for no amount of money she should do that because it is immoral. HOWEVER, she says....a million dollars is a lot of money and with that, I could quit my job, spend more time taking care of you, your teenage sister, and your dad, and he could work much less overtime....and for those reasons only.... Yes, I'd do it.
The boy runs back downstairs and tells dad the answer. Dad smiled and said to the boy, now go back upstairs and ask your teenage sister the same question. He does, and she answers in a heartbeat, you bet I would that's a lot of money! The boy runs back down to dad and reports the results.
Dad sits him down and says, well here's your lesson son: In theory, you and I are sitting here on two million bucks, but in reality, we're living with a couple of whores!
Ok my wife just said from the other room “what’s so funny??!!?”
You got me, bro.
👏
🤠
Happy to have tickled a funny bone!
I wonder about the earthquakes, etc. that removing that brackish water might engender. I also wonder how much energy it takes to bring that brackish water to surface use points. I also wonder why we need data centers. I'm told locally (NM) by a guy who undoubtedly will profit if any of this gets done that we need data centers because the Chinese and Russians have them and will disrupt our information systems. Sounds like a "new" cold war (the old one never REALLY went away) with the concomitant problems those competitions caused. I am not one to enthusiastically support the newest thing without first questioning probable consequences.
The EQ risk is a reasonable question, but we have insufficient data to answer it at present.
If we’re talking about produced water from fracking, it comes to the surface as part of the process. And lots of it. The industry has gotten pretty good about dealing with it.
We don’t buy the “because China and Russia!” fear about AI and data centers. We’re ambivalent on AI itself (certainly don’t fear it) and aren’t in a position to judge how necessary they are. But we’re going to get a bunch whether they are or aren’t!
One of the groups I worked with at the weapons lab was the hot dry rock group. I know how fracking works. I don't know that the brackish water will be brought to the surface by fracking. Fracking may not be necessary as the brackish water is shown as a sort of underground very large lake. I don't know how far down it is.
once again you guys have produced incredible information here. However, I, for one, am not remotely surprised. while my background is on Wall Street, and all my energy readings are because I understand the Doomberg Energy = Life concept, and have since before Doomberg wrote it, here's the Wall Street angle, money, money, money. Engine No.1 likely has zero actual interest in net zero or green technology or anything of the sort, at least in a fundamental, green religion way. as a hedge fund, they exist to make money for their investors. for a long time, while the climate grift was accelerating, being on that side of the argument was where the money was. But now that this administration has basically called them all out, and implemented policies that dramatically reduce the grift, Engine No. 1 needed a new way to make money. hence, Joulent and their newfound belief in the "climate" benefits of natty as the best way forward. Chris James changed sides as soon as he realized that's where the money was.
Solar Turbines? Oh, I know them well.
Their HQ is located in a certain city with a crazy Climate Action Plan.
https://www.greenleapforward.wtf/p/americas-finest-magical-thinking
News Flash: Physics and money heals climitard syndrome! Rival next Sunday!
**rivival
And you can get an amen on that.....