Reply #27: A good idea gone bad

[Dogmudgeon]

Abiotic Oil was first proposed in the early 1950s by several Russian and Ukrainian petrologists. They noticed that some of their deeper wells were "magically" replenishing themselves, without evidence that oil was seeping in from other deposits. Their work was solid, but required world-wide confirmation under a number of conditions.

The idea is that methane gas, under high pressure and temperatures, is converted into the rich soup of alkanes that becomes petroleum. And it probably does generate some oil; petroleum is produced by many different strata from different epochs and "systems", and abiotic processes may indeed play significant roles.

But the idea was picked up about a decade ago by anti-environmentalists and libertarians who want no limits placed on business, whether that limit is from the Government or from Nature. They spun a story that abiotic oil would replenish all the Earth's oil fields so rapidly that we'd never run out. And that is where the Abiotic Oil changed into Snake Oil.

Some of us here get testy about Abiotic Oil questions because we've had several wise-ass Freepers stop by and try to "engage us in a battle of the wits". This usually turns into a two-week-long drag. Believe me, we'd all like a magical source of energy that never runs out and has no downside. There's even a lively give-and-take over the risks and benefits of nuclear power.

But Abiotic Oil just doesn't pass muster. In fact, at this point, we're more open to the possibility of Cold Fusion than of Abiotic Oil, that's how political the issue has been.

If you have an interest in geology, by all means, look for the original papers on Abiotic Oil. But avoid the modern "advanced thinkers" from Larouche's fan club and the Libertarian Party. They occasionally have some good insights and scoops, but this isn't one of them.

--p!