Sum of all fears....

Time for Virginia to move forward towards energy independence....

Virginia Offshore operations in Oil, Natural Gas, Tidal, and Wind power will all contribute towards making Virginia Energy Independent along with creating many jobs and produce revenues that will help the State. It is time to move forward as a State and to do what is right for the Citizens of Virginia... It is no surprise to see Congressmen Bob Goodlatte involved in this very important action... More info on the Virginia Energy Summit...

WASHINGTON, March 25—American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Jack Gerard commented on a bipartisan bill introduced today by Virginia Congressmen Bob Goodlatte, Glenn Nye, Robert Wittman, Rick Boucher, Frank Wolf, Tom Perriello, Eric Cantor and Randy Forbes to take legislative action to move forward with Lease Sale 220, an oil and natural gas lease sale offshore Virginia, originally scheduled for 2011, but put on hold by the Interior Department:

“We commend this bipartisan effort to allow oil and natural gas leasing in federal waters offshore Virginia, a policy that more than two in three citizens of the commonwealth support. Virginians – along with their governor, both of their Democratic senators, much of the congressional delegation and the city council of Virginia Beach, off which much of the development would take place – understand that offshore leasing and development can bring much-needed jobs and revenues to the state, especially with a workable revenue-sharing provision.

“Already, the oil and natural gas industry supports over 143,000 jobs in Virginia, and it is poised to create many more – including well-paying exploration and production positions – if leasing off Virginia is allowed. And developing oil and natural gas resources off Virginia’s coast could generate nearly $19.5 billion in revenues for federal, state and local governments, according to ICF International, money that could be used to improve ailing roadways and fund education or other critical state needs.

“The federal government estimates that the proposed Sale 220 area contains about 130 million barrels of oil and 1.14 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. But an ICF study that takes into consideration the newest technologies for finding resources estimates total federal resources offshore Virginia at half a billion barrels of oil and more than 2.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That’s enough oil to fuel all 4 million cars in Virginia for more than four years and enough gas to heat all 3.2 million Virginia households for more than 11 years.

“Now is the time to allow leasing, and environmentally responsible development, for the benefit of Virginia and the entire nation.”

"Significant new oil find in the Gulf"... We Need Offshore Drilling in Virginia!!...

It has been reported that there has been a "Significant new oil discovery" in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico and it is the result of some very impressive technology, investment, and effort...

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The find is located in the Appomattox prospect area in the Mississippi Canyon. The well was drilled through more than 7,200 feet of water to a total depth of 25,077 feet where it found a 530'-thick layer containing oil.

A published report indicates the discovery is estimated to hold at least 100 million barrels of oil.

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The above video is from the recent "Summit on Virginia's Energy Future" at which time Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell describes how 37.5% of the royalties coming from the Gulf of Mexico goes directly to the Gulf States and their budgets...

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We NEED to develop the known energy sources offshore of the Virginia coast to benefit the Citizens of Virginia and the United States...

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enough said....

Wood Waste for Energy Production...

In today's NewsLeader there was an article about harnessing energy from processing the waste wood that ends up in the local landfill only to decay and produce methane gas that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere...

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This process is already in use in California and info \ description can be found here....

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Interesting article and another energy source that Virginia needs to look at. In fact it was discussed at the recent "Summit on Virginia's Energy Future" which I had the opportunity to attend. Yet another form of energy that is from "All of the above" options that Virginia needs to look at and consider...
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I took a hike yesterday up near Humpback Rocks and found a large increase of downed trees along the trail near the Appalachian Trail. Now I know that this is not the type of woodwaste that is being considered as an energy source described above, but there is an incredible amount of deadwood on the ground of our State\National forests...
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All of these dead trees are decomposing and contributing large amounts of CO2 and Methane gasses that many fear contribute to global warming...
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What are we to do with this problem?
Many eco-groups and anti-logging people are against the use of proper Forest management and it has been shown many times in the local media. But does that deal with this problem?
Is it a problem?
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Virginia Energy Summit "All of the above"...

That was the answer coming from the President and Chief Nuclear Officer from Dominion Virginia Power when he was asked how Virginia was going to meet the increased energy demand in Virginia’s future…

He went on to explain that there is no one energy source available to Virginia to meet it’s energy needs and that it will take a combination of many different forms of energy production. Some may feel it odd or strange coming from a “Nuclear” guy that he was not pushing for an increase in nuclear production, but like many assembled at this summit, we all know it will take investment in many available forms of energy to fill the need….

Forms of energy such as: Coal
Wind \ Solar
Nuclear
Conservation “The fifth energy”
Oil \ Natural Gas

Another interesting point made was that 60+% of the increased demand for energy in Virginia came from behind existing meters showing that it is not new growth but higher demand in locations with more and bigger toys to run. Homes with multiple computers, flat screen T.V. / monitors, and energy hungry electronics…

“This is not just an issue for Congress to deal with but an important issue that Virginia must also deal with“.

Additional Post on the Summit....

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