On Sun Sep 24 14:00:20 2000, "Vandergraaf, Chuck" <vandergraaft@aecl.ca> wrote:
> In response to my suggestions about car pools, you state "Companies
> will have to be more sensitive to letting people go on time. There is
> nothing worse than having to make your ride wait an hour while you finish
> the job your boss just gave you, or waiting for your ride to finish his job.
> That at least has been my experience with car pools." In that regard, I
> have been very fortunate in that the main place of employment for most of
> our town's population is only 16 km away and that we had standard working
> hours, so that car pools worked very well. Again, when the oil crunch
> comes, companies will have no choice but to become more sensitive to the
> requirements of car pools.
You got me to thinking about why I have had these experiences. In the oil
business, drilling rigs drill 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. If one has
trouble, or if a decision needs to be made, we are required to work until we
solve the problem or make up our minds (empty as they are sometimes). I have
had occasions where I went into work at 6 in the morning only to get home the
next day. It is rare, but it has happened. More likely is the case where I go
in at 6 and leave at midnight. That happened this year a coupole of times. Now,
a drill rig in the deep water costs up to $300,000 per day. Why does it cost
that much? Part of it is due to the energy required to 1) make the steel, 2)
weld it together, 3) run supplies to it 150-200 miles from shore etc. The
portion of the day rate that we pay for the rig alone (approx $200,000 a day)
is repayment for the energy already used in its manufacture. The rest is
supplies, food etc. (for details see
http://www.calvin.edu/archive/asa/199910/0033.html )
I tell you this to pose the question, is it more energy efficient for me to go
home at quitting time letting at least 16 hours go by while the rig bobs around
in the water, using fuel to remain on station but idle, or is it more energy
efficient for me to take my car to work alone. Here is the math. The drill ship
uses 12 tons of fuel a day to stand still. If I make the ship wait 16 hours,
then I have spent about 8 tons of fuel so I can drive in a carpool and save a
gallon. I don't know how much a gallon of gas weighs but figure it like this. A
gallon of water weighs 8 pounds so say that gas weighs 6. If I make the rig
wait only once a year for 16 hours, I have spent 12,000 pounds of fuel. At 25
mpg, I could go 50000 miles in my personal car before I make up for that
deficit. Since I only drive around 12,000 miles per year, it is more efficient
for me to drive than to make a rig wait, ever. This calculation doesn't count
the energy payback for building the rig in the first place. Car pools are not
always the most energy efficient situations for some professions.
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