Oil, gas, and coal as a renewable resource? How you ask?

"The existence of oil much farther below the surface than it was previously thought to exist raises new questions about the origins of oil and natural gas. It has commonly been thought that they are the decayed remains of long dead plants and animals. However, as hydrocarbons are found at extreme depths, this explanation becomes increasingly implausible." - Bruce Bartlett, TownHall.com

Hmm, this sounds interesting but what does it mean?

"If Gold's theory is right, then the Earth's reserves of petroleum and natural gas may be hundreds of times greater than most geologists now believe. Oil wells that are pumped dry will simply refill themselves as more methane and petroleum work their way upward to fill the emptied spaces in the rock. This has already happened in a few places, geologists agree -- something that is hard to explain by the conventional theory." - The Boston Globe

How has Gold's tested his theory?

"In the early '90s, Gold drilled a couple of holes into granite bedrock in Sweden. He pulled up 84 barrels of oil, he said, from a 22,000-foot-deep hole. Though the quantity was insignificant, there is quite a bit of significance attached to gleaning oil from volcanic granite. If the theory that oil comes from biological material were true, such a feat is comparable to squeezing blood from a turnip." - Svend Holst, The Juneau Empire

Why did Gold chose to test his theory by digging into granite?

"Granite is formed, for the most part, as pools of lava cool. Animals and plants, without exception, don't do well in molten rock, and granite isn't the kind of material that something like oil should migrate to from somewhere else." - Svend Holst, The Juneau Empire

Alright, but does Gold's theory have any true marketplace application? Has any independent company tested his theory?

"Robert Hefner III, owner of GHK Inc., read about Gold's deep-gas theory in the New York Times 20 years ago and has since become one of Gold's good friends. Hefner said his Oklahoma City-based natural gas company drilled in the Anadarko Basin, which overlaps the Texas Panhandle and a part of western Oklahoma, and found highly pressurized natural gas at a depth conventional wisdom said it couldn't exist." - Svend Holst, The Juneau Empire

Okay, now that you've read a couple of quotes and/or articles on the subject let me just reinforce this. Gold has published over 280 articles in industry specific science magazines even despite the report that editors have resigned over not wanting to publish his finding because of how it would effect the world. The only two classifications of scientists that are NOT lending his theories credence are those it would prove wrong (geologists and petroleum engineers). They've been telling us for years that a square was a circle and they aren't about to stop now.

Most people talk about Big Oil money going to the Republican Party and how they benefit from a monopoly approach to oil field management. Well it seems that scientists are not immune to the need to have monopoly control. If Gold is correct and you can get oil from a turnip if you drill deep enough, the value of the service afford by these scientists is dramatically reduced thus they have a vested (or conflicting) interest in ensuring Gold is proven WRONG.

Fortunately, scientists cannot dismiss his theories as looney because he has both tested theoretically and commercially (natural gas where their shouldn't be gas). The fact that methane exists on planets that have never supported life is a very difficult obstacle to supporting geologist's "dead dinosaur/dead bush" theory. And while a "theory" is definitely NOT the same as a "fact" it is true that something that once was taken as "fact" must be re-evaluated once it is proven to not be the case in every circumstance.

Right now, the preponderance of the evidence lies with the "dead dinosaur" theory while emerging evidence points to oil, gas, and coal as a renewable resource. One has years of dogmatic belief and a track record for being correct on its side while the other is as revolutionary an idea as say, "the earth is round and orbits the sun." It may take a generation or more of free thinkers with no "stake in the fight" and much more anecdotal evidence (i.e. oil fields refilling, oil deposits located in solid rock) before others will take up the call and research it further. We know scientists employed by oil companies aren't going request funding the research.

The truth is it doesn't matter if it is proved right now or not. If it is correct, 1) we aren't going to be able to stop it from happening, 2) we all recognize the burning of so-called "fossil fuels" is not good for the environment and thus we should be researching planet friendly energy sources instead of hunting for more raw material for the fat-cat oil barons, and 3) I'm betting the "refilling" process is one the takes decades or centuries not years.

In my opinion there is not enough information to either confirm or reject Gold's theory. Still, at least he offers more proof than those silly so-called "global warming" theories (now those are ridiculous). And if it is true...

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