Bits About Bitcoin

I love this idea. I actually had a similar idea myself years ago, in concept only of course. When we think about all of our clumsy processes from internal combustion engines to flush toilets you wonder why something like Bitcoin hasn’t come along much sooner. But of course, we humans must be emotionally as well as physically ready for such change.

But about Bitcoin. Why allow a commercial institution like a bank to charge processing fees and exchange rates to use one’s own money? Why shouldn’t money be individualized like any other property we own? Why shouldn’t a currency gain value like a commodity from its desirability rather than from individual investment efforts?

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  A bit about Bitcoin. Bitcoin came along in 2009 from encryption written in code that allowed a virtual coin to be traced back to its origins. Everyone on the network has the means to account for every coin in an open ledger and each individual’s right to the coin in his/her wallet is recognized. Every participant in the network has a virtual wallet which is their key to access the Bitcoin.

In one sense this concept has been going on for years in the form of credit cards where no actual money changes hands but we assign the right to that money to another party by signing the card, and the bank verifies our claim that we have sufficient funds for the transaction (fees to the bank and credit card company). But with Bitcoin, a central bank is not needed because everyone on the network can see what’s in your wallet. And a Bitcoin does not depend upon account numbers and other data that can be stolen. The Bitcoin is an entity unto itself and once exchanged, that’s that.

With a growing dependence upon on-line marketing, Bitcoin, and similar currencies such as Litecoin and Peercoin, offer a simple solution for making purchases anywhere in the country and all around the world. I have long felt that currency is too clumsy and complex. Now, thanks to a bit of computer code, a simpler solution is at hand.

But will people buy into Bitcoin? Certainly not the financial institutions that make a living from fees for exchange and investment. Conceptually Bitcoin doesn’t offer such opportunities to these institutions. The currency will have to grow from grassroots efforts; of the people and for the people.

     

"Water, Water Everywhere, Yet..."

I spent an evening recently with a neighbor who works for one of the local oil companies, one that works the oil platforms off the Goleta coast. As one who tends to vilify the oil companies for their use and potential abuse of enormous quantities of water in a drought stricken area, I was a bit nervous when our conversation began. But it took an interesting turn.

My neighbor’s truck glistens in his driveway. He washes his truck almost daily at the plant where he guides the inflow of oil through enormous pipes from the offshore wells. To wash his truck, he uses a special mineral free water that leaves absolutely no residue on the paint surfaces when it dries. Where does he get this water? They make it at the plant where he works. From what? From sea water.

Whoa, there. Aren’t we talking about desalination? The means for obtaining fresh water from sea water that the Central Coast of California so desperately needs? In fact, yes.

The city of Santa Barbara built a desalination plant. It was completed in the early 1990’s in a knee-jerk reaction to drought conditions at that time. But once nature replenished the water supply, the plant was left to go idle. To restore it would require $20 million and then the cost per acre-foot to filter the water would be $1500. When - if - it rains, water from Lake Cachuma Reservoir will be much cheaper. If.

A desalination plant requires a large amount of energy to run it. That is costly. But just down the road in Goleta, the oil company where my neighbor works has lot’s of energy. So much gas rolls in along with the oil through those pipes that they have to burn it off. That’s a lot of energy.

And they have their own desalination plant. Oil companies need large sources of water just a badly as farmers do. They need it for water flooding into reservoir formations to maintain pressure and to force oil out of the production wells. Some use sea water. But they have found that the high sulfate in sea water can combine over time with barium and strontium in original reservoirs to diminish output of the wells. Brine bacteria that feeds on sulfate can produce hydrogen sulfite and sour a well. Consequently, the oil companies have need of sulfur filtration systems.

But the oil and gas sector also have substantial wastewater treatment needs for the water issuing from the wells along with the oil and gas. As a well ages, the volume of this water increases and the need for water treatment increases as well. Finally, the oil companies have found that low salinity water actually increases oil recovery. The industry has begun to invest in low salinity membrane technology. But the costs are high.

You see where I’m going with this. There is enormous potential for partnering with oil companies in the production of desalinated potable water. Investing in the oil companies to invest in treating wastewater and desalinate sea water makes sense. The oil companies get to work closely with the communities that regulate them, gain financial support for their water treatment efforts, and build a potentially lucrative avenue for diversification. The cities gain the costly energy to power the desalination plants, a new water source for less, and assume a position more conducive toward encouraging the oil companies to transition to cleaner energy sources and means. It is a partnership in the best interests of everyone - and the planet.

Sources: Camillia Lanham; “Searching for Water”, The Sun 3/6/14.
“Changing Needs in Off Shore Oil Production”; Waterworld.com