Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year and included in each is a letter from the publisher, Doug Glenn. This letter first appeared in Heat Treat Today's May 2022 Induction Heat Treating print edition.
Publisher and Founder
Heat Treat Today
With the war in Ukraine, the availability of energy resources has taken centerstage. Readily available energy is nowhere more important than in the heat treat industry where roughly 80% of the processes being performed are still carbon based. Granted, over the past several decades there has been a slow and steady move away from oil and gas to electric-based heating processes — especially with advances in both vacuum and induction technologies — but the vast majority of heat treat processes are still fueled by natural gas.
Heat Treat Today's regular energy/combustion columnist, John Clarke, often has interesting and insightful things to say about the heat treat industry’s energy needs and consumption. I recommend his column to you on page 8. Here are a few less technical thoughts about our current energy situation.
Technology Is a Problem
Mark Mills, from the Manhattan Institute, is one of the most articulate and informed individuals I know whenit comes to energy. Mark and I met in 2017 in Düsseldorf, Germany, at the International Thermprocess Summit where he was a keynote speaker. You’ll be hearing and seeing more from Mark in future issues of Heat Treat Today. Mark says a lot of things that make sense when it comes to energy. One point that resonated with me is his assertion that we do not have an energy shortage problem; we have a technology problem. His point is this: We have essentially an endless supply of energy, especially if we’re able to derive energy from the hydrogen found in water, which is abundant. But even if not from water, there is an abundance of energy under, on, and above the earth that could keep the world warm, clean, and productive for thousands of years into the future. The issue is not the presence of those energy resources; the issue is developing technologies to extract those energy sources in an affordable and socially acceptable way.
Take for example the recent shale gas revolution. That energy resource has always been there — even back in the 1970s when most people believed that there was only so much oil in the world, and we would soon run out and all freeze to death. Because of technology advances, we are now able to extract that resource and the future has never looked brighter for an abundant supply of clean, inexpensive energy.
Imagine what will happen when we figure out how to tap the heat from the center of the earth or burn the hydrogen
straight out of water. Seems unthinkable today, but who in the 1970s would have predicted that we could drill down, take a 90-degree turn and drill horizontally? With advances in technology, we’ll have more energy than we need.
Geopolitics Is a Problem
Getting oil and gas from anywhere on the globe is physically possible and relatively affordable. The challenge is not finding the energy, extracting the energy, or transporting the energy. The obstacle is the presence of free markets, open markets, or unrestricted trade among world players — a geopolitical issue. We’re not importing oil from Russia because they’ve invaded Ukraine — a geopolitical problem. Others in the world are not buying liquified natural gas from the United States because the political bent in the U.S. right now is leaning heavily “green,” which significantly restricts the amount of gas U.S. companies can extract — a geopolitical problem.
Bottom line, adequate energy resources are NOT the issue. The real issue lies with other impediments — technology and geopolitical concerns to name just two. We live in an energy-rich world, so be encouraged North American heat treater.
All we need to do now is remove all the other obstacles.
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