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Ep 93  |  Joris van der Schot

Joris van der Schot: “Oil Refining 101 & Other Energy Stories”

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TGS93 Jorisvander Schot The Great Simplification

Show Summary

On this episode, Nate is joined by energy industry professional Joris van der Schot to explain the basics of oil refineries, their limitations, and other cultural narratives about energy. Oil is the lifeblood of our economies, yet most of us know so little about how it actually becomes all the different final products that we use. Just how massive is the scale of our energy consumption? How flexible and resilient are oil refineries to shifting oil demand? Can we keep an open mind to realistic and helpful innovations while also grounding our preparations for the future in practical energy strategy ahead of The Great Simplification?

About Joris van der Schot

Joris van der Schot is a former Royal Dutch Shell executive with over a decade of international experience in the oil industry, where he held roles as a control systems engineer, corporate strategy advisor, refinery economist and lastly, the company’s global aviation gasoline supply manager.After a sabbatical year in Provence, Joris left the oil industry and set out on a quest to accelerate the clean energy transition through breakthrough technology. He currently works at french scale-up Energy Pool, providing storage and other flexibility services that enable the integration of renewable energy on the electricity grid.

In French, we have a motto that says that a simple drawing is often better than a long explanation. Jean-Marc Jancovici Carbone 4 President

That’s very understandable because with left atmosphere thinking, one of the problems is that you see everything as a series of problems that must have solutions. Iain McGilchrist Neuroscientist and Philosopher

We can’t have hundreds and hundreds of real relationships that are healthy because that requires time and effort and full attention and awareness of being in real relationship and conversation with the other human. Nate Hagens Director of ISEOF

This is the crux of the whole problem. Individual parts of nature are more valuable than the biocomplexity of nature. Thomas Crowther Founder Restor

Show Notes & Links to Learn More

00:25 – Joris van der Schot works + info

01:59 – Jurassic named after the Jura Mountains

04:45 – Human relationship with fire, Joris van der Schot on Man’s Metabolism

05:20 – Woodstock

05:30 – Niagara Falls, Rhine Falls

06:35 – IEA Barrel of Oil Equivalents + IEA Energy Sankey Data Tool

06:40 – A Niagara of Oil

07:37 – Sankey Diagram

09:45 – Mitochondria the powerhouse of the cell, ATP

12:23 – Geological variations in oil

13:58 – Peat, Joris van der Schot on Energy and GDP: the Dutch Golden Age

16:20 – Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC)

20:30 – Chemistry of oil

29:09 – Record summer heat and all time hottest Septembertheories of sulfur removal being the cause

30:03 – Bitumen, tar sands

31:25 – Crackers

33:09 – Sulfur and acid rain

35:05 – Geoengineering 

35:40 – Just Stop Oil Frankly Series

37:50 – Flexibility in refinery production

39:39 – Lack of new refineries in the US

40:45 – Europe refinery closures

41:52 – Emission impact of tar sands

43:10 – Energy intensity of schemes to pull carbon out of the air

44:01 – Natural systems that remove carbon from the air

45:53 – Exponential growth in microchip revolutiondifference from solar development

49:29 – Primary vs final energyincreased efficiency with electrification

53:26 – Sodium batteries, Sand Batteries

53:38 – Iron rust battery storage

54:25 – Demand side energy solutions

55:10 – Industry centered when and where energy is available

57:15 – Reality Blind Vol. 1 – Nate Hagens and DJ White

58:42 – 80000 Hours

1:01:08 – Heliomimicry

1:03:33 – Solid-State Fusion Exhibits All the Hallmarks of a Scientific Field in the Process of Formation, says MIT’s Florian Metzler – Solid State Fusion Discovery

1:04:05 – Google investment in fusion

1:06:03 – Reality Roundtable

Additional Reading:

Revisiting the cold case of cold fusion | Nature

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