How Stupid Are They?

[Tom Dempsey]

Is cow manure organic ?

If you step in a fresh pile, it's probably a little too organic!

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Lead is organic so is Mercury.

Are they? Are you referring to "organic lead"? "Inorganic lead"? Mercury, organic and inorganic compounds ?

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Is cow manure organic ?

If you step in a fresh pile, it's probably a little too organic!

As organic as it gets.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Petroleum and coal are organic. Why? They are hydrocarbons, which are organic compounds. Matter that was once living is part of/is the essence of them, even of natural gas.

Here is a simplification: Plants (well before the dinosaurs romped around) lived, absorbing energy from the sun. Plants died and fell over. They got covered over in places like swamps. They got buried under sediments. They rotted. Pressure. Resulting heat. Rotting organic matter gives off gas(es). We can harvest the rotted plants as coal and extract the gas as fuel, too, for their stored energy originally from the sun. Nice little system right? Efficient. SCIENCE! OR," Somebody" really, really smart created the whole system and set it in motion.

P.S. How'd I do?

[webenda]

Where it is found is not necessarily its source.

What's the definition of "organic"?

Definition of organic, "Relating to or derived from living matter."

If you are going to claim crude oil is derived from living matter, Rufus, prove it, don't just say it.

I didn't, although I think that proof exists. I'm not up on my petroleum science - long distance off from my core.

If you are going to claim it's mineral based upon location, then when you are in the ocean are you a fish? When Murph is in the woods, is he a bear or just enjoying the go?

I didn't say you did, I said, "If you are..." When I am in the ocean I am not a fish. I don’t know what Murph is in the woods, you’ll have to ask him.

Where is petroleum found? It is found in association with Shale, Shale/Sandstone, and Carbonate rock.

Oil is not mineral based due to being found in the rocks but because of its source… rocks. Petroleum is formed from rocks and water.

For example: Limestone + Water: 6CaCO3 + 7H2O --> C6H14 + 6CaO + 6O2 + O
C6H14 is Hexane (gasoline.)

A secondary reaction occurs when the lime (CaO) dissolves in the water and is exposed CO2 so abundant in the Earth.
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 --> CaCO3 + H2O

Another example: Shale and Water. Shale is a mix of flakes and tiny fragments of minerals, especially quartz and calcite. Calcite is a form of Limestone, CAO3, so the same reaction as above applies. Let's make oil this time. Calcite + Water --> 24CaCO3 + 25H2O --> C24H50 + 24CaO + 36O2 + O.
C24H50 is Tetracosane (motor oil.)

And then the limestone is recovered from lime (which dissolves in heated water) Ca(OH)2 + CO2 --> CaCO3 + H2O

And the cycle of oil production continues forever.

And that is why petroleum is a mineral, it is a liquid form of rocks.

Remember when Arab nations cut off oil shipments to the United States in 1973? Panic ensued. We couldn’t find any oil. Doomsday scenarios predicted ever-increasing shortages of fossil fuels and $100-a-barrel oil prices by the year 2000.

Surprise! Doomsday is not near, oil $64 a barrel today, and oil has been found everywhere. Moreover, there is no sign we will ever run out of oil, it is being continuously produced in carbonate rock formations (if they are under the correct pressure and temperature conditions) all over the Earth.

One of my references is an article by Curtis Rist. He agrees we will never run out of oil but gives the wrong reason, algae. (Murph will probably like the algae to oil theory. )
Reference: http://discovermagazine.com/1999/jun/featoil

Edit 1 and 2 to complete the cycle of limestone and replace the equal signs with arrows.

[robert.]

The use of Organic is a marketing gimmick. If you use cow manure and it ones of into a stream You will lose your organic certification. If you look into it more you'll find most organic certified things are grown through hydroponics. You are not allowed to change your surrounding ecosystem when you grow organic. e.g. If your growing veggies in sand you can not truck in manure.This would change your sands ecosystem.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Petroleum and coal are organic. Why? They are hydrocarbons, which are organic compounds. Matter that was once living is part of/is the essence of them, even of natural gas.

Here is a simplification: Plants (well before the dinosaurs romped around) lived, absorbing energy from the sun. Plants died and fell over. They got covered over in places like swamps. They got buried under sediments. They rotted. Pressure. Resulting heat. Rotting organic matter gives off gas(es). We can harvest the rotted plants as coal and extract the gas as fuel, too, for their stored energy originally from the sun. Nice little system right? Efficient. SCIENCE! OR," Somebody" really, really smart created the whole system and set it in motion.

P.S. How'd I do?

Apparently in conflict with Wayne's world......

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Lead is organic so is Mercury.

While there are organolead and organomercury compounds (usually rather toxic), elemental lead and mercury are not organic.

[Roy]

Both my father and paternal grandfather were petroleum engineers, and could answer these questions. When I searched Wikipedia for "crude oil", they sent me to "petroleum". From there:

"A fossil fuel, petroleum is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, usually zooplankton and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and subjected to both intense heat and pressure."

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Both my father and paternal grandfather were petroleum engineers, and could answer these questions. When I searched Wikipedia for "crude oil", they sent me to "petroleum". From there:

"A fossil fuel, petroleum is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, usually zooplankton and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and subjected to both intense heat and pressure."

That is the traditional answer that I was alluding to a while back......

[Roy]

As far as I know, there are three distinct meanings of "organic". The first has to do with life. The second is the one used in organic chemistry. The third has to do with how food is grown and processed.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

As far as I know, there are three distinct meanings of "organic". The first has to do with life. The second is the one used in organic chemistry. The third has to do with how food is grown and processed.

There is probably at least another application of the word, but meanings and applications "wander".

[HONDO74]

SOYLENT GREEN

the oceans no longer produce the plankton from which Soylent Green is reputedly made, and infer that it is produced from human remains, the only conceivable supply of protein matching the known production.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

SOYLENT GREEN

the oceans no longer produce the plankton from which Soylent Green is reputedly made, and infer that it is produced from human remains, the only conceivable supply of protein matching the known production.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Both my father and paternal grandfather were petroleum engineers, and could answer these questions. When I searched Wikipedia for "crude oil", they sent me to "petroleum". From there:

"A fossil fuel, petroleum is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, usually zooplankton and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and subjected to both intense heat and pressure."

Precisely right. Good work, Roy. Case closed.