A NEW ENERGY VENTURE

Not so with a gas well. To supply gas to a pipeline, its pressure must be greater than that in the line, about 80 psi. When the well has been depleted to the point where the pressure is reduced to about 75 psi, the owner pulls the casing, seals the well and abandons it, for the remainder of the gas cannot be economically exploited.

Now a small, but sharp Denver oil company, Camberley Corporation, is about to realize an idea that seems simple, but whose time has only just come. While 80 psi may be needed to feed into a pipeline, 20 psi is enough to supply local customers with space heat via a 1 inch line. This will prolong the economic life of the well for years if the customer uses enough heat to justify the operating expense.

A commercial greenhouse could fit the bill: a 0.4-acre greenhouse in the Denver area would use some 5,531,000 BTU per year, or about $16,000/year at present prices. [In general, a technically superior greenhouse with double-layer covering has a heat loss of 0.8 BTU per square foot of surface area per degree-hour of temperature difference (in degree F) between inside and outside).

The majority of gas wells in the Denver area (and doubtlessly in many other areas) is located on agricultural land owned by farmers who already have a basic understanding of growing and marketing fresh produce. A partnership between well-and land-owners, in which both invest in commercial greenhouses, should be profitable to both parties: the well owner extends the economic life of his well for many years; the landowner continues to earn a royalty on the gas and puts some of his land into an intensive farming operation with little weather risk.