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Green Paper: Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply
Directorate General for Energy and Transport, European Commission
An EU website with multiple reports on energy. Most recently posted:
REPORT ON THE GREEN PAPER ON ENERGY – Four years of European initiatives
Cover page (164KB PDF)
Final Report, June 2005 (680KB PDF)
The European Union as a whole does not have the resources needed to cover its domestic demand for energy.We are therefore obliged to import fossil energies from elsewhere. Overwhelmingly, the gas we import comes from Russia and the oil we use originates in the Middle East.This has significant repercussions in terms of the security of our energy supply.And, as the transport sector booms,petroleum remains our preferred energy source.Gas is also gaining ground for the production of electricity and heat, in particular in the wake of increasingly strict environmental constraints.
In short, the alarm bells are ringing: our energy consumption levels are rising and, more worryingly, we are importing an increasing percentage of the energy we use. The aim of the Green Paper was to initiate a debate on possible solutions to this problem, both in terms of supply and demand. The notion of ‘managing demand’ was brought to the fore for the first time; previously, energy policy had tended to focus on supply. And yet, it is in fact easier to change the former rather than the latter.
(June 2005)
Recommended in a Peakoil forum by “MrBean”; see his post for descriptions of the reports. In a later post, Mr.Bean points to yet another report
And lo and behold, there’s a new Green Paper, called: GREEN PAPER on energy efficiency or doing more with less launching a new debate and containing also very specific details from energy saving light bulbs to tyre friction, in addition to general targets and discussion
This new report is a 193KB PDF file, 50 pages long. -BA
`Peak oil’ spells cataclysm for U.S., oil theorist warns
Alexander Lane, Newhouse News Service via Portland Oregonian
Think high gas prices are bad?
Get a load of what ex-oilman and ex-Princeton professor Kenneth Deffeyes believes are following closely behind:
“War, famine, pestilence and death,” he said, eyes wide and voice deep. “We’ve got to get the warning out.”
The threat? Peak oil.
The term, probably unfamiliar to most Americans, refers to the time when the worldwide production of oil peaks and begins a rapid decline. From then on, this incredibly efficient fuel source, which still costs less than most bottled water, will be scarcer and more costly.
Highly respected sources, including the U.S. government, think that day is distant, and most mainstream economists think it won’t cause much of a ruckus.
But Deffeyes says peak oil is coming in November, and could bring humankind to the brink.
(21 August 2005)
The article is syndicated by the Newhouse News Service, so it will probably appear in other Newhouse papers. The Twin Cities Pioneer Press picked up the story, running it under the headline Oil expert lonely in dire prediction, which completely distorts the message.
CSPAN Interview with Kenneth Deffeyes (TV broadcast)
Kenneth Deffeyes, C-SPAN2
An hour-long interview scheduled for 12 am (midnight) Eastern Time (ET) on Sunday night/Monday morning
Book: “Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert’s Peak” by Kenneth Deffeyes
Description: Geologist, author, and Princeton University professor Kenneth Deffeyes writes that world oil production is no longer increasing in his new book, “Beyond Oil: The View From Hubbert’s Peak.” The title of the book comes from petroleum geologist M. King Hubbert, who formulated that the world’s oil production would reach its peak in 2000 and begin to decline rapidly until the global fossil fuel supplies went dry. Mr. Deffeyes believes that the world’s oil production would peak at the close of 2005 and that the eventual absence of fossil fuels would have a devastating and potentially catastrophic effect on world economies. The book also lists the potential replacement fossil fuel energy sources and the ways in which they can be utilized effectively.
Author Bio: Kenneth Deffeyes is a geologist and professor emeritus at Princeton University. He is also the author of “Hubbert’s Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage.”
(21 August 2005)
The C-SPAN2 Book TV schedule is at www.booktv.org/schedule/
Matt Simmons Answer Some Tough Questions About Peak Oil
David J. DesLauriers, Resource Investor
…Simmons, like it or not, has a legion of doomsaying followers, and recently the Washington Post hosted an interesting and informative online forum which allowed readers to put questions to this well-recognized proponent of the thesis. RI has picked out a couple of the more interesting exchanges.
(21 August 2005)
High gas prices encourage stewardship
Ron McLinden, Springfield (MO) News-Leader
Gasoline at $2.50 is painful, but even greater pain lies ahead if we ignore the signals.
…A prudent response to global warming — and high gas prices as well — is to improve energy efficiency in every single aspect of our economy. That’s a “no-regrets” response. Efficiency creates jobs here at home while also reducing our dependence on foreign oil, with its attendant balance of trade and national security implications.
Individuals can conserve by driving less, sharing the ride, using transit, and walking or biking more. We can choose nearby destinations over distant ones, choose a more energy-efficient vehicle and choose to live closer to work. In fact, we should have higher energy prices in mind as we make major life decisions.
…As we become more energy efficient we’ll become more “resource effective,” squeezing more human benefit out of each unit of energy or other resource that we consume. By doing so we’ll assure that our economy serves the individual and collective needs that we refer to as “quality of life,” and we’ll give our children and grandchildren a better chance at the same.
Higher gas prices are a signpost along the road to a more sustainable future — through a value common to all faiths: stewardship.
Ron McLinden, Kansas City, is a member of the Conservation Committee of the Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club.
(21 August 2005)
Extent of global oil reserves a matter of some dispute
Saudis optimistic, U.S. conservative in their estimates
David R. Baker, SF Chronicle
Even as the world’s thirst for oil grows, no one quite knows how much of the precious liquid we have.
Some experts say that the Earth’s oil reserves are smaller than we think. For example, Saudi Arabia, the global economy’s gas tank, might not have the vast petroleum reserves its leaders claim, according to a new book rattling the energy industry. Royal Dutch/ Shell Group last year admitted overstating its oil reserves by about 25 percent.
Others maintain that crude is more plentiful than we suspect.
(21 August 2005)
Other Energy Issues
Nuclear power’s future
John Funk, Plain Dealer
In a world worried about global warming and escalating coal, oil and gas prices, the nuclear industry has seized an opportunity for rebirth.
Nuclear advocates are working to reshape the atom’s image from that of an environmental nightmare and utility bankrupter to an affordable and Earth-friendly energy source – and a hedge against future energy shortages.
Nuclear expansion is the best hope, they argue, to cut carbon dioxide and other emissions that government and many industry leaders now believe are creating a perilous climate future.
(14 August 2005)
Another article in the admirable series “Crude Awakening” in the Plain Dealer.
Don’t Get Stuck In The Tar, Baby
Big Gav, Peak Energy (Australia)
MonkeyGrinder’s recent post on delectable oil sand morsels made me ponder the tale of Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, in which Brer Rabbit foolishly becomes entangled with a creature made of tar.
With The Oil Drum noting that production costs for tar sands are rapidly rising – which seems to be the usual case for low EROEI energy sources as the price of oil rises – and may not even be “profitable” at US$65 per barrel of oil (even ignoring all the externalities like massive carbon dioxide emissions and the environmental destruction involved), I really wonder if it’s worth getting trapped in the tar sands in the quest for North American energy security.
Tar sands have been in the news quite a lot lately, with Dark Lord Cheney visiting Alberta recently to check out if there is any loot to be liberated, along with the usual notes about the damage being done to the environment.
(21 August 2005)
Nice round-up of the latest news on tar oil.
