Today I attended the Energy Forum and Expo in Grand Junction Colorado. Located in the heart of Western Colorado’s massive energy boom the energy titans were all represented. The event tended to point out the reality of the existing energy industry which is nearly all fossil fuel based. However there were a few renewable energy Representatives there as well.
The morning lecture with Dr. Michael J. Economides was very entertaining and could have lasted another couple of hours. Dr. Economides is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Houston and is a world renowned expert on energy research and development. His speech was very sobering to say the least. As he sees it we are a fossil fuel based world, period. And when we want to discuss the issue from an American point of view we need to get our facts straight. This is about transportation energy, oil! Nearly 60% of our needs are shipped into the United States every year and it’s growing. However when we hear jargon about the idea of becoming energy independent by reducing our house hold usage he wants to make it very clear; that energy is produced with domestic supplies of fossil fuel. So in order to address energy independence we need to focus on the issue. Oil!
According to Dr. Economides in 1973 the US was using oil to provide 86% of our transportation needs. Today we use 86% and everything is saying we will use 86% in 30 yrs. What? How can this be? Growing consumption needs will require larger amounts of oil to meet our needs and the notion of alternative fuels playing a large part of that are very minimal. He is very direct with the facts about corn based ethanol and biodiesel from oil seed crops stating that these sources represent a small percentage of our overall needs and they lack the ability to supply large amounts. And we need to wake up to these facts in a hurry. We are looking at a century of oil use with a best case scenario of several decades before we can walk away from it.
So security of our oil needs to be priority number 1. Then we need to do everything we can to domestically produce our energy capabilities in order to hold OPEC at least in check.
Hearing what he had to say and realizing this was a very pro fossil fuel event I had to take what he said with a view of disbelief.
However the next speaker was Anup Bandivadekar of MIT who has been studying “Transportation energy challenges and opportunities for the future.” He talked at length about our infrastructure and the cost associated to any major change in our transportation system. His numbers tend to back what Dr. Economides was saying. And when he took it out to 2035 oil is still our major contributor to our supply needs with conservative numbers for alternatives.
I left today realizing that we need to mobilize in a major way if we are going to find a renewable energy solution that will have any major effects in 30 years. We must also realize there is no possible way to turn off oil any time soon. Anup stated that the world is consuming 1,000 barrels of oil a second. Think about that for one second…. there goes a thousand barrels of oil just like that. WOW!
We must not be overwhelmed by this prospect, it took us a 100 yrs to get here and best case scenario it’s going to take that long to figure out a solution. So let’s be realistic and realize we are in this for the long haul and that there is no silver bullet to solve the situation. We need to be adaptable and creative in order to meet the challenge that lies ahead of us. Click here to read more energy related blogs
Great post Casey…
86% oil dependency, now, and in thirty years? I believe it. When I was a junior in high school, I took Elwyn Schrock’s debate class. I was teamed up with a friend of mine named Jeff Henning, and as debaters we couldn’t have sucked more. We couldn’t argue our way out of a paper sack.
The one thing I remember about debate class is the topic of alternative energy. We’re still re-hashing the same arguments forty years later, an observation that draws a clear distinction between lofty goals and the path of least resistance…
Now where the hell did I put the keys to my wife’s Landcruiser?
Cheers,
Thanks Casey, we all need to hear the truth, even if it scares the heck out of us.
Most people I talk to about this subject shrug it off because they’re convinced that the scientists are going to save us with an alternative energy solution. I’ve been looking into this for a few years now and I don’t see much progress toward a viable oil substitute. Let’s not forget that this isn’t just about running our Landcruisers. Almost everything that is manufactured; plastics, medicines, agricultural chemicals, all require petroleum and the manufacturing machines themselves require oil to run. Our food transportation is critically linked to oil also.
A few years ago, knowing that the end of cheap oil is just around the corner, I joined Carbondale Economic Localization (CEL), a group dedicated to promoting local food and energy production. There are many groups like this forming all over the world in a growing sustainability movement that may just be the key to our survival in a post-petroleum future.
The Roaring Fork Peace Coalition is also involved in bringing this issue into community awareness. We are showing a free video; “Oil crash: A Crude Awakening” on Thursday Feb. 28th, 7pm at Yampah Mtn. High School in Glenwood Springs. This film will really put the concept of Peak Oil into perspective for people.
Ever seen a human body burn? I have, and let me tell you there is a significant amount of fuel in the fat. Given that we are an overweight nation, I say we start taking all the dead fat people and squeeze out their fatty oil to use for fuel instead of just dumping them in the ground. Talk about an endless supply of fuel…people are breeding faster then roaches, all we need to do is tap into this as of yet untapped natural resource. I can see it at Mitch’s house now….hey kids grandmas dead…now we can gas up the Landcruiser.
See…problem solved…all this running around and wringing of hands…if we start running low…just Supersize um. : )
Geesh, Alpha, I didn’t figure you’d go all Soylent Green on my mom… but I see your point. Talk about your renewable energy. Body fat could be come a commodity on the Chicago Merc. Can you imagine pit trading body fat? Sounds like a job for Mike Rowe.
Cheers,
Sir,
Excellent reality check. It’s about time we face the facts of our existence at this level of automation and combustion engines married to our enormous population growth: we’re screwed and we’re screwed more than anyone understands. That’s why I’ve been submitting my “Next Added 100 Million Americans” series everywhere for publication. We can only save ourselves and our civilization if we put the breaks on immigration of all kinds, and bring family planning to the world and hopefully, find an alternative energy such as the sun. If not, we’re screwed if not doomed to some really sobering realities in our future.
Frosty Wooldridge http://www.frostywooldridge.com
There is a vast amount of oil and natural gas under Gull Island in Alaska and the tree huggers have blocked all attempts to get it out of the ground.
Read Lindsey Williams book and watch the videos.
I’m sure that you will be dismayed to learn how the American people are being deprived of this vital resource.
The Energy Non-Crisis Online – by Lindsey Williams
http://tinyurl.com/24ug7h
Peak Oil Hoax – The Energy Non-Crisis [Excerpts from each chapter]
http://www.rense.com/general69/noncrisis.htm
YouTube – Lindsey Williams – The Energy Non-Crisis – Part 1 of 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbakN7SLdbk
YouTube – Lindsey Williams – The Energy Non-Crisis – Part 2 of 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGGjbDjnNzw&feature=related
YouTube – Lindsey Williams – The Energy Non-Crisis – Part 3 of 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q39ic04vhNo&feature=related
YouTube – Lindsey Williams – The Energy Non-Crisis – Part 4 of 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKCyCYz_aHY&feature=related
YouTube – Lindsey Williams – The Energy Non-Crisis – Part 5 of 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TYmSGwAumk&feature=related
YouTube – Lindsey Williams – The Energy Non-Crisis – Part 6 of 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbwMOvV6ctg&feature=related
YouTube – Lindsey Williams – The Energy Non-Crisis – Part 7 of 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5HGHsy3H_0&feature=related
YouTube – Lindsey Williams – The Energy Non-Crisis – Part 8 of 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC61X78-OI0&feature=related