Rising Energy Needs
About the Author
President and CEO, the American Petroleum Institute
I have served as the president and CEO of three energy-related trade associations representing the interests of companies in the business of producing oil and natural gas, chemicals and coal and other mined substances.
About This Video
The video describes the world's energy demand over the next 20 years. A recent projection by the U.S. Department of Energy shows demand for oil will increase 35 percent, the demand for natural gas will rise 53 percent, and although the use of renewables will expand greatly, it still will account for only 8.5 percent of total world energy demand by 2030. This might not reflect what many people have heard, but it's the truth.
Respected energy experts agree that oil and natural gas will play a major role in worldwide energy demand for decades to come. A compilation of data from reliable, third-party sources including the U.S. government can be found at http://www.energytomorrow.org/ViewResource.ashx?id=5410.
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3 comments for "Rising Energy Needs".
1. Oil lobby to fund campaign against Obama's climate change strate
Email from American Petroleum Institute outlines plan to create appearance of public opposition to Obama's climate and energy reform
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent guardian.co.uk, Friday 14 August 2009 19.35 BST
"The US oil and gas lobby are planning to stage public events to give the appearance of a groundswell of public opinion against legislation that is key to Barack Obama's climate change strategy, according to campaigners.
A key lobbying group will bankroll and organise 20 ''energy citizen'' rallies in 20 states. In an email obtained by Greenpeace, Jack Gerard, the president of the American Petroleum Institute (API), outlined what he called a "sensitive" plan to stage events during the August congressional recess to put a "human face" on opposition to climate and energy reform.
After the clamour over healthcare, the memo raises the possibility of a new round of protests against a key Obama issue.
"Our goal is to energise people and show them that they are not alone," said Cathy Landry, for API, who confirmed that the memo was authentic.
The email from Gerard lays out ambitious plans to stage a series of lunchtime rallies to try to shape the climate bill that was passed by the house in June and will come before the Senate in September. "We must move aggressively," it reads.
The API strategy also extends to a PR drive. Gerard cites polls to test the effectiveness of its arguments against climate change legislation. It offers up the "energy citizen" rallies as ready-made events, noting that allies – which include manufacturing and farm alliances as well as 400 oil and gas member organisations – will have to do little more than turn up.
"API will provide the up-front resources," the email said. "This includes contracting with a highly experienced events management company that has produced successful rallies for presidential campaigns."
However, it said member organisations should encourage employees to attend to command the attention of senators. "In the 11 states with an industry core, our member company local leadership – including your facility manager's commitment to provide significant attendance – is essential," said the email.
Greenpeace described the meetings as "astroturfing" – events intended to exert pressure on legislators by giving the impression of a groundswell of public opinion. Kert Davies, its research director, said: "It is the behind the scenes plan to disrupt the debate and weaken political support for climate regulation."
The rally sites were chosen to exert maximum pressure on Democrats in conservative areas. The API also included talking points for the rallies – including figures on the costs of energy reform that were refuted weeks ago by the congressional budget office.
The API drive also points to a possible fracturing of the US Climate Action Partnership (Uscap), a broad coalition of corporations and energy organisations which was instrumental in drafting the Waxman-Markey climate change bill that passed in the House of Representatives in June.
Passage of the legislation is seen as crucial to the prospects of getting the world to sign on to a climate change treaty at Copenhagen next December.
Five members of Uscap are also in API, including BP which said its employees were aware of the rallies. Conoco Phillips, which was also a member of the climate action partnership, has also turned against climate change, warning on its website that the legislation will put jobs at risk, and compromise America's energy security. The company is also advertising the energy rallies on its website, urging readers: "Make your voice heard."
However, Shell, also a member of both groups, said it did not support the rallies. Bill Tenner, a spokesman, said: "We are not participating." "
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/14/us-lobbying
2. Live Large...
...and die young.
Get real, get small and light NOW.
Understand the real TRUTH, our Oil addiction (and it is an addiction) is killing us.
We can live much better, on a much smaller scale, this is reality, and it will...
...come to be.
The Question is, AT WHAT PRICE?
Live light, live free, be brave.
Turn off your TV, get off your couch, and dare to dream ;-)
3. This presentation neglects to include depletion rates
This is a very one-sided representation. It is based only on the (projected) demand side of the equation, based on current growth trends, and neglects to show the supply side of the equation, which clearly demonstrates the inability of oil and gas supply to meet this optimistic demand scenario.
Anyone who has been reading the oil and gas literature knows that :-
1. Investment in new oil and gas infrastructure has been falling since the price per barrel of crude fell below $50, and many smaller developments become uneconomical
2. OPEC is continually drawing supply off the market, in order to try and keep a floor under oil prices to prevent them falling further
3. Depletion is occurring in many parts of the world, including Mexico (the USA's number 3 supplier of crude) and the North Sea. Many geologists, including, most recently, the chief executuive of Total, SA , indicate that the largest oil fields are aging and soon will no longer be producing at maximum, and we will have to go deeper, and further, using more technologically expensive solutions, to find and exploit sources of crude.
All this means that it is inevitable that the price of crude will once more start to rise, once we start to emerge from the global recession and oil demand picks up.
This bodes well, of course, for the profitability of the oil companies, so, naturally, they want to keep plugging the "business as usual" scenario.
However, this will be very bad for the average person around the world who is so totally dependent on fossil fuels.
I say the sooner we plan to get ourselves off fossil fuels, the easier things will be for us, long term. It is way past time to drop the beliefs fostered upon us by the oil companies by way of their PR machines. People need to start understanding the truth about oil - it is depleting faster than anyone would like to admit, and we have not made a plan to deal with it.
All the happy demand projections in the world will not put more oil in the ground.