Pet.rol.e.umor crude oil is a naturally occurring, flamma-ble liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hy-drocarbons of various molecular weights and oth-er liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth’s surface.

Pet.rol.e.umor crude oil is a naturally occurring, flamma-ble liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hy-drocarbons of various molecular weights and oth-er liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth’s surface.

(petroleum from Greek: petra (rock) + Latin: oleum (oil)

Dependant to a fault.

A recent report on the Novem-ber 2009 U.S. trade deficit found that rising oil imports widened our deficit, increasing the gap between our imports and ex-ports. This is but one example that our economic recovery and long-term growth is inexorably linked to our reliance on foreign oil. The United States is spend-ing approximately $1 billion a day overseas on oil instead of in-vesting the funds at home, where our economy sorely needs it. Burning oil that exacerbates global warming also poses seri-ous threats to our national se-curity and the world’s security.

For these reasons we need to kick the oil addiction by invest-ing in clean-energy reform to reduce oil demand, while taking steps to curb global warming.

In 2008 the United States im-ported oil from 10 countries currently on the State Depart-ment’s Travel Warning List, which lists countries that have “long-term, protracted condi-tions that make a country dan-gerous or unstable.” These na-tions include Algeria, Chad, Colombia, the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo, Iraq, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Our reliance on oil from these coun-

tries could have serious implica-tions for our national security, economy, and environment.The United States imported 4 million barrels of oil a day or 1.5 billion barrels total from “dan-gerous or unstable” countries in 2008 at a cost of about $150 bil-lion. This estimate excludes Ven-ezuela, which is not on the State Department’s “dangerous or un-stable” list but has maintained a distinctly anti-American foreign and energy policy. Venezuela is one of the top five oil export-ers to the United States, and we imported 435 million bar-rels of oil from them in 2008.As a major contributor to the global demand for oil the Unit-ed States is paying to finance and sustain unfriendly regimes. Our demand drives up oil pric-es on the global market, which oftentimes benefits oil-produc-ing nations that don’t sell to us.

CLEAN AND REUSUABLE ENERGY CAN HELP

BRING THE ECONOMY BACK TO LIFE

THE COST ON THE ENVIRONMENT CAUSED BY DRILLING WILL BE ASTROMICAL

SCRAPING THE BARREL

The latest measurements confirm that the world’s oil and natural gas supplies are running out too fast. At some time between 2010 and 2020 the world’s supply of oil and gas will fall below the level required to meet international demand.

The US government is aware that we are about to endure a disastrous international energy short-age. According to Dr James McKenzie, a sen-ior member of the climate change programme at the World Resources Institute in Washing-ton, USA: “That’s why we went to war in Iraq.”

We always knew the world’s oil reserves would run out eventually. The oil was formed by natural geo-logical processes which occurred over millions of years. Oil consumption presently exceeds 25 bil-lion barrels a year and demand continues to spiral upward, out of control. The outcome is inevitable.

In the 21st Century we rely on oil (pet-rol) and gas for transport - cars, lorries, ships, aircraft - as well as electrical power.

We cannot survive without oil and gas, and when the supply runs out the great engine of Western civilization will finally grind to a halt. We are heading for an event that will be re-membered as one of the great disasters of hu-man history, and life is going to get harder for everybody as the day of reckoning draws nearer.

In the years ahead, wars will be fought over oil and fuel as the oil-dependent superpow-ers struggle in vein to preserve our unsustain-able way of life. We are entering a period of great change and there are be difficult times ahead.

The process has already begun. Students of proph-ecy will be familiar with certain relevant verses from Christian scripture concerning the signs of the end times (Matt. 24.8; Mk 13.8, Rom. 8.22; Rev. 12.03, 21.1-4). As it was translated in 1961 in the New English Bible: “With these things, the birth pangs of the new age begin” (Mt.24:8; Mk.13:8). Whether you are religious or secular, you should be aware that the tide of history is turning.

SCRAPING THE BARREL

There is a need to accelerate the development of alterna-tive energy fuel resources in order to ensure energy se-curity and reduce emissions, says a paper just published in the journal Energy Policy.The age of cheap oil has now ended as demand starts to outstrip supply as we head towards the middle of the decade, says the report.

It goes on to suggest that the current oil reserve estimates should be downgraded from between 1150-1350 billion bar-rels to between 850-900 bil-lion barrels, based on recent research. But how can poten-tial oil shortages be mitigated?

Dr Oliver Inderwildi, Head of the Low Carbon Mobility cen-tre at the Smith School, said: ‘The common belief that al-ternative fuels such as biofuels could mitigate oil supply short-ages and eventually replace fossil fuels is pie in the sky.There is not sufficient land to cater for both food and fuel demand. Instead of relying on those silver bullet solutions, we have to make better use of the remaining resources by improving energy efficiency.

Alternatives such as a hydro-gen economy and electric transportation are not mature and will only play a major role in the medium to long term.’Nick Owen, from the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, added: ‘Signifi-cant oil supply challenges will be compounded in the near future by rising demand and strengthening environmental policy. Mitigating the oil crunch without using lower grade re-sources such as tar sands is the key to maintaining energy sta-bility and a low carbon future.’

The Smith School paper also high-lights that in the past, political and financial objectives have led to misreporting of oil reserves, which has led to contradictory estimates of oil reserve data available in the public domain.Sir David King, Director of the Smith School, commented: ‘We have to face up to a future of oil uncertainty much like the global economic uncertainty we have faced during the past two years. This challenge will have a longer term effect on our economies unless swift ac-tion is taken by governments and business. We all recognise that oil is a finite resource.

We need to look at other low carbon alternatives and make the necessary funding avail-able for research, development and deployment today if we are to mitigate the tipping point.’The report also raises the wor-rying issue that additional de-mand for oil could be met by non-conventional methods, such as the extraction of oil from Canada’s tar sands. How-ever, these methods have a far higher carbon output than con-ventional drilling, and have been described as having a double im-pact on emissions owing to the emissions produced during ex-traction as well as during usage.

What is left?

HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?

HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?

When the modern oil industry was born 145 years ago in Titusville, Pa., few people worried about just how long petroleum would keep flowing out of the ground. But since production peaked in the United States in 1970, a growing number of geologists, economists and in-dustry analysts have been ponder-ing the question of just how long worldwide supplies will keep up with growing demand. And some are predicting that global produc-tion may peak as soon as next year.The outlook is muddied by the data. Estimating oil reserves — how much is left in the ground — is a notoriously perilous en-deavor. The task is complicated by the secrecy of OPEC produc-ers, who are reluctant to dislose just how much oil they’ve found.

This year, global demand for oil — currently at more than 80 mil-lion barrels per day and climbing — has come closer than ever to exceeding the world’s known pro-duction capacity. Disruptions in oil supply — due to wars or mar-ket forces like OPEC embargoes — are nothing new. But with pro-ducers pumping as fast as they can, there is little cushion for temporary supply interruptions or height-ened demand from industrializ-ing countries like China and India.“We really are close enough to the edge to have no excess capacity. Demand growth shows no sign of slowing and now it seems to be ac-celerating,” said Matt Simmons, a Houston-based investment banker. “It’s really important to know what the real story is — as bad as it may be.”

Oil has been the ruling sources of world energy since the 50s. The relatively affordable supply of oil has been the backbone of the revo-lutionary economic growth expe-rienced in the western world. It is predicted that the demand for oil will rise in the future. However, will expansion in production be able to accommodate such a change?The cause and effect of peak oil production and increasing prices bring harsh outcomes. The vola-tility of oil price brings the ques-tion, whether oil really is a reli-able source of energy? To evaluate the peak production level giant oil fields are used as yardsticks.In the largest oil field in the world, approximately 500 mil-lion barrels of oil can be collected.

Only 1 percent of the fields are gi-ant, in other words, there exist 507 giant oil fields. The contribution of these large oil fields is enormous they supply up to 60 percent of global demand, as per 2005. Now, gigantic oil fields are becoming a modern scarce phenomena. Most of the largest oil fields are already more than 50 years old. Recently, the giant fields discovered are a bit smaller than the former con-noted immense oil field. Most of the large oil fields that exist today are found close to Persian Gulf.The large and dominant oil fields to-day will also be governing the pro-duction of oil in the future. There is an annual computation of URR (calculation of what can be pro-duced), which determines the ca-pacity of the oil fields in the future.

CONSUMPTION

CONSUMPTION

DRIVING THE WAR MACHINEFurther, repeal or exemption could hamper the Department’s efforts to provide better energy options to our warfighters and further increase America’s reli-ance on non-renewable fuels. Our dependence on those types of fu-els degrades our national securi-ty, negatively impacts our econo-my, and harms the environment.

I also believe that there are significant developments in America’s advanced biofuel in-dustry that hold promise for meeting military needs. Repeal or exemption of Section 526 would send a negative signal to the industry, which could re-sult in adverse impacts to U.S. job creation, competitiveness, and rural development efforts.

BIO has supported maintaining Section 526 and increasing the military’s use of biofuels. BIO wrote a letter to Congressional

leaders last week, and has penned several opinion pieces, includ-ing one on BiotechNOW. BIO’s Brent Erickson participated in a Congressional Briefing on the im-portance of Section 526, giving

this presentation. The DOD even even weighed in on the is-sue on the White House blog.The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee may see additional efforts to repeal or weaken Sec. 526. They should instead look for opportunities to strengthen national security by increasing energy security.Such worries on energy security will undermine the world’s ef-forts to reduce carbon emissions associated with climate change.

Big consumers have already be-gun to turn to coal, one of the most polluting sources of energy but also the world’s most abun-dant fossil fuel, much of which is

found within the US and China.

“Expectations about stricter CO2-emission regulations fa-vour gas rather than coal. This trend is expected to change gradually in favour of coal, as concerns grow over the security of gas supply,” the report said.

To reduce carbon emissions, it urges Europe and China to make more use of nuclear energy, as China is already scheduled to do. It calls on the US to improve ve-hicles’ fuel efficiency standards and, finally, it pushes for more re-newable energy to generate pow-er in China, Europe and the US.

The world will need to invest more than $20,000bn in energy infrastructure by 2030 to ensure supply meets demand, the IEA added, increasing last year’s es-timate by more than $3,000bn.

UK DOMESTIC USAGE

Domestic energy consumption has increased by 32 per cent since 1970 and by 19 per cent since1990. Since 1990 the number of households has increased by 10 per cent, population has increasedby 4 per cent and household dis-posable income has increased by 30 per cent. Energy efficiencyimprovements, such as increased levels of insulation and the intro-duction of more efficient electricalappliances, have meant that do-mestic energy consumption has not increased at a greater rate. Thischapter will look at the purposes for which energy is used in the do-mestic sector and the drivers ofdomestic energy consumption which can potentially lead to more or less energy being consumed.The majority of energy consumed in the domestic sector is for space

heating, which accounted for 58per cent of all delivered en-ergy consumed in 2000. Space heating in any year is largelydependent on outside temperatures which explains the year-to-year fluctuations, although increasesin internal temperatures, the growth in central heating and the in-creased number of households haveall contributed to the increase over the period 1970 to 2000, de-spite the increased presence ofinsulation.The other major areas of energy consumption in the do-mestic sector are for heating wa-ter, for lighting and appliances and for cooking. Between 1970 and 2000, energy consumption in light-ing and appliances increased by 157 per cent, while energy use in cooking has fallen by 16 per cent.

(PA)

CHRISTOPHER HUNT