US Pumps Billions into Energy Voyaging as Oil Sources Deplete Alarmingly

By Philip Fernando in Los Angeles for Sri Lanka Guardian

(February 09, Los Angeles, Sri Lanka Guardian) No wacky doomsday scenario! An emerging class of unconventional energy technologies appears to about to witness a new geo-political landscape as world oil production peaks in less than a decade. It portends dire consequences of near apocalypse proportions. In the US, President Barack Obama is committed to a mammoth investment outlay on energy. He warned that the issue is not having enough oil to keep the economy running but the speed with which we are running out of it. The widely-respected geologists, physicists, bankers and most importantly the investors in the world are forecasting the end of the fossil fuel domination for growth within a decade.

The trigger is the imminent peaking of oil prices to an unprecedented level within years as America and the Northern Hemisphere nations vigorously compete for remaining petrochemicals which are key components to many things beside automobiles. As of the year 2002, approximately 10 calories of fossil fuels were required to produce every 1 calorie of food eaten in the US. The size of this ratio stems from the fact that every step of modern food production was driven by fossil fuel and petrochemicals.

Pesticides and agro-chemicals are also made from oil. Commercial fertilizers are made from ammonia, which is made from natural gas, which is also peaking in the near future. Most farming implements such as tractors and trailers are constructed and powered using oil-derived fuels.

The list will go on and on. Food storage systems such as refrigerators are manufactured in oil-powered plants, distributed using oil-powered transportation networks and usually run on electricity, which most often comes from natural gas or coal. Like oil and natural gas, coal too is peaking in the near future.

In the US, the average piece of food is transported almost 1,500 miles before it gets to your plate. In Canada, the average piece of food is transported 5,000 miles from where it is produced to where it is consumed. For most of the Asian countries fuel has to be sought thousands of miles away from their shores that cast a major strain on their economies

Some have compared the ramifications of “Peak Oil Scenario” on our civilization to the ramifications of dehydration for the human body. They argue that human body is 70 percent water. The body of a 200 pound man thus holds 140 pounds of water. Because water is so crucial to everything the human body does, the man doesn't need to lose all 140 pounds of water weight before collapsing due to dehydration. A loss of as little as 10-15 pounds of water may be enough to kill him.

Our oil-based economy will tumble when oil production drops by even a twenty percent or the mere specter of a production peaking nears. A shortfall between demand and supply as little as 10 to 15 percent is enough to shatter an oil-dependent economy and reduce its citizenry to poverty. We know that in the US during the seventies oil stocks fell by 5 percent and there were near riots as drivers lined up at gas stations. Prices sky rocketed 300 percent.

The coming oil shortages would be more draconian. It is projected that once the decline gets under way, production will drop (conservatively) by 3% per year, every year. Extreme weather and other "above ground" geopolitical factors will likely push the effective decline rate past 10% per year, thus cutting the total supply by 50% in 7 years.

We have former Vice President Dick Cheney to vouch for such a scenario. In a 1999 speech he gave while still CEO of Halliburton, Cheney stated: “By some estimates, there will be an average of two-percent annual growth in global oil demand over the years ahead, along with, conservatively, a three-percent natural decline in production from existing reserves. That means by 2010 we will need an additional 50 million barrels per day. “Many believe that the decline rate may be even higher. Some call this downward slide a post-industrial stone age. This is analogous to the dot com bubble but ten times worse.

So the answer is another wealth generating economic bubble. All bets are on the green revolution now. It is about energy and how so we can get new sources. A change in practices we are used to must occur. One analyst said that it is going to get ugly for a while – there’s no getting around the fact that we’ve already done so much damage. Not having enough to keep our economy running. But, at least green technology offers a silver lining in what seems like an increasingly bleak outlook of the future.

I the US they are now looking for many shovel ready projects to get the funding immediately. There are 80 million under-insulated homes in the United States,” Buildings emit 42 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gasses. Weatherization needs to be done at a humongous scale. This seems a top priority for funding now.

Another automatic investment area is transportation. Over $2 billion may be spent public transit to reduce fares and expand service, $5 billion in renewable-energy bonds for consumer-owned utilities, $2.5 billion to buy and scrap old polluting cars-all come under this category.

There is already provision for $250 million for the Green Jobs Act, authorized in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, to provide job training and workforce investment in energy efficiency and renewable-energy installations. There would be increase funding for refundable residential energy efficiency tax credits to $5 billion and raise the maximum credit for household efficiency upgrades to $2,000.

Solar energy programs will be re-visited. About $3.5 billion would be to install 2,000 megawatts of solar power on federal rooftops, and amend federal electricity contracting to allow for 30-year power purchasing agreements. Monies for the Smart Grid Title of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to support $1.3 billion for infrastructure investment and demonstration projects are now being studies. Also there is provision proposed to expand programs by $800 million to restore parkland, forests, wetlands, wildlife refuges and rural ecosystems.

We are witnessing a truly quantum advances in the understanding of how energy is generated. The aggregate body of knowledge represented by these developments may help the world move beyond our destructive addiction to oil.

-Sri Lanka Guardian