October 30 2006
Home > Columns
>Yes...But! Year 6-52
A conference that starts with wine and beer and nice tidbits to eat is assured to become a good one. For four action packed days from 7 a.m., to 9 p.m. I and 700 others listened to and questioned some 35 OIL PEAK speakers on topics ranging from oil and gas explorations, tar sand ventures and possible depletions, to hybrid cars, global security, solar and wind solutions and a call to Action.
PEAK OIL is what the word implies: we are running out of the easy stuff, of which we burned the first trillion barrels in 125 years. We now embark on the last trillion- hard to get- barrels which we’ll consume in 30 years. This means that EROEI will skyrocket. EROEI? It’s Energy Returned On Energy Invested. We are forced to look in the overlooked nooks and crannies of the globe, under deep, hurricane - prone waters, in the icy Arctic, in the deserted deserts, wherever there may or may not be oil. A very costly venture. Trillions of dollars must be invested, millions of barrels burned to get at the possible resources. One result will be more Green House Gases and greater reliance on Unconventional Oil such as Tar Sands, Shale, Heavy Oil, so called Syn fuels, more aptly labeled ‘sin’fuels. All this comes at a high price. Perhaps too high, especially for our Climate.
A Harvard professor discovered in a 10 year study that Global Warming means more rain in North East America and Atlantic Canada, thus less sunshine and thus less solar energy. Also more destructive winds, floods, more repair work, higher insurance costs, more wars, and, of course, more Green House Gases and accelerated Climate Change. Already very much evident.
Global warming is a fact. He predicted that in any next election all politicians will offer some sort of Climate Change platform. What form? Perhaps a Carbon tax. Or higher fuel taxes. Or a price on water. All this will make the oil sands much less attractive, which is a good thing.
I guess I am a bit of a free loader. As a columnist I got a free registration, which included receptions, free food, not only for me but for my wife as well, free coffee, snacks, and, of course, lots of free information.
People there were curious what the word “The Intelligencer” on my badge meant. I explained that it had nothing to do with the CIA but that this daily publication catered to the most intelligent group of people in Ontario, Canada. Some people even knew where Ontario was. They certainly knew of Alberta, as one of the speakers, a Government official, was from there. He gave two very informative talks: one on natural gas, of which, he said, there are 9 years of supply left - even worse that the Oil situation. His other topic was on the oil-sand economics, where he pointed to the water supply and the pollution consequences. He quoted an Alberta official, ”In order to make the oil sands into a car friendly substance, by using natural gas, we use gold - the cleanest fuel - to make lead - Green House Gas causing gasoline.”
Generally the mood of the conference was-up beat. Lots of fellows there in the solar and the wind business who believed that either solar or wind alone, certainly a combination, will be our savior. Frankly I don’t buy that. It might help, just as the oil sands or ethanol will give us perhaps 10 percent of the fuel needed. However, there is a lot of naïve optimism out there. I have 10 solar panels and a windmill. It cost me $20,000 some 15 years ago. The windmill was a disaster from the very first. Not enough wind and when it did blow it stopped working almost at once. The solar panels are a marvel. A Perfect product. But can technology, that got us into this trouble, save us? No. No. No. Only a return to a simpler life will do this, a life of walking and biking, of neighbor helping neighbor, of living where we work, of getting our food from local sources, of combining resources, of doing away with ATV's, Skidoos, RV's, Water Jets, power boats, riding lawn mowers, while reducing car use to a bare minimum and converting our lawns into vegetable gardens. In a word: austerity. War time conditions. The greatest challenge ever.
Will we do it? Are we too addicted to our 200 motorized slaves which make our life so easy, so convenient? We have no choice. It’s that, or total disaster.
I now have a bumper sticker. MEET PEAK OIL. IT’S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE! It need not be if we gear down now and live more simply.
to
top