Energy Security

[SPN]

I wasn't aware that these O'Reilly's controlled my vote.

Bit slow, are we?

"For years they've been robbing us blind: Now it's payback time!"

The headline in the Indo on Election Day 1997.

Why?

Because John Bruton - having been summoned to Sir AJH's holiday home in West Cork - didn't promise to protect the money-making scam that Ray Burke and Sir AJH had set up when they brought the useless MMDS system to Ireland - or don't you remember how the Minister for Justice of the day managed to hold on to responsibility for licencing MMDS when he was "promoted" to the Dept. of Justice?

Election 2007 is going to be a major battle between Sir AJH and Rupert Murdoch, and all the indications are that Bertie is swinging towards betting on Murdoch.

If the Indo runs the same headline in 2007, at least we'll have the pleasure of knowing that this time it is true!

...... and as for your "not being aware".

Why amn't I surprised ......

[SPN]

€40bn industry lost if energy crisis left to spiral

ROCKETING energy costs could force Ireland's €40bn pharmaceutical industry to shut up shop and move East.

The Government was yesterday warned to tackle our mounting energy crisis or face the prospect of multi-national pharmaceutical and chemical firms pulling out of the country.

Future investment and job creation could be at risk unless the Government fosters competitiveness in the energy market and produces a long-term plan on energy needs.

Investment in biofuels, greater energy efficiency in buildings and tax credits for using environmentally-sound energy sources were needed to show companies that the Government was serious about tackling over-dependency on imported fuels.

.....

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) valued exports from pharmaceutical and chemical firms at over €40bn last year.

The sector is the largest contributor of corporation tax and pays over €1.1bn - or one-fifth - of total corporation tax receipts and employs 12,000 people.

Nine of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world have operations in Ireland.

Without this tax contribution, the higher rate of income tax would need to be increased by 6pc to 48pc to fund the exchequer revenue shortfall.

The proposed 34pc increase in gas and 20pc hike in electricity prices expected later this year follows a cumulative 80pc increase in costs over recent years.

[david]

[color=green]The Government is proposing changes to the Building Regulations which will make the use of renewable energy compulsory in all new builds from 2008[/color]

Nice headline.

[Worldbystorm]

This is exciting, throwing headlines and soundbites around.

[SPN]

[color=green]The Government is proposing changes to the Building Regulations which will make the use of renewable energy compulsory in all new builds from 2008[/color]

Nice headline.

You should have mentioned that the headline refers to Norn Iron, not the Free State!

[jady88]

The present Energy Crisis in the world is a mixture of both harshing reality and frantic myth. First of all much of the talk of the impending vanishing of oil reserves is greatly exaggerated. Many new areas remain to be explored offering futher reserves of literly billions of litres. Oil drilling technology is increasing at an exponential rate which will allow oil sources which were previously unavailable fully accesible. Processing and refining technologies are also developing. Many new facilaties are being built accros the world which will increase and ease supply.

Many experts have estimated that oil prices may cool off substantially over the next decade, some even claiming that they will average about 30 dollars a barrel. Thats less than half there present price.

However this does not remedy our overdependence on foreign oil. Especially considering the erratic and volatile nature of most of the oil exporting countries in the world. It is both a matter of political and economic independence that we quickly break this junkie habit.

The following is a simple and direct plan for achieving Oil Inependence.

1. Promote bio fuels: Offering tax breaks and subsidies to producers and consumers to be financed by the taxes on petrol and diesal.

2. Run Public Transport on Enviro-Fuels: All public transport vechiles including private busses etc. must run on enviromentally friendly fuel

3. Switch the transport budget: Presnetly 79% of the transport budget goes into private transport. 18 to air transport and only 3 to public transport. The transport budget should be doubled and split 60-40 in favour of public transport.

4. Loacl Power Generation: The emphasis must switch from huge centralised power generation stations to local stations dealing with individual villages using local resources.

5. Tax breaks + Subsidies for Home Energy: We must encourage individuals to make the m,ost of quantum leaps in home energy products by offering set up subsidies

6. Massive R+D Investment: The Gov must set up special centres to reasearch this important area exclusively and offer huge ggrants to those seaking to research privatly. These could be finainced by a carbon tax and undue waste taxes.

[SPN]

The present Energy Crisis in the world is a mixture of both harshing reality and frantic myth.

Really?

First of all much of the talk of the impending vanishing of oil reserves is greatly exaggerated.

The "talk" is of passing the peak in production and moving to a situation where we have less oil available for consumption. This fact is regularly misconstrued as " talk of the impending vanishing of oil reserves " by WingNuts in an effort to distract. (frantic myth?!)

Many new areas remain to be explored offering futher reserves of literly billions of litres.

Really?

Maybe you could tell the oil companies where these new areas are, because they haven't found a Super Giant Oilfield in decades.

Oil drilling technology is increasing at an exponential rate which will allow oil sources which were previously unavailable fully accesible.

Last year the Oil Cos found one new barrel of oil for every six consumed. The previous year they found one for every five consumed. The year before that it was one barrel for every four consumed.

Drilling tech might be improving, but it only relates to getting marginal amounts out of small reservoirs. The fact that we have found all the big oilfields, and the big oilfields provide the bulk of our requirements, is the important issue here.

Processing and refining technologies are also developing. Many new facilaties are being built accros the world which will increase and ease supply.

Really?

Why are people in the Industry telling me that there is a production rig shortage, a supertanker shortage, a refinery shortage, and all the oil majors are getting out of retail?

Do you have information that these people are missing?

Many experts have estimated that oil prices may cool off substantially over the next decade, some even claiming that they will average about 30 dollars a barrel. Thats less than half there present price.

Really?

What "experts"?

If production is going down - the UK is now a net importer, Norway is now more than 16% below its peak - and demand is rising, then I fail to see how prices can "cool off".

The following is a simple and direct plan for achieving Oil Inependence.

1. Promote bio fuels: Offering tax breaks and subsidies to producers and consumers to be financed by the taxes on petrol and diesal.

Already done: I got a grant to convert my car to run on biofuel, and the biofuel itself is Excise Duty free. Currenlty paying 75c a litre!

2. Run Public Transport on Enviro-Fuels: All public transport vechiles including private busses etc. must run on enviromentally friendly fuel

The Government is about to spend €300 million on new buses. As far as I can ascertain, the engines they plan to put in these buses will not run on biofuels due to a design "feature".

3. Switch the transport budget: Presnetly 79% of the transport budget goes into private transport. 18 to air transport and only 3 to public transport. The transport budget should be doubled and split 60-40 in favour of public transport.

Those stats make no sense at all!

4. Loacl Power Generation: The emphasis must switch from huge centralised power generation stations to local stations dealing with individual villages using local resources.

Local energy Co-Ops won't be able to afford tables at Ballybrit. Ginormous Multinationals will. Take your head out of your ass.

5. Tax breaks + Subsidies for Home Energy: We must encourage individuals to make the m,ost of quantum leaps in home energy products by offering set up subsidies

Already done: I received notification today that I have gotten a grant for the installation of solar panels on my new house.

6. Massive R+D Investment: The Gov must set up special centres to reasearch this important area exclusively and offer huge ggrants to those seaking to research privatly. These could be finainced by a carbon tax and undue waste taxes.

This should be financed from the "If we don't get our act together on Energy we are f*cked" fund in the Department of Finance.

[jady88]

1. I stated that it was a mixture of both the grim realisation by many western companies and governments that the age of easy oil was over and also cooresponding hype.

2. There are well know and protected oil reserves in ALska and of the coast of FLorida that are noe being opened up thanks to GWBush. These have reserves of many billions of litres. FACT.

3. It is a well know fact that mining drilling and extortion technologies are advancing at a rapid pace is again a Fact. This opening up many oil fields thought to be unreachable. Helping to provide further oil.

4. Many new modern oil refineries are being built at the moment, i don't doubt a shortage now but I am pointing out there is action on this front. Especially in India

5. The present subsidies are greatly insufficient and that goes for all the subsidies i proposed/endoresed should be at least doubled.

6. I suggested methods for paying these subsidies because i believe proposing expenditure with no backing is futile and idiotic.

For proof or further information on all the points I raised I recommend that you read the recent articiles of newsweek time and national geographic which relate to these issues. The transport figures can be found in Managing Irelands Future 2005-2030 on MacGill Press

[david]

SPN: your switch to biofuel is commendable but !

Reading a recent piece about biofuels I was struck by one particular paragraph which, in a nutshell, said that Donegal covers about a million acres. To replace the modest fuel needs of Donegal with biofuel would require several millions of land.

Reduction, reduction, reduction is the only way. Any other strategy is, to borrow your succinct phrase, head up the ass.

[color=green]The Government is proposing changes to the Building Regulations which will make the use of renewable energy compulsory in all new builds from 2008[/color]

Nice headline.

You should have mentioned that the headline refers to Norn Iron, not the Free State!

Sorry. At least it's in Ireland.

[Worldbystorm]

The present Energy Crisis in the world is a mixture of both harshing reality and frantic myth.

Really?

First of all much of the talk of the impending vanishing of oil reserves is greatly exaggerated.

The "talk" is of passing the peak in production and moving to a situation where we have less oil available for consumption. This fact is regularly misconstrued as " talk of the impending vanishing of oil reserves " by WingNuts in an effort to distract. (frantic myth?!)


[quote:17bg81jh]Many new areas remain to be explored offering futher reserves of literly billions of litres.

Really?

Maybe you could tell the oil companies where these new areas are, because they haven't found a Super Giant Oilfield in decades.

[/quote:17bg81jh]

Are you saying there is a crisis or there isn't a crisis, and if the latter, are you saying the talk of the crisis been whipped up by 'WingNuts'? What is the purpose of distraction?

That we've passed the peak appears somewhat questionable, however it's hardly a surprise that there is a finite quantity of oil accessible on the planet which makes me wonder about your comments that the price could never cool off. After all, despite previous peak predictions over the past fifteen years we have seen the price fluctuate between higher and lower values and it's not implausible to see the same happen in the future. Indeed, isn't it possible that as alternative energy solutions come on stream oil might be left somewhat in the ha'penny place. Obviously that's not something that will happen today or tomorrow, but the potential is there in the future.