Peak Oil & Climate Change - the dual battle for survival
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Listen: Oil, Energy and Climate Change
Energy warnings - seven years to slow down
Shell released the following three weeks ago (January 25, 2008):
Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand.
Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive. Shell Oil.
The Times: Shell chief fears oil shortage in seven years
Shell: Two Energy Futures.
In other news recently:
- 3rd Jan 08: Oil hit $100.09/barrel.
- Last week: E-ON increased gas prices by 15% - The fifth company to increase prices since January.
- Heat or eat: More people are sliding into fuel poverty.
David Strahan is an award-winning investigative journalist, documentary film-maker, reporter (The Money Programme & Horizon (BBC)) and author of The Last Oil Shock.
He certainly knows his stuff: He first began studying the subject of oil-reliance after witnessing how close society came to collapsing during the oil refinery blockades in 2000.
David Strahan interviewed on ITV News (Nov 2007)
Since then he has interviewed many leading oil industry figures and has slowly witnessed more and more of them publicly accepting that we have arrived - or will very soon arrive - at the point of declining oil supplies.
Strengthen the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
You can't talk about energy without talking about climate change and conservation: David feels that wrapping the EPC within the Home Information Pack (HIP) is not a serious way to address the urgent need to wind-down our consumption of fossil fuels.
He say's the EPC is a start - albeit from a low base - but calls for a regime of enforcement, saying:
the role of energy auditing and enforcement will be hugely important.
Energy Solutions?
He explains why Biofuels is a "dangerous" pipedream to chase.
Why relying on technological advances to save the day is delusional.
Why Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC) in a market economy won't work.
Government
He believes some corners of Govt. are aware of peak oil but see's nothing to suggest it will act until, at least, we experience the first (hopefully not unpleasant) effects.
David's life has changed significantly since researching and writing The Last Oil Shock (A Survival Guide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man), he now speaks, writes and reports almost exclusively on the ramifications of peak oil (and climate change), in a bid to spread the message and prepare us for the massive changes ahead.
He is trustee of The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC) which is an independent, UK-registered educational charity working to raise international public awareness and promote better understanding of the world's oil-depletion problem.
I am very grateful to David for his time.
There is much information in this podcast. If you are new to the issue, it will shock you. Even if you are not, you will hopefully find new reasons to fight for the industry which is supposed to help reduce both carbon emissions and energy consumption.
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