This Dilbert comic exaggerates the absurdity of some people when it comes to obtaining sources of energy. Dilbert’s boss couldn’t be serious about wanting to turn water into oil. As Dilbert points out, it would turn the world into an uninhabitable wasteland in the long run. However, the idea of sacrificing water for oil isn’t that far-fetched. This article explains that for each barrel of oil produced from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, between two and 4.5 barrels of water are needed. Water is essential for extracting oil from the tar sands. The Alberta government has approved the withdrawal of 119.5 billion gallons of water, mainly from the Athabasca River, for tar sands extraction. Extraction companies are required to return only 10 billion gallons of water to the river.

Extracting large amounts of water from the river seems even more absurd considering the fact that experts are predicting that western Canada will likely face a drought situation. One expert says that future droughts will likely be far worse than the ones that turned the prairies into a dust bowl in the 1930s. Other provinces, like Saskatchewan and Manitoba, rely on the water from the rivers that pass through Alberta because they are downstream. This parallels the situation in Australia where so much water is being extracted upstream that not enough water is left for the regions downstream. Experts are also recommending that action be taken now to conserve the water. Any decisions regarding limiting the use of water for extracting oil from the tar sands will face strong opposition, because Canada’s economy relies so heavily on the tar sands. Some difficult decisions lay ahead. Perhaps Canada will be forced to change its view from the “Cowboy Economy” to the “Spaceman Economy” sooner than we think.

Rob

My firm belief is that the oil producers have made a serious business mistake in setting their prices so high. Their mistake is exactly what the Sustainable Development movement needs.

There are articles all over the world indicating a sudden shift in spending patterns. People are now buying smaller cars and resorting to public transit. Suddenly, locally produced products have gained the attention of consumers and demands are being made on large supermarkets to buy greater amounts of local foods.

Finally, in this article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/16/renewableenergy.energy?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront), we see that alternative sources of energy which were once considered prohibitively now seem more relatively affordable.

Many editorials state that the price of oil is artifically high. Judging from the growing levels of profit by the oil producers, I would tend to agree. The result is that people are moving over toward greener solutions and – once you go green – you never go back

JF

Last summer, I was reading the book The Coming Economic Collapse: How You Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrel by Stephen Leeb, Ph.D. and it really got me thinking of the way we live and use petroleum to function as a society. I enjoyed this reading because of the possible implication for creating wealth in a new renewable energy economy. A lot of old carbon economy wealth could be destroyed by high oil prices and money would be changing hands to the leaders in this new economy. The most exciting thing is that I want to take part in this revolution by forming my own enterprise eventually after I am done with school. It’s not too late to enter the renewable energies market – the boom hasn’t even really started.The following website has an interactive map that provides some perhaps reasonable estimates of the world supplies of oil.
Most authors such as Stephen Leeb and David Strahan paint an apocalyptic idea of our future without oil within the medium term future. However, I tend to think that we will get hit first by serial rises in gas prices (or small oil shocks) possibly in a year or two again. The last time the prices of gas significantly rose in 2005, it seemed like the public wanted to regain control over their energy consumption: hence, the subsequent popularity of the SMART car and hybrids. That is why I believe we will have a step-wise transition from carbon economies to a carbon-free one. Only feeling the pain of high prices can really get people going – and innovations aren’t missing.
A physicist from Cyrium I met in Ottawa last May was telling us how much energy is available in world (other than carbon). The problem is more a question of harvesting the energy than finding new energy. He was developing new solar silicon chip more efficient than what is currently on the market. I think I would like to use my expertise in marketing later to bring an innovation from lab to market. In Canada, we still derive very little part of our energy needs from renewable sources.
The one innovation that really got me excited when I visited a trade show last year in Ottawa is the geothermic pump. For Canadians, a very important portion of our expenses goes into heating our homes during winters. According to the rep at the kiosk, geothermic energy could reduce heating costs by up to 75%. By coupling renewable energies such as wind and solar power with geothermic energy, Canadians could still live through winters even in a carbon free economy after passing the Hubert peak.
The book The Coming Economic Collapse made me realize how fast oil could be depleted. We can still profit from this revolution if we position ourselves correctly by marketing one of the new technologies before this boom. Do you have any idea how to profit?

As introduced today by the Canada team, our country is amazingly rich in natural resources. One of its principal is the oil sands and heavy oil resources (petroleum) present in the Province of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
In order to use that resource smartly, Canada has developing a program to encourage the use of Ethanol in the cars in order to protect the environment from gas emission: the Ethanol Expansion Program (EEP). It has been put in place to increase domestic production and use of ethanol, a renewable transportation fuel, and reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is in the scope of the Canada’s engagement to reduce those GHG emission by 33% a year. The program encourages firms to produce this type of alternate fuel by financially contributing though repayments.
Not bad eh!!
To educate you, here is some interesting info about ethanol that comes from the website below:

Ethanol is blended with gasoline to produce a fuel which has environmental advantages when compared with gasoline, and can be used in gasoline-powered vehicles manufactured since the 1980’s. Most gasoline-powered vehicles can run on a blend consisting of gasoline and up to 10 percent ethanol, known as “E-10″, which is available at some regular service stations across Canada.
Ethanol is a renewable fuel because it is produced from biomass. Although the conversion of the biomass to ethanol and the burning of the ethanol produce emissions, the net effect can be a large reduction in GHG emissions compared with fossil fuels such as gasoline. The reduction depends on the feedstock and the production processes used to make ethanol. E-10 from corn produces about 3 to 4 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline. E-10 made from wood or agricultural cellulosic materials would produce 6 to 8 percent fewer emissions compared with gasoline.

I personally think that this is still a shy initiative but definitely a start to help reducing the bad emissions coming from current gasoline because whether we want it or not, the amount of cars on the road will only increase in the coming years and the problem can only get worse because petroleum is so economically strong and we will never stop exploiting it untill it’s gone.
Also, if we look at the sustainable development definition by Gro Harlem Brundtland, it definitely is in the scope of meeting the needs of the present and helping not to compromise the ability of future generations to meet their economic needs.
If you want more information about alternate fuels, you can consult the following website

In his State of the Union George W. Bush stopped ignoring climate change and global warming. Did the fact that he could ride his bike in december make him change his mind or is it rather a rhetoric strategy? Given that the democrats have gained more political influence Bush is trying to harmonise his strategy by capturing the democrat’s issues in order to avoid complete political inability to act.

Furthermore, his intention to reduce the US dependency on foreign oil is not new. Already President Nixon played this lip service 30 years ago. At that time, the US imported 30% of its oil. Today, the US oil imports account for 60%.

The story of the monkey with his hand in the coconut is a nice illustration of the short-termism that shapes US energy policy.

There is a collection of articles at Foreign Policy in Focus that are more to do with the international political economy of oil, but they make interesting reading. Scroll down to January 2004.