Commentary: The Energy Revolution - Retaking Control with Local Food and Fuel

The “food versus fuel” debate points out the weaknesses of, and the linkages between, our industrialized food system and our industrialized energy system. The key word here is “industrialized” – our food and energy systems are highly industrialized, such that it takes only a few of us, along with some powerful fossil fuels, to provide food and energy for the rest of us.

To read the full commentary, go here.

BP Says Crude Production is Falling, Demand Rising

 

Crude oil production fell by 126,000 barrels per day in 2007 according to a report released last week by British Petroleum. The 2008 Statistical Review of World Energy also shows that consumption of oil rose to more than 85 million barrels per day, and now exceeds the supply by nearly 4 million barrels per day. A review of BP’s historical data shows that except for the year 1998, consumption of oil has exceeded supply every year since 1981. It is unclear where the oil has been coming from to bridge this supply/demand gap over the last 27 years, but it is clear that the gap is growing. Last year’s supply gap of 3.7 million barrels per day is the largest supply shortfall BP has ever reported. The tight supply has not gone unnoticed by markets: oil reached a new high in mid-day trading on Monday, of nearly $140 dollars per barrel.

Albuquerque Asks for Reconsideration of PNM Rate Case

 

In local news here in New Mexico, the Albuquerque city council is joining other large consumers of electricity in asking the Public Regulation Commission to re-hear the case that allowed the state’s largest utility – Public Service Company of New Mexico – to raise its rates. The Commission has already heard the case twice: the first hearing took 15 months, but PNM complained that the $33 million dollar award it was given wasn’t enough. The commission re-opened the case and quickly tripled the award – one commissioner admitted that his support for tripling the award was based in part on a statement from Governor Bill Richardson saying that PNM needed the money. That would be OK if the Governor’s office had been a party to the case, but it wasn’t. It is unknown whether the request for rehearing will point out that mistake.

Ethanol: DOE Weighs in on "Food Versus Fuel"

 

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a response to an inquiry by the Senate Energy Committee on the effect of increased biofuel production on world food prices. The DOE response admits that the food versus fuel issues are complex, and cautions against “hasty judgments” driven by what it calls “agenda driven calculations”. Their report claims that biofuels are responsible for only 8 percent of the 168 percent rise in grain prices since 2004, and cites other factors that can be blamed for the majority of the rise in global food prices, including increased cost of petroleum-based fertilizers, and the use of high-cost petroleum in the harvesting and transportation of food. The DOE contends that without biofuels, the cost of gas would be higher by 25 to 35 cents a gallon, and that biofuels are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and America’s dependence, on foreign oil.