[Jack]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JPL', 'T')his guy (chief economist for the IEA - whatever that means) is not being cornucopian right now.

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'I')'m sorry I didn't make that more clear.

[eastbay]

Ok.... so with this 'new' information... uh, like, when do we sell???

[Aaron]

This guy join ASPO or what?
"...for the next five to ten years, oil production outside of OPEC will reach a maximum before starting to decline, for lack of sufficient reserves."
"But the economy accepted almost without difficulty this increase in the price per barrel?

You are right, the rich economy was OK. But the world does not stop with the rich countries. Africa is in great difficulty. They haven't got the credit to buy oil. For future generations, there are also serious issues. The energy costs and the in-debitedness in the United States, for example. But the United States and the European Union also tend to use oil much more efficiently, and it's the way they're doing it, is to reduce the growth in demand. Thus the consumer countries have reacted well. " He fails to mention it's not just Africa... the poor everywhere are already feeling the pinch of higher oil prices.

In terms of overall usefulness, fuel @ $10/gallon is an incredible bargain, compared with any other commodity. In fact, there is almost no price-point at which transport fuel fails to be valuable.

But the concentration of wealth in the hands of fewer people, means the effects of rising energy costs hit the most people possible. The 1% of very wealthy folks are isolated from higher energy costs, while 99% will suffer badly.

Calgon take me away!

[Bioman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '
')He fails to mention it's not just Africa... the poor everywhere are already feeling the pinch of higher oil prices.

[dinopello]

yea, thank god !

Where's that buzzard in the corn field with the starving baby picture when you need it ?

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Judgie', 'Y')ES PLEASE

[SevenTen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bioman', 'B')iofuels can finally break this disastrous dependence.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bioman', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'H')e fails to mention it's not just Africa... the poor everywhere are already feeling the pinch of higher oil prices.

[highlander]

You are not playnig fair Aaron

Isn't it kind of like going from meth to heroin?

And a summer like they had last year in Australia, coupled with one like we are having in the Midwest. Wheat goes from 3.xx a bushel to 6.xx a bushel. Corn up 25%

But we do have GMO crops just waiting to be approved. Oh wait, they ran out of seed this spring, scratch that.

OK we wil just conserve. This is where Monte usually weighs in.

OK, forget everyone else and make sure you have fuel for yourself, somehow.

Here is where Highlander can get banned :-0

Got Biodiesel?

[Bioman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bioman', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '
')He fails to mention it's not just Africa... the poor everywhere are already feeling the pinch of higher oil prices.

[Bioman]

Seriously, though, the same Fatih Birol:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')March 06, 2007
IEA chief economist: EU, US should scrap tariffs and subsidies, import biofuels from the South
President Bush visits Brazil this week and is expected to hear President Lula lobbying him to end American ethanol tariffs. Brazil's push is now receiving the support from an unlikely quarter - the authoritative International Energy Agency (IEA), the independent energy adviser to 26 of the most industrialized nations.

The IEA understands its case: it has been studying all aspects of biofuels and bioenergy in-depth for years now, with dedicated scientific Task Forces (see IEA Bioenergy), which unite top experts in the field. Bioenergy Task 40 - which analyses the potential for sustainable international trade in biofuels - has made the case very clearly: a large amount of green fuels can be produced in a sustainable manner, without threatening the food security of people and without threatening ecosystems and biodiversity, in the Global South and exported efficiently to world markets (earlier post). Other Bioenergy Task forces come to the same conclusion. Europe and America do not have this capacity.

Earlier we reported on how the IEA's very chief, Claude Mandil, knowing the science, called on Europe and the United States to end their trade distorting subsidies for biofuels that can not compete in the market. He also urged the large consumers to import green fuels from the developing world instead (earlier post).

Now the IEA's Chief Economist, Fatih Birol, is joining this position: biofuels made in the EU and the US, using food grains, make no economic sense. They are inefficient and cannot compete against biofuels made in the South, where good agro-ecological conditions and suitable crops result in efficient fuels. Moreover, inefficient biofuels made in the US and the EU do not really contribute to reducing greenhouse gases, whereas those made in the developing world do.

For all these reasons, Birol says "the U.S. and Europe should scrap import duties on developing countries and in the longer term reconsider all subsidies."

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')...ethanol produced in Brazil, even when it is imported by Europe [taking into account the energy needed to transport the fuel across the Atlantic] makes sense."

[Bioman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')...ethanol produced in Brazil, even when it is imported by Europe [taking into account the energy needed to transport the fuel across the Atlantic] makes sense."

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '.')..
Just login as lorenzo, you bio-fuel pumping troll, you.

You're not banned.

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bioman', '
')Biofuels can finally break this disastrous dependence. Thank God.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '.')..
Just login as lorenzo, you bio-fuel pumping troll, you.

You're not banned.

[peripato]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]So, where will the new production come from?

The only countries that can really change the course of the game are Saudi Arabia and Iraq. They can bring substantial volumes of extra crude to the market, if they wish to. But under what circumstances? There is also an enormous question mark. It is unknown what the reserve figures are.

Are they any nasty surprises waiting around the corner?

I believe the Saudi government talks about 230 billion barrels of reserves. I have no official reason to disbelieve those numbers. However, Saudi Arabia, the same as other producers and international firms, need to be more transparent as to how they present these figures. Because oil is so critical to all of us, it is our right to know, how much oil there is left.

[shortonoil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')re they any nasty surprises waiting around the corner?

I believe the Saudi government talks about 230 billion barrels of reserves. I have no official reason to disbelieve those numbers.