Experts discuss breaking US’s oil addiction

No single renewable energy source, such as biofuel, solar or wind, will break the country’s massive dependence on foreign oil. Industry experts, scientists and policymakers gathered to discuss how the three sources combined could at the 2009 Southeast Bioenergy Conference Aug. 11 at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton, Ga.

Right now, oil is the “trump card” that beats all others in world power, said keynote speaker and prominent astronautics engineer Robert Zubrin, whose recent book “Energy Victory” outlines a plan to break the decades-long economic grip the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has had on the U.S. economy.

More than any other OPEC country, he said, Saudi Arabia is the strongest, making $400 billion from its oil last year, which costs only 50 cents per barrel to pump from the ground. Saudi Arabia produces more oil than the next four OPEC countries combined and uses its dominance to monopolize the market and fund terrorism.

OPEC’s power is very dangerous for the U.S. and the world, he said. For example, the 1973 Arab oil embargo sent the U.S. into economic chaos. At the time, the U.S. only received 30 percent of its oil from foreign countries.

Today, such an embargo would devastate the U.S., which now gets 65 percent of its oil from OPEC. Adding to the threat, OPEC has trillions of dollars in cash reserves and could implement a prolonged embargo.

“They can keep us shut down until you’re gone,” he said.

Oil control has been the key to success or defeat for many conflicts in the past century, particularly WW II. In 1940, the U.S. produced 60 percent of the world’s oil. Its allies Russia and England controlled another 15 percent. Germany lost the war because it literally ran out of gas.

To turn the tide, Zubrin said, alcohol-based fuels like ethanol and methanol must become the new trump card in the energy game. U.S. agriculture’s fertile ground could take a big lead in growing biomass to turn into fuel to power the world.

The first thing the U.S. can do, he said, is mandate all vehicles be equipped to run on flex-fuel, or a mix of gasoline and an alcohol-based fuel. Within a few years of such an action, gas stations would carry more alcohol-based fuels to meet the growing demand, which would help farmers, drastically increase the bioenergy markets and reduce carbon emissions.

Zubrin also estimates it would put 50 million flex-fuel vehicles on U.S. highways and millions more around the world.

Every resource for energy independence must be considered in terms of tax incentives or ways they are promoted, said U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.).

“Whether it’s 50 percent of our cars by 2015 burning alternative fuels or whether it’s a voluntary system of protocols to reduce carbon emission into our atmosphere or whether it is tax incentives to promote bioenergy, all of those ought to be promoting every single resource so we in the United States can become energy independent,” Isakson said.

Georgia has the agricultural knowledge, climate, infrastructure and business-friendly atmosphere to lead the country in alternative-energy production, said Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue.

“Georgia has been uniquely blessed with the natural resources, intellectual capital and entrepreneurial spirit that can make growing, producing and using our own energy a reality right here in our state,” Perdue said.

The three-day conference drew 450 attendants from across the country and world to hear scores of speakers discuss topics such as biofuel crops and biomass, vehicles and farm equipment, conservation strategies, finance, current bioenergy development in the area and career opportunities.

Several entrepreneurs provided workshops on how to make ethanol and biodiesel on the farm. Dozens of vendors participated in the trade show, including Tesla and Gaia Transport, which displayed their cutting-edge renewable energy vehicles entered in the prestigious X Prize competition.

"I believe that now is the most exciting and profitable time to take advantage of renewable energies, and the Southeast Bioenergy Conference is one of the most comprehensive and affordable ways to learn how,” said Craig Kvien, a professor with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and conference organizer.

By Brad Haire
University of Georgia

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John W. Rich, Jr: OPEC Plot Could Siphon 15-20% of Stimulus Dollars to Offshore Oil Suppliers' Bank Accounts

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congress's trillion dollar economic stimulus plan fails to address one of the primary threats to our future economic stability: OPEC's plan to push oil prices up which will siphon hundreds of millions of stimulus dollars to the offshore oil producers, according to John W. Rich, Jr., a leader in the waste coals to liquid transportation fuels field.

"Just recently, OPEC announced plans to cut production by 4.2 million barrels a day and has stated its goal is to get oil prices back to $75 per barrel. If OPEC succeeds in getting oil prices back up, that could mean that more than 15 or 20% of the new stimulus dollars would simply be exported to foreign oil producers' bank accounts which will further diminish, not stimulate, our economy," said John W. Rich, Jr. "Congress should not ignore the problem with OPEC and prepare a stimulus bill that could essentially be a direct deposit of billions of dollars into foreign oil suppliers' pockets."

Oil spiked to $147 per barrel last summer, driving gas prices to nearly $5 per gallon and crippling our economy. If OPEC succeeds in driving the $30 per barrel price ($300 million per day) of a month ago to $75 per barrel, that would mean the U.S. would be exporting another $450 million per day for a total of $750 million per day to the offshore oil suppliers.

John W. Rich, Jr. has been a leader in the energy sector for decades and he is the CEO of WMPI PTY, LLC in Gilberton, PA. For over a decade his company has been leading the drive to build a waste coal to liquid transportation fuels industry in the United States. Rich is proposing utilizing new technology for the gasification of existing waste coal intermingled with traditional biomass feedstock to produce an abundant supply of domestic liquid transportation fuels that will displace the foreign oil we are importing.

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OPEC Attempts Shock Therapy for Declining Demand: Abraham Energy Report

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Abraham Energy Report today issued a special analysis to subscribers of OPEC's decision Wednesday to cut production by 4.2 million barrels per day.

A special Web-only bulletin from the Abraham Energy Report (AbrahamEnergyReport.com) advises subscribers that "the cut is the largest the organization has attempted at one time in its history to date" and that the "agreement was swift with little apparent dissention."

The recent collapse in oil prices by almost $100 per barrel is a symptom of the slowing economy. "Global oil demand is now certain to shrink in 2008 for the first time in 25 years, and a consensus is developing around the notion that demand will fall next year as well," the Report said.

The Report also noted OPEC had to take action. "After some months of relative inaction, OPEC now appears to be racing ahead once again in an attempt to catch up with a declining market. But bringing supply and demand into better balance next year will still prove to be tricky, especially in the first half of 2009 when demand could be its weakest. In addition to the uncertain global economic outlook, the big wild cards in this deck now appear to be the size of the growing inventory overhang, the degree of OPEC compliance with the agreed cuts, and the uncertain outlook for non-OPEC supplies."

The Report also discussed the question of compliance by OPEC members. "If the latest round of cuts succeeds in shocking the market and nudging prices upward, revenues will improve and possibly make compliance an easier pill to swallow. On the other hand, higher prices could prove to be a strong temptation to produce more, and lead to quota busting. This will be especially true for Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria and Ecuador, as well as Russia, who are all facing difficult political choices at home.

"As a result, it's possible that we could see a considerable amount of seesawing in prices and OPEC output over the course of next year. OPEC also has to be wary of the world's fragile economic condition. Some in OPEC view the drop in oil prices as their contribution to economic recovery, and some may be better prepared and able to live with relatively low prices for a year or two.

"OPEC may have some limited success in preventing prices from falling much further, but it seems doubtful that they will succeed in raising prices to $75 per barrel anytime soon. Sustained higher prices may only be possible when the global economy shows definite signs of recovery and renewed growth," the Report concludes.

The Abraham Energy Report's analysis by Contributing Editor John Brodman is available on its Web site at AbrahamEnergyReport.com.

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