The Livable Blog

Wow! Does this seem like a good time to trash prime salmon habitat on the Fraser for a waterfront freeway?

Maybe it would be a good time to write a letter to Gordon Campbell suggesting that it is time to shift the Gateway billions to electric public transit: Gordon.Campbell.MLA@leg.bc.ca

Looming oil shortage worse than IEA says: whistleblower
International Energy Agency accused of responding to U.S. pressure
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
CBC News

A whistleblower at the International Energy Agency has accused the group of deliberately underplaying the seriousness of a looming oil shortage.

The whistleblower, identified by the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. only as a senior IEA employee, told the paper the world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit but that the IEA has toned down its warning to avoid triggering panic buying.

A senior official with the International Energy Agency is accusing the group of downplaying a looming shortage of oil. (CBC)The official claimed the agency is responding to U.S. pressure to downplay how fast existing oilfields are running out of oil while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves.

Both the unnamed current employee and a former staff member quoted by the Guardian raise concerns about the ability of the world to increase oil output. The IEA predicted in its report that demand will increase to 105 million barrels a day by 2030 and that the world's energy resources are "adequate to meet the projected demand increase through to 2030 and well beyond."

The two dissenters question whether production can be raised from its current level of 83 million barrels a day. Even in the oil industry, there are those who say world production has already reached its peak.

The report came as the IEA released on Tuesday its annual World Energy Outlook, warning that the worldwide financial crisis has led to a dangerous drop in energy investment, which could stifle any hope of economic recovery.

The agency is a policy adviser to 28 mostly industrialized, oil-consuming nations. It estimates investment in finding new oil and gas investment has dropped by $90 billion US this year, a drop of 19 per cent from 2008. As a result, the IEA said, future supplies of oil and electricity could be constrained and "undermine the sustainability of the economic recovery."

The IEA's prediction about natural gas, which represents two thirds of the activity in Canada's energy industry, also has potentially serious consequences. The agency expects new supplies of natural gas from previously untapped shale formations will create a glut that will extend until 2015.

The warning comes a month ahead of the UN Copenhagen conference, where world leaders will meet to discuss measures to reduce carbon emissions. Among the agenda items is an initiative for developing countries to switch from fossil fuels to renewable types of energy such as wind and solar.

The IEA report said investment in renewable energy sources has been hard hit, falling by a fifth this year compared with 2008.

With files from The Associated Press

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/11/10/iea-whistleblower-accuses-agency-of-downplaying-oil-shortage.html