Wikileaks: Saudi Arabia Cannot Pump Enough Oil to keep a Lid on Prices

I received this piece from The Guardian via Dr Mayraj Fahim which suggests a most alarming prospect - that Saudi Arabia's oil reserves might have been mis-stated by as much as 40% and that there is far less oil available in that country than was earlier presumed. In every sense, this news suggests that it is important for the world to look for alternative sources of energy as oil is going to run out at some point in time. This blog is not in the business of trying to forecast when the oil will run out - that is the job of experts, and, whenever one of them speaks about it, those views will be reported here. But, with China and India buying enormous quantities of oil and increasing their purchases as their economies grow, consumption in the future is certain to grow significantly over the past.

The shortage of oil in Saudi Arabia (and who knows what the situation is with other countries?) is worrying but some solid work has begun to wean the world off oil - the numerous electric cars, electric motorcycles and electric airplanes that are now being worked upon are an example of work that could minimize the shock from oil running out when that happens. The time to work hard to develop alternative sources of energy is NOW. Any delay and this would only cause monstrous problems when the oil does run out.

Using Waste Land for Solar Power Generation - An Idea for all of South Asia

Dr Mayraj Fahim who has been a long time supporter of this blog and who has sent me several valuable pieces of information for posting here sent me this link from the New York Times. There is plenty of waste land in India and Sri Lanka that I am aware of - severely degraded by pollution and bad ecological practices which would be ideal for generating the clean power that the region badly needs. While these projects work, the land could be slowly restored using currently available methods and technologies to a clean, natural state.

South Asians, whatever their nationality, find it convenient to imitate Western fashions, listen to Western music, watch Western films and more. Perhaps, a case could be made for them to start imitating Western environmental practices as well . . .

BBC: India to Get its Own Green Party

I am grateful to Dr Mayraj Fahim, a strong supporter of this blog and a local government expert in the USA, for the following link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8221698.stm The idea for a Green Party in India is ripe - the country faces some of the worst environmental degradation that any region on earth does, and shortsighted governments and antiquated laws are almost entirely to blame for the mess. SO far, people like the founder of the proposed new party, have used the Indian Courts to get their way, and it is important that a political party manages to set an agenda and fight this battle from within the country's Parliament and State Legislatures.

That said, I am not convinced that this entire process is likely to be successful for mainly historical reasons (though my views are from the past and things may well have changed by now) that I shall detail. Some years ago, I saw an attempt during the worst of India's Socialist years under Indira Gandhi and later under her equally thuggish son Rajiv, to set an agenda that would take India to the brink of ruin. While that, fortunately, didn't succeed, neither did attempts by western minded Indians to politically import western concepts into India. Back then, leading Indian lawyer Sriram Panchu tried starting what he called the "Indian Labour Party," modelled upon the British Labour Party, in what could only be described as a total failure. The name was recently usurped by Andhra Pradesh film star CHiranjeevi for his own party though I have no idea what visions Chiranjeevi has for his own proposed political future. I do think that the new Indian green Party faces a similarly dismal future and that it is likely to end up forgotten in time, especially in a state like West Bengal, which has a powerful and well-entrenched Communist Party and a powerful opposition in the Trinamool COngress led by the charismatic Mamta Bannerjee.

I do wish that my views are proven wrong, though! A Green political movement is something that India sorely needs.

Why On Earth is This Not Being Implemented in Chennai?

For the past thirty years at least, as I can recall, the British have sent technology and money to help clean up the Cooum River / Buckingham canal in Chennai, but nothing has happened. Where has the money gone? Those in the Tamilnadu State government know, if someone does. And the two outlets, once navigable canals in which boats went all the way to Chingleput, become filthier by the day with more and more sewage pumped into them. The Adyar River, on whose banks much of the Chennai elite lives along Boat Club Road and Archbishop Mathias Avenue, is yet another example of a water body that was once clean turned into a filthy cess carrying canal by the State government.

Dr Mayraj Fahim, who has been a strong supporter of this blog, has sent me a very interesting link which has implications for Chennai: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1193169/Human-waste-heat-thousands-homes-4m-plan-recycle-gas.html British utilities already send sewage derived gas to generate power, and they now plan to offer the same gas for use in domestic kitchens etc. How difficult would it be for the Government of India and the Tamilnadu State government to revive the old British initiative and get the relevant technology from the UK to implement large-scale projects along these outlets? The raw material is there, and, it is not going to diminish in quantity as long as Chennai-vasis eat and then clear their stomachs out. There is an old initiative where the British have offered support - perhaps, the state could look at creating a utility under the common administration of the Water and Electricity Boards to use gas to generate electricity for the city? Or, alternately, as there are many gas powered cars running in the city, use this to supplement gas supplies for fueling vehicles and save foreign exchange?

Is anyone listening? Our Prime Minister who is supposed to turn the country into a new superopwer, perhaps? Or the Chief Minister whose wisdom is always hailed by his followers? Anyone? United Utilities, the British business involved in this project, has a nice website: http://www.unitedutilities.com/ Over to India . . .

China Throws Down a Renewable Energy Challenge to the World

While it is currently one of the world's most heavily polluted countries and it needs to import over 90% of its oil, China has decided to act in a manner that needs to be applauded: http://seekingalpha.com/article/142617-china-becomes-global-green-leader-with-massive-solar-projects?source=yahoo I am grateful to Dr Mayraj Fahim for this link showing where South Asian countries, which enjoy the same climatic conditions and suffer from similarly high pollution, are lagging seriously behind. So, for that matter, is the USA where the only action forward seems to be Barack Obama's pious talk along with the constant and stale applause of his drum-beaters in the media and in the blogosphere. While well intentioned US plans like the Pickens proposals fall by the wayside, the Chinese seem to power ahead with their desire to insulate their country from the vagaries and whims of the oil producing nations and of oil traders and their manipulations.

Yes, China has coal - so does India, but the Chinese consider their coal reserves a finite asset. India has no hesitation in preserving some of its own coal reserves while it encourages massive environmental degradation in Indonesia, Australia, South Africa and elsewhere by mining for coal there and pollutes the air and the seas by shipping it back to India. And, though India has recently articulated a massive proposal to work on solar power, it is going to be difficult for it to do much as it is way behind China on the neccessary manufacturing infrastructure to produce solar and other RE equipment.

However, this is a situation that could be a wake-up call if you ask me. There is no reason why South Asian countries - and India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc all have excellent engineers and facilities with which to manufacture / develop renewable energy products. This could be the spark with which to ignite a powerful flame (well, yes, this is an inept simile) of Renewable Energy in South Asia. Our antions would be wealthier because of money saved, our air, water and soil cleaner, and our workers treated more humanely as they no longer have to work in near-slavish conditions in Arab countries.

Let's hope this competition is joined, and, at the soonest.

Why Public Transport May Not Really be Green

I am grateful to Dr Mayraj Fahim for this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090608/sc_afp/climatewarmingtransportcarbonlifestyle While some dedicated environmental groups have, in the past, audited the environmental impact of the manufacturing process of various goods and means of transport, the practice has not always been given the publicity that it deserves. Now, with scientists looking at public transport, some common beliefs about supposedly "green" transportation are being challenged.

Specifically, the issue about trains is something that I have suspected for some time and I did get into a brief discussion on this at Low Tech Magazine: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/12/train-travel.html#comments There is no question that trains are at their most efficient at hauling heavy freight or large numbers of people. try and make them luxury vehicles on wheels like they are in the USA, and their efficiency drops. Hopefully, there will be a comparison of the efficiency of local trains in cities like New York with decent public transportation with local commutes as well as with failing, state-owned businesses like Amtrak with cars in long distance travel so that a specific environmental impact in each case is better understood. As far as showing fossil fuels the fist is concerned, I do think that the more efficient the means of transportation, the lower its carbon footprint would be. Let's hope that we get more expert views on this in the near future.