Neff Zone Column -- June 28, 2008

Print Edition: June 28, 2008

THE OIL GAME – FINALE

This is my fourth column in a row about the worldwide oil situation and I’ve about beaten this subject to death. Millions of words are being written and broadcast each day about this topic, so it’s time for me to step aside and let you sift through those other news sources. Try not to get depressed, though, because making sense out of the casino game that is the worldwide oil market is about as easy as sorting wildcats.

In researching this whole series I have come to one inescapable conclusion – the "suck and burn" era of energy is coming to an end. The energy needs of the world can no longer be serviced by drilling and digging for substances to burn, which is how we get our energy now. Diverting food crops to energy is a non-starter, too; as we’re seeing one Midwest flood and corn-based ethanol becomes a moot point. In short, suck and burn needs to be replaced with generated energy.

I remember reading a statement many years ago by a Saudi oil minister. I don’t have the exact quote any more, so I’ll paraphrase: ‘We have to be cautious about how we (OPEC) price our oil because there is a point at which it will be too high. We don’t know what that price is yet; it could be $50-$100-$200 a barrel. Finding what the Americans will tolerate is important because if we go over the critical price point they will rebel and look for other sources of energy. Make no mistake about it, if we push the Americans too hard they will invent alternatives to our oil and then (for us) it’s game over.’

Well, folks, as Mickey Redmond says on Detroit Red Wings broadcasts, "This ain’t no game for a nervous person." Do you think OPEC is getting nervous? Americans drove 11 million miles less last month than the month before. That’s a lot of oil and gas we didn’t use. And guess who all of a sudden called a conference and promised increased production of oil – our OPEC pals.

Paying over $4.00 for a gallon of gas is no fun, but on the other hand I’m getting some pleasure just watching American innovation kick into high gear. Some neat stuff is going on out there and that’s where our energy future lies.

Want more oil? No problem, just uncap the thousands of currently capped wells that exist right now in the United States. The Conservative Voice notes that by doing this we can pump 1.5 million barrels a day of environmentally friendly, low-sulfur oil in the lower 48 states. The wells are already drilled.

Better yet, new technology now exists that increases the yield capacity of these wells by 7 or 8 times. Many oil wells also produce hot water so by turning them into geothermal oil wells with new geothermal technology and pumps, not only do we get the oil but the pumps produce their own electricity and can both run on their own and feed power into the national grid. You can see a demonstration of this at www.youtube.com/user/NaturalEnergyEngine.

In Michigan another technology is being proposed that will use the site of the former refinery at Alma. M&M Energy will take farm waste, turn it into CO2, inject the CO2 into existing oil wells in Michigan, which will bring old wells back into production.

While tapping existing oil is fine in the short term, longer term energy solutions are what is really needed. We need to generate energy, not just burn it.

A Michigan company, Sequest, could be in the forefront of this. They would take the carbon dioxide produced by the coal plant in Holland, combine it with treated wastewater form that city’s sewage plant, and grow algae. The algae would then be used to generate biofuels.

Out West, in California’s Mojave Desert, Google and Chevron have put together a project where 550,000 solar mirrors are using a new technology that is currently generating electricity for 112,500 homes. It’s 90% efficient, produces no emissions, and is basically the equivalent of a coal-fired power plant.

I could go on, but you get the idea. The innovations are out there, they are happening now or soon will be, and there’s more where that came from. Add in a sea change happening right now in the auto industry and it’s enough to make an OPECian reach for the headache medicine.

With all of this going on, it might be easy for the typical American to think that an individual has no part to play in this. What can one little guy do? Plenty, I say. Tired of being trickle-downed upon? Let’s do some trickle-up for a change.

I think we all should adopt the "every drop counts" philosophy. Every drop of oil we don’t use sends a message to OPEC, the big oil companies, and the oil speculators. It also sends an "atta-boy" to every alternative energy inventor/producer/investor.

Now, you don’t have to change your whole life to do this. I’m not proposing you go into the woods to hunt for roots and berries, huddle together for warmth, or read by candle light. Using the "every drop counts" means little tiny things add up; that’s the beauty of it. I wouldn’t ask you to do anything I wouldn’t do, so here are some examples I plan to implement myself.

Consumer Reports says this month that driving 55 mph instead of 65 mph increases your mileage by up to 5 miles per gallon. If I have to drive to Traverse City, for example, just driving the speed limit will save drops of gas. The extra ten minutes the trip takes is me thumbing my nose at OPEC.

When I’m thirsty I’ll drink tap water instead of bottled water. The bottles are huge energy hogs, so that "ahhhhh" you hear is me making OPEC listen.

I’m going to be a locavore at least once a week. Locavores try to make meals with locally grown foods, thus saving the gas it takes to ship things across country. It’s easy this time of year with farmers markets, so "mmmmmm-good" OPEC.

My computer will be off on days I’m not home, I’ll set my thermostat a degree or two differently, and I may even face next winter without my electric blanket. Every drop counts and it’s very satisfying to be proactive.

Finally, I’ll go to Consumer Watchdog www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/energyact2 where I can fill out a form demanding a change in energy policy and send it to the president and congress to let them know I’m on the case and they better be too.

Jim Neff is a local columnist. Comments to neffzone@gmail.com. Read Neff Zone columns online at www.neffzone.com/cadillacnews.