Unconventional Fossil Fuels

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Rather than renewable energy, the energy industry is investing heavily into new fossil-fuel projects.

These are mainly fracking and tar sands  and heavy oil extraction – Unconventional Fossil Fuels.

• Investment in unconventional fossil-fuel extraction and distribution is now expected to outpace spending on renewables by a ratio of at least 3:1 in the decades ahead.  Three-to-one!
• Investment in oil alone, at an estimated $10.32 trillion, is expected to exceed spending on wind, solar, geothermal, biofuels, hydro, nuclear, and every other form of renewable energy combined.

And where will that oil come from?

Canadian tar sands, Venezuelan extra-heavy crude, fracking around the world, and deep drilling in the Arctic and offshore.

The ‘easy’ sources of fossil fuels will be gone soon, remember.

Investment in oil alone will exceed investment in all forms of renewable energy – combined

That means one thing – and it’s guaranteed:

Global carbon emissions will soar far beyond our current worst-case assumptions.

Unconventional Fossil Fuels and Carbon

• 

  Fracking (the use of high-pressure water to shatter underground rock to get the oil and natural gas supplies trapped within it) is believed by many scientists to cause widespread releases of methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas.

• Heavy oils and tar sands oil release more carbon dioxide when burned (because they have a higher proportion of carbon to hydrogen than conventional oil).
• Arctic and deep-offshore oil require more energy to extract, and so their production causes higher carbon emissions.

So we’re going to increase, not decrease, CO2 and methane emissions.

Which means that climate change will speed up.

If you think things can’t get any worse – they do.

It Gets Worse – Water

On top of carbon emissions leading to climate change, there’s the issue of water.

• Fracking, tar sands and heavy oil require vast quantities of water to extract and transport.
• Areas of intense fracking and tar sands extraction have water contamination problems.
• There is increased competition for dwindling sources of water by drillers, farmers and water authorities.

It Gets Worse – Climate Change

Opting for unconventional fossil fuels eliminates any chance we might have had to reduce the horrific future impact of climate change.

As climate change intensifies,

• drought will become more widespread
• intense storms and heat waves will become commonplace
• our few remaining wilderness areas will be eviscerated
• competition for water will grow fiercer and food supplies will be affected.

Yet the large oil companies are willing to invest vast sums in unconventional oil in order to maintain their power.

Is it just the oil companies?

No.

U.S. and Canadian companies are developing many of the new unconventional fossil-fuel technologies; in addition, some of the world’s largest unconventional oil and gas reserves are located in North America.

This bolsters US global power.

It’s an enticing prospect for many.

“America’s new energy posture allows us to engage [the world] from a position of greater strength,” National Security Advisor Tom Donilon asserted in a speech at Columbia University.

Currently, U.S. leaders can afford to boast of their “stronger hand” in world affairs, but unconventional fuel resources are widely spread over the globe and there will be competition in the future.

Could we end up with a fossil-fuels version of an arms race?

In addition, there could be a backlash or countermoves from other nations to resist such power.

Bias

With all this power and money at stake, it’s likely that energy firms, banks, lending agencies, and governments will have an increasingly entrenched institutional bias toward unconventional fossil-fuel production.

Not convinced?  Look at the Obama administration’s undiminished support for deep-offshore drilling and shale gas development, despite its purported commitment to reduce carbon emissions.   Around the world there’s growing interest in the development of shale and heavy-oil reserves, and the UK recently announced massive subsidies for fracking.

What does this mean for us?

Of course, nothing is ever totally bad.

• We’ll have fuel for our cars and heating because oil and gas won’t run out soon – unlike the predictions of energy analysts in the early 2000’s.
• Banks, the energy corporations, and other economic interests will probably generate massive profits

But most of us won’t benefit in any meaningful way.

Instead, we’ll experience the discomfort and suffering accompanying climate change, scarcity of contested water in many areas, and a natural landscape marred for ever.

But why?

To me and to many environmentalists and ‘greenies’, it’s just inconceivable that we are going down this road.

Can you imagine what a boost the technology of renewables would get with some of that investment?

I’m pretty certain there will soon be successes in harnessing unconventional fossil fuels.

I’m also pretty certain that with the same amount of will and money, renewables could be viable.

Or perhaps renewables can’t ultimately compete with fossil fuels for the uses we want.  The developed world is premised on an abundance of fossil fuels, – perhaps we need to look at different ways of using energy.

But it looks unlikely to happen.

The fact remains that there’s a lot more obvious profit  (as well as power) to be gained from fossil fuels.

And that seems to be why we’re taking the path of unconventional fossil fuel extraction – irrespective of the cost to the Earth and the majority of all life upon it.

“What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?”

(Henry David Thoreau)

This is, without doubt, a formula for global catastrophe.

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