U.S. says world must improve energy efficiency

[struggle4progress]

Source: Reuters

By Simon Webb

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - ...

The U.S. consumes about 21 million barrels per day of oil, around a quarter of the world's supply. Record oil prices have cooled U.S. appetite for gas guzzling cars and, along with increasing environmental concerns, leant weight to calls for more sparing use of energy ...

"We must promote increased energy efficiency," U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said in a speech to a green energy conference. "The biggest source of immediately available 'new' energy is the energy that we waste every day" ...

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKL211166520080121

---

US calls for oil producers to pump more oil

ABU DHABI (AFP) — US Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman ahead of an OPEC meeting next month urged oil-producing states on Monday to pump more crude to ease pressure on prices.

"There needs to be an increased supply in order to keep the markets of the world supplied with oil," Bodman told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on alternative energy in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi ...

The 13-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries is due to meet in Vienna on February 1 under pressure to calm prices after shrugging off calls to increase output at its last meeting in December ...

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gzRvbZLZxg0kt8Q5yXrGuGhZq6IQ

UPDATE 2-Venezuela says no need for OPEC to up output
Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:03pm GMT

CARACAS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Venezuela does not believe OPEC needs to increase output to tame high oil prices despite pressure from consumer nations, especially the United States, oil minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters on Monday.

The position of Venezuela, a price hawk in OPEC, reinforced the resistance that group members have offered in the face of calls for larger supplies.

"We don't think it will be necessary to put more barrels on the market," Ramirez told reporters. "The price has been moving quite a bit, which demonstrates (there has been) speculative movement." ...

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN2141443220080121

OPEC dismisses U.S. calls for more oil

* Sunday January 20 2008

(recasts, adds OPEC Secretary-General comments)
By Stanley Carvalho
ABU DHABI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - OPEC dismissed further calls to boost oil output from top consumer the United States, saying the global market is well supplied and the producer group has little control over oil prices near $90 a barrel ...

"I don't think there is a need to increase because the market is well supplied," Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is keeping a close eye on the market and stood ready to pump more when needed, OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said.

"If we reach the conclusion the fundamental data warrant an increase in production, then our oil ministers will not hesitate to decree this," Badri told German weekly magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published on Saturday. "But at present we see no need for this." ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7241054

[rpannier]

1. The way this administration talks

you'd think they discovered the problem

[struggle4progress]

2. They say all kinds of conflicting things simultaneously and count on people

remembering only what they wanted to hear

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Never mind what I do! You do as I SAY, not as I DO!!! nt

[kestrel91316]

5. Yeah. What NCevilDUer said.

[dhill926]

4. World to US....

Shut the fuck up....

[orleans]

7. exactly! n/t

[bdamomma]

16. we are that bratty little child messing up everything, and

it will come back to us and hit us hard in the face.

[ixion]

6. so the biggest swine at the table says the others must conserve

yeah, I'm sure that'll go over well. :eyes:

[The2ndWheel]

10. No, it said be more efficient

Conservation doesn't enter into the equation.

[ixion]

11. hmmmm... I would disagree...conservation of energy is implied in efficiency

[The2ndWheel]

12. Do we use more energy today than we did in 2000? 1990? 1970?

1940? 1860? 1492?

Have we gotten more or less efficient in making the energy available during that time? Do more and more people use more and more energy?

You don't increase the efficiency so that less energy is consumed. You might use less energy, but 4 other people who weren't using as much now use more because the energy is cheaper.

When has an increase in total efficiency led to less total consumption? Oil? Cars? Roads? Information? Airplanes? Heating? Air conditioning? Medicine? Paper? Metals? Minerals? Mining? Logging? Travel? Communication? Clothing? Do we use less of anything?

Why do we want to increase the efficiency of solar energy? To use less of it? No, we want it to be able to compete economically with oil. Obviously waking up on a sunny day gives us solar energy to use, but it does us no good on any large scale if we can't harness and concentrate that energy(although nature doesn't waste energy, so we'll end up screwing something up somewhere, even with solar). However, like using oil to make the machines that get the oil out of the ground, we're technically wasting at least some energy by building solar technology.

Then in this globalizing world we live in, we still have billions of people who aren't fully hooked up to the global socio-economic system. If we make energy use more efficient, thus "cheaper"(in economic terms, not in environmental terms), will the rest of the globe not begin using more energy? Plus the total population will continue to increase before it doesn't. We'll hit 7 billion before we hit 6 billion again.

The only time increasing efficiency will lead to a decrease in consumption is when everyone has everything they need, and no more people are added to our totals. But, when that times comes, we will no longer need to increase efficiency, since everyone will have everything they need. Unless they need more, or even one more person is added, or physical reality finally catches up to us and we need to run away from it again.

The only way to decrease consumption and conserve is to make it more difficult to extract materials from the environment. That can't happen if we increase our ability to extract through efficiency.

[dysfunctional press]

8. for the last time...they CAN'T raise output.

it's called peak oil and we're in it.

[struggle4progress]

9. !

[Tesha]

13. World says: "U.S., you first!" (NT)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

14. While doing the CAFE ole.

:hurts:

[hatrack]

15. Somebody needs to tell this twit about Jevon's Paradox . . .

:eyes:

[LynnTheDem]

17. WOWZA!!! That is the cherry on the irony of the bush regime!

:rofl:

[JBoy]

18. Media Matters has a good analysis into the contradictions

between the Bush Administrations past actions and the more recent calls for energy conservation.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200509280007

[bemildred]

19. And the world says: "After you, Sir!" nt

[Javaman]

20. aka moron* says: stop using "our" oil. nt

[Kolesar]

21. Hey this is good news. This is what Amory Lovins has been advocating...

...if that means anything to you.

[daleo]

22. Alcoholic says "world must stop drinking"

"Or I might face a shortage".

[Orsino]

23. Mandatory efficiency increases?

What an astoundingly good idea.

Oh, never mind. It's just a call for efficiency measures. Back to sleep, everybody.