How we can loosen the grip of big oil

Whatever we do, you can be sure that the electronics industry will be front and center developing it

Unless you’ve been living detached from the grid in the middle of the desert, you know about the diminishing supply and rising cost of oil. The most painfully obvious place for many of us to experience this occurs while standing at the gas pump, going to the grocery store, or buying an airplane ticket. It shouldn’t be surprising that prices have escalated, but what is vexing is how rapidly and continuously it has happened. I’m not the only person to take notice that something is rotten (with apologies to Shakespeare) in the states (and globally) with regard to oil prices.

A recent open letter from 12 airline CEOs points to one likely source — the smell of money to be made from oil speculating. The letter states that 66% of all oil futures contracts are purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper as many as 20 times before it is delivered to a gas company. Market experts estimate that the current oil prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs! Seventy years ago there were regulations in place to control this market speculation, but according to this letter, the last 20 years has seen a weakening of the controls. You can find out more and even contact Congress at www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

Reducing the price of oil by $30 to $60 a barrel would have a significant effect on the global economy, but it’s only a Band-Aid to a larger problem the diminishing reserves of oil. To solve this conundrum we need a multipronged approach. One part is to lessen our reliance on foreign oil. The U.S. has oil and gas reserves in many states but there’s a catch they’re in environmentally sensitive areas like Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.

In July 2008 the U.S. Department of Interior made available to be leased to oil and gas companies 86% of the land in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Millions of acres are under lease in this area, yet the oil companies do not have one well in production. As stated by Charles Clusen, Natural Resources Defense Council’s director of Alaska projects, “We can’t drill our way out of a crisis caused by oil companies, speculators, and foreign countries. Clean energy technologies and energy conservation are a far better answer for our pocketbooks and national security.”

There are many great minds working on this energy imbroglio, including some from scientific, political, and financial communities. This is important because it needs to be a balanced approach. For example, scientists and solar cell manufacturing equipment companies have been striving to develop advanced technologies in thin film substrates that offer higher efficiencies. This technology’s lower requirement of silicon and substantial energy savings will likely give a boost to new equipment sales, according to analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.smt.frost.com).

Solar cell technology is just one possibility. Another avenue to pursue is improving energy efficiency for all power technology we already have. In 2004, energy efficiency measures had improved so that we saved 14% of the energy we’d have used otherwise. The PSMA may have an idea that gets us to the next level. Its report “Follow the Power” says that we need to capture all possible energy efficiency improvements for the entire power network—from the IC to the power generator. The report covers power generation, transmission and distribution, power delivery at the facility, at the rack, and the power delivery to the IC. This makes sense because energy efficiency by itself may be the quickest, cheapest, and cleanest way to extend the world’s energy supplies.

This energy challenge is where technology can help and where it can improve what methods we have for finding and extracting energy as well as developing better ideas for alternative energy. But first, we have to decide what kind and how long will it take to get it to market. Should it be solar, wind, fuel cells, something we haven’t thought of yet or a combination of all these things? Whatever we do, you can be sure that the electronics industry will be front and center developing it.

Paul O’Shea