Black gold in the desert August 26, 2008
Posted by israelrenewableenergy in Blog.Tags: dead sea, energy, Fuel Efficiency, Israel, judean desert, oil, SPNI
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The Jerusalem Post reports on potential oil discoveries (and the potential ensuing environmental damage) in yesterday’s paper. (see JP article) While at first blush, it looks to be a significant step towards making Israel more energy independent, it’s a mirage. According to SPNI (Society for Protection of Nature in Israel, also known as חברה הגנת הטבה ) :
Israel uses about 80 million barrels of oil per year, or 270,000 per day. 6.5 million barrels would meet Israel’s needs for less than a month.
According to a JP article in 2006, the oil could potentially be extracted at a rate of 1,000 barrels per day for 15 years. Translation: for massive environmental damage, Israel could provide .00037% of her daily energy needs on her own.
The talkbacks appear to be dominated by the “Drill now. Drill everywhere” form of energy policy. Hopefully rational minds will prevail and realize that the return on investment to the country and the people (though not to the oil drilling company) will be much greater by a series of un-sexy initiatives that look at consolidating land-use, enabling better public transit, assessing tax policy vis-a-vis corporate leasing programs, and raising fuel efficiency standards as a start.
