Dermot, you're too defensive of the GVEA Board. Independent oil experts and academics predicted peak oil more than 20 years ago, just when GVEA was making decisions to shy away from Hydro and Coal in favor of oil. For example, in the mid- 1950's Dr. M.K Hubbert, a former Shell oil geologist, predicted that the US peak oil discovery/depletion curve would occur in the early 1970's, and it did. Shortly after, he went on to predict world peak oil to occur sometime about the turn of the century. A decade ago, others, such as Dr. K. Deffeyers, who spoke in Fairbanks last year, used the same techniques to refine the world peak oil estimate to about 2007-2010. What we are experiencing in energy costs is absolutely no surprise -- it was predicted not by gloom and doomers by respected academic economists and geologists.
Yes GVEA, like the government, may have been complacent in the 1980's and 1990's for GVEA to have decided, and been permitted to put most of it's energy eggs into one oil basket, but there WAS plenty expertise yelling loud and clear that diversification would be better. Decisions to build more oil-fired power plants were being made just when the peak oil predictions were deemed reliable by many observers, not just some fringe groups. That is why diversification on the GVEA Board is so critically important. Except for one member, their Board is very susceptible to groupthink.
The GVEA coooperative is to be lauded for its SNAP program, but unfortunately that is too little to late. We need a "Manhattan" like project to develop and implement alternatives like hydro, wind, solar, and of course our greatly sought-after North Slope natural gas. Hopefully we won't be so stupid as to put all our egss in that basket either. In the meantime, I'll keep writing letters to politicians and cutting more firewood and looking into solar electric and hot water.
Posted on April 29 at 7 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dermot, you're too defensive of the GVEA Board. Independent oil experts and academics predicted peak oil more than 20 years ago, just when GVEA was making decisions to shy away from Hydro and Coal in favor of oil. For example, in the mid- 1950's Dr. M.K Hubbert, a former Shell oil geologist, predicted that the US peak oil discovery/depletion curve would occur in the early 1970's, and it did. Shortly after, he went on to predict world peak oil to occur sometime about the turn of the century. A decade ago, others, such as Dr. K. Deffeyers, who spoke in Fairbanks last year, used the same techniques to refine the world peak oil estimate to about 2007-2010. What we are experiencing in energy costs is absolutely no surprise -- it was predicted not by gloom and doomers by respected academic economists and geologists.
Yes GVEA, like the government, may have been complacent in the 1980's and 1990's for GVEA to have decided, and been permitted to put most of it's energy eggs into one oil basket, but there WAS plenty expertise yelling loud and clear that diversification would be better. Decisions to build more oil-fired power plants were being made just when the peak oil predictions were deemed reliable by many observers, not just some fringe groups. That is why diversification on the GVEA Board is so critically important. Except for one member, their Board is very susceptible to groupthink.
The GVEA coooperative is to be lauded for its SNAP program, but unfortunately that is too little to late. We need a "Manhattan" like project to develop and implement alternatives like hydro, wind, solar, and of course our greatly sought-after North Slope natural gas. Hopefully we won't be so stupid as to put all our egss in that basket either. In the meantime, I'll keep writing letters to politicians and cutting more firewood and looking into solar electric and hot water.
On Oil price surge shows need to diversify fuel sources for local electric supply