EU leaders face up to shale challenge

Google – AFP, Bryan McManus (AFP), 22 May 2013

Herman Van Rompuy at the EU headquarters on May 22, 2013 in Brussels

(AFP, Georges Gobet)

BRUSSELS — EU leaders agreed Wednesday to face up to the challenge posed by the shale oil and gas revolution which has slashed US energy prices, undercutting Europe's competitive edge.

"All leaders are aware that sustainable and affordable energy is key to keeping factories and jobs in Europe," European President Herman Van Rompuy said.

"Industry finds it hard to compete with foreign firms who pay half the price for electricity, like in the United States," Van Rompuy said at the close of an EU summit focused on energy and tax evasion.

Britain, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Spain favour developing shale energy but others, and France in particular, are reluctant or opposed, citing environmental fears.

Mindful of such sensitivities, Van Rompuy said member states "countries could also develop safe and sustainable ways to tap other resources - conventional and unconventional.

"Yes, this includes shale gas, which could become part of the energy mix for some member states, perhaps less for others."

The EU's 27 heads of state and government met amid fears the US-led shale boom will reshape the global economy and leave Europe far behind.

Stuck in the doldrums, the European economy has lost nearly all momentum, with growth hard to come by and rising energy costs a real concern.

"We need to secure good value energy supplies ... (which) involves making most use of indigenous resources, such as shale," said British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"We need to ensure that the old rules do not hold us back ... regulation must not get in the way" of developing such resources, he added.

"Rising energy prices are a real problem," European Parliament head Martin Schulz told the one-day summit, putting EU companies "at a competitive disadvantage" against US firms.

"That is the bad news: if we do nothing, energy costs will continue to increase, and our energy dependence on third countries will increase with them," he said.

"The good news is that energy policy in particular offers enormous potential for boosting growth, improving competitiveness and creating jobs."

The challenge is enormous for a Europe which paid more than one billion euros a day for its energy imports in 2012.

Van Rompuy had warned ahead of the meeting that Europe risked "becoming the only continent to depend on imported energy.

"In 2035, we will still depend on imports for more than 80 percent of our energy needs and that will have consequences for our competitiveness and our companies," he said.

Last week, the International Energy Agency said North American shale energy production had set off a global "supply shock" that is reshaping the whole industry.

"The surge in North American oil production will be as transformative to the market over the next five years as was the rise of Chinese demand over the last 15," the IEA said.

While the benefits are clear, shale oil and gas also comes with a potentially high environmental cost which worries many.

Critics say hydraulic fracturing -- 'fracking'-- of rocks deep underground to release oil and gas threatens water supplies and may even set off earthquakes.

The summit conclusions said leaders agreed to work in four areas -- establishing a fully integrated energy market, boosting investment, diversifying resources and improving energy efficiency.

While highlighting the "diversification of Europe's energy supply," the conclusions did not mention shale directly, reflecting the sensitivity over shale development.

"In the current economic context, we must mobilise all our policies in support of competitiveness, jobs and growth," the summit conclusions said in the very first line.

"The supply of affordable and sustainable energy to our economies is crucial in that respect," it added.

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version) 

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”

"2013 - What Now ?" – Jan 6, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.

It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.

So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.

Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”