Cheap Oil
Sat., May 03, 2008. 13:04.
Holyrood Backs Green Call To Plan For The End Of Cheap Oil
The Scottish Parliament today passed a landmark motion on food security which includes for the first time a call to take account of peak oil when planning our future food economy. (1) North Sea oil output peaked at 2.8m barrels a day in 1999, and last year this output was down by almost 60% on that peak. (2) Estimates vary as to when global oil production will peak, with the French Government taking a conservative view that the decline will begin in 2013. (3)
What is not in doubt is that demand for oil continues to outstrip global supply, meaning that local disputes like that at Grangemouth have a disproportionate effect on international oil prices, whilst pressure for biofuels is undermining efforts to tackle climate change. (4) As oil supplies dwindle globally, food supplies in Scotland and around the world are likely to be seriously affected, given the extent to which modern agriculture is dependent on oil.
Patrick Harvie MSP said:
"This vote represents another landmark for the Scottish Parliament, the first time that any UK Parliament has accepted the urgency of the peak oil issue. Modern industrial agriculture has been described as a system that uses land to convert oil into food, whether as fertiliser, fuel for transport, or energy for refrigeration, and Scotland is no exception.
"The recent events in Grangemouth had effects far beyond our shores, pushing global oil prices towards an all-time high of $120 a barrel. There could be no clearer illustration of the vulnerability of our economy to even relatively limited disruptions to oil supply. This dependence is unsustainable in the longer term, and Scottish Ministers need to start turning around the supertanker right now.
"The SNP Government have opened up a discussion about the future of food, which is welcome. There are many smaller measures that they support that we endorse, like farmers' markets and support for local food procurement. However, we have still yet to see any indication that they understand the radical economic and agricultural transformation that will be needed in order to ensure our future food security. We need to see major shifts to support sustainably grown, low-input, healthy and high quality local produce. The alternatives can hardly be contemplated."
Notes
1. The motion, passed unanimously at 5pm, reads as follows: John Scott: Food Security—That the Parliament expresses its concern at the potential for global food shortages; notes the recent cost increases in many basic food products here in Scotland, with food price inflation now exceeding 6%; further notes that many developing countries are experiencing growing social unrest as a result of food pressures, and calls on the Scottish Government, Her Majesty’s Government, the European Union and other relevant bodies to work closely, and with the appropriate urgency, to seek solutions that take account of the growing pressures on agriculture from both climate change and the rush to biofuels as well as the peak in oil production and recognises the role of Scotland’s primary producers in ensuring the long-term capacity and capability of our food supply; and further calls on the Scottish Government to encourage the development of local supply chains through public procurement, address the imbalance in power between the big supermarkets and our food producers, reduce the regulatory burden on farmers, and ensure that our primary producers operate on a level playing field with foreign competitors.”
2. 1999 oil output was 2.8m barrels per day. http://www.energybulletin.net/1604.html. By 2007 the equivalent figure was 1.2m barrels per day: http://www.theherald.co.uk/business/news/display.var.1737311.0.0.php.
3. For the French government's estimate, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4077802.stm
4. On April 22 Forbes Magazine identified the Grangemouth dispute as one factor behind record global oil prices. See: http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/04/22/afx4919155.html
Contact the Scottish Greens' press team on 07909 933 074.