Oil, gas remain chief US energy sources - Bodman

18 July 2007 17:36  [Source: ICIS news]

By Joe Kamalick

 

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--Oil and natural gas will continue to dominate the US energy supply but US policy must encourage alternative energy sources such as clean coal, nuclear power and biofuels, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said on Wednesday.

 

In receiving a nine-month study of energy supply and demand issues from the National Petroleum Council, Bodman said the US “is at a very critical stage in developing our energy policy”.

 

“The US and global economies continue to grow, and that is a good thing,” Bodman said, “but the increasing demand for energy that accompanies that growth requires a sober assessment of what our energy future will look like and how we can get there.”

 

The council, a private-sector advisory panel chartered by the department, said its study of US and global energy demand and supply issues shows that the world is not running out of oil and natural gas resources but that there are increasing technical and geopolitical challenges in bringing those resources to consumers.

 

To compensate for those challenges, the council urged US policymakers to support expansion of all economic energy resources, including coal, nuclear power, renewables and unconventional oil and gas reserves.

 

The council said that in addition to developing the full range of energy resources, including increased access to US domestic reserves, the US must increase energy efficiency in the transportation, residential, commercial and industrial sectors.

 

Bodman said the council’s report would help shape US energy policy.

 

The US energy chief emphasised that “oil and natural gas will retain their pre-eminent position in the US energy supply for some time to come”.

 

“Mindful of our environmental concerns, we must pursue all other economically viable energy sources, including nuclear, coal, the biosciences and biofuels,” Bodman said.

 

He said the US energy policy goal is “to do more with less, rather than force the American people to do less because of a lack of energy supply”.

 

“It is my firm belief that we can meet this formidable challenge,” Bodman said.

By: Joe Kamalick
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