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Posted by Joseph Ratner
Page 1 of 1
Alternative energy now going after OPEC
For Article: Why Thursday May Be a Big Day for Wind Power
Posted by
Joseph Ratner
7/16/2008 5:59:25 PM
In addition to wind, other alternative energy interest appear to getting feisty and are even standing up to big oil this week.
A coalition of...
In addition to wind, other alternative energy interest appear to getting feisty and are even standing up to big oil this week.
A coalition of international biofuels organizations appear to have launched an attack on the oil industry cartel OPEC. In an open letter to OPEC president Chakib Khelil published in today's Financial Times, the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, European BioEthanol Fuel Association, Sugarcane Industry Association and the Renewable Fuels Association accuse the oil cartel of spreading false claims about ethanol and biofuels to protect their monopolistic hold on world energy supplies and further increase their profits linking to skyrocketing global oil prices.
Key challenges presented to OPEC include:
* CLAIM: Oil price increases are caused by exchange rates, production issues, speculation and other factors and do not related to biofuels (Earlier this month OPEC’s Khelil had stated biofuels were the cause of some 40% of increasing fuel costs: “I believe that 60 percent of the rise is due to the fall in the exchange rate of the dollar and to geopolitical problems, and 40 percent to the intrusion of bioethanol on the market.")
* CLAIM: Biofuels, in fact, lowers gas prices by 15-25 percent according to various analyst and academic reports noted by the renewable energy groups.
* CLAIM: Biofuels reduce dependence on oil in general and foreign oil imports thus threatening OPEC’s $1.2 trillion annual oil income.
Other elements in the challenge include sustainability, competition, and manipulation of markets by OPEC.
Related Web resources:
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/07/16/high-oil-prices-blame-ethanol-opec-says/
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/7/prweb1115304.htm
http://www.goodfuels.org/2008/07/wsj-on-chakib-khelil/
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