ASPO Ireland

Energy is the primary resource of ecological and economic growing systems (Robert U. Ayres & B. Warr 2005). Conventional economic theory does not recognise this simple obvious truth to its full extent; preferring to convolute and substitute. Well it appears this works no more…

There is growing global concern that inefficient energy consumption in the west is reaching physical limits (D. H. Meadows et al. 2004). In this global context of climate change and energy security fears of declining conventional energy resources are gaining increasing attention (Colin J. Campbell & Laharre 1998), (Hirsh et al. 2005), (Hirsch 2006), (Sorrell et al. 2009) (United States Joint Forces Command 2010) (Fatih Birol 2010) (International Monetary Fund 2011). There is uncertainty of future conventional energy production figures or reserve stock (C. J. Campbell 2004), (Jakobsson et al. 2009), (Aleklett et al. 2010) (R. G. Miller 2011). The UK parliament are currently considering future energy rationing systems (Flemming & Chamberlin 2011). North African and Middle Eastern unrest can be attributed to food prices soaring as a result of energy commoditiy prices effects upon farming, fertilisers & transport. Food nor fuel can no longer be subsidized due to declining export revenue of energy resources, resulting in in-operability of the proportionally higher percentage for food budgeted by citizens of developing nations. (See Illustration 1).

Illustration 1: Brent Crude Oil and UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Price Indices

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