Taking Stock of Energy

First of all, one of my friends recently pointed out to me that I look like a bit of a pyscho in the featured blog photograph of myself. In said photograph, I am holding a fork up to my mouth, and have the semi-crazed look of a girl about to dig into a large pan of brownies. Not that there is anything wrong with this - I am a bit of a pyscho, especially on the subject of chocolately baked goods. (Note: If you want very good fat-free brownies, get "No Pudge" brand, they are delicious, and all you have to do is add fat free yogurt and bake). (See above picture). (Not that I'm obsessed or anything). So, this is a promise to find some more normal photographs of myself, preferably doing career-related things, to post here. If you guys are extremely lucky, I may also post some photographs of our two turtles, Shakira and Obama (Shakes and BamBam for short). I will only do this if everyone agrees that they are the two cutest turtles to ever swim the face of the earth.

But now to business. If you can get past Britney Spears' shaved head (who cares???), there was some interesting news regarding energy this week. For one thing, I was scanning the Forbes' 2007 Energy Outlook, which touched on alternative energy, electricity and oil and gas. I am particularly interested in this because I do a little bit of investing and have been wondering for some time whether gas and oil stocks are currently being undervalued. After all, although Exxon's most recent earnings weren't spectacular, they comfortably beat analyst expectations. Further more, it seems to me that long term, oil prices will be on the rise again- meaning that it is possible that oil prices will pop. Forbes gave me a few interesting facts about energy and electricity usage (to see whole article, check out: http://www.forbes.com/2006/10/06/energy-oil-ethanol-biz-energy_cx_pm_1009overview_energy06.html). The article is called "Its the Consumption Stupid" and is written by Paul Maidment.

1. The oil shock of 1973 had a much greater effect on overall energy usage that I had realized. According to this article, total oil use is down almost 50% from what it was at that time. Energy demand has replaced oil with natural gas and nuclear power.

2. The efficiency of oil use for energy is increasing, but so is demand for oil. This is one reason why it will be hard to make strides in curtailing American imports of foreign oil. As I am sure you all already know, the United States is the world's biggest importer of oil, although China is close behind.

3. China is the world's leading exporter of hydro-power - and close behind the US in coal and oil.

Right now everyone is wondering what the makeup of energy usage will be, say, 50 years from now. Will natural gas and oil still be the primary sources of power? Wil nuclear energy finally live up to its promise, and begin to produce vast quantities of electricity? Will alternative sources of energy ever be cheap and efficient enough to compete with the already existing oil and gas industries? It certainly feels right now that the winds of change are blowing - and the optimist in me hopes that in 50 years our energy supply will be much cleaner and safer than it is today. One can only hope.

Finally, for your enjoyment I am posting a photograph below of Arnold Schwarzenagger and his hydrogen-powered hummer. I guess he just loved those Hummers so much that he had to get one of his own - and make it environmentally friendly so he wouldn't get too much press about it.