EPCA 2006: Dow CEO urges industry to reduce oil addiction

Monte Carlo (Platts)--25Sep2006

The global petrochemical industry has a responsibility to reduce the
planet's addiction to fossil fuels, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris said
Monday in an address to attendees of the 40th EPCA 2006 meeting. With the
global population expected to increase from 6.5 billion presently to 8 billion
in 2030, energy use by the world at large will soar, regardless of price.
"It is price of course that keeps companies like Dow Chemical
profitable," Liveris said. Liveris noted that Dow spent $8 billion in energy
in 2002, and $20 billion in 2005. "It is the monkey on our back," he said of
the chemical industry's addiction to fossil fuels.
Balancing the growing need for fossil fuel while staying profitable "is
the question of our time," Liveris said. "We need nothing less than a global
consensus on energy use, which we currently do not have and which we are
nowhere close to having."
Energy conservation should be the top priority for chemical companies,
Liveris said, regardless of economic benefit. The reduction of oil and natural
gas as chemical feedstocks and as a basis to fuel electric power is a problem
that major manufacturing companies such as Dow must work together with
governments to solve. He pointed to Dow's relationship with European
governments as an example.
"I think Europe is setting the standard for the rest of the world," he
said, in terms of energy policy. "Leaving conservation to laissez-faire
economics is probably not going to get where we need to be. This (energy
conservation) is often overlooked by lawmakers."
Setting up discussions to deal with global energy use and exploring new
technologies is imperative, Liveris stressed. We must do our part to set the
stage for the future," he said. "We can lead the way on energy efficiency, and
frankly, we have to. It won't be easy, but it is not impossible."
--Kathy Hall, kathleen_hall@platts.com;
--William Bathurst, william_bathurst@platts.com


 

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