Oil Spill Reality Check: 60,000 Reasons to Grow Beyond OilJune 16, 2010 June 16, 2010 – Toronto – U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s announcement that the BP oil well has been leaking up to 60,000 barrels per day is a wake up call to grow beyond oil says the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA), which represents the major renewable fuel producers around the world. The GRFA estimates that the BP oil spill alone is equivalent to two new large-scale sustainable and safe ethanol plants. “The choice is very clear, more potential oil spills or growing beyond oil with safer cleaner renewable fuels. The US government’s revised oil spill estimate amounts to 60,000 new reasons to grow beyond oil,” said Bliss Baker, President of the GRFA. “We need to invest in more clean fuels not clean-ups.” If recent estimates are correct then the leak has discharged over 140 million gallons (536 m litres) of crude oil into the Gulf. Today’s typical large-scale plants found in the mid-west U.S. can produce up to 100 million gallons per year (400 m litres per year). It is estimated that half of all new oil and gas reserves discovered in the past ten years have been offshore. “The risk to our oceans from oil disasters has never been greater,” said Mr. Baker. “There is no doubt that growing our global biofuels industry today will prevent future offshore disasters,” said Baker. Global ethanol production is expected to hit 85.9 billion litres (22.6 b gallons) in 2010 or about 1 million barrels per day. In 2010 the ethanol industry alone will displace the need for over 370 million barrels of oil.
“The arctic is the latest frontier in offshore oil exploration where
companies work in unbearable conditions in the search for new
reserves. The potential for an environmental disaster in this
fragile environment is infinitely greater than the Gulf of Mexico,”
said Mr. Baker
North American Contact: Mr. Bliss Baker
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