Twenty-fifth Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference
5
The West and international institutions had a duty to promote other energy sources in co-operation with the Third World. They could not say, "You bear the risks and costs of lear power, but we will use the oil." More modest but more practical energy solutions e within their grasp, he believed.
He did not believe that the Commonwealth or any other group of nations could solve the energy problem, said a New Zealand delegate. That must finally rest in the hands of each country, either alone or in a partnership it found suitable. The Commonwealth's contribution lay in co-ordinating diplomatic moves where oil and politics were inextricably mixed, and in sharing common experience. New Zealand had something to offer-it already produced geothermal power and had a large natural gas resource.
The chief lesson to be learnt from the energy crisis was that never again should nations let themselves become dependent upon any one energy resource-whether oil or nuclear fission. A source of liquid fuel that lent itself to decentralised control with virtually no possibility of a dangerous concentraton of economic power was, of course, ethanol from farm crops.
A "man in the street" solution came from a Trinidad and Tobago delegate who suggested that Third World countries get together regionally, select a university, and, with their own contributions, together with assistance from the multinational organisations, make it possible for that university to develop indigenous energy resources for that region. They would mostly be solar energy, wind, coal, and waste-most Third World countries could not consider nuclear power.
Transport was the largest user of energy, said a Canadian delegate, but because of the energy crisis priority must be given to the use of petroleum for increased food production. If his country electrified its rail lines, it would save 60 million barrels of crude oil annually; that was enough to plant and harvest 12 prairie crops. He was talking about 12,000 million bushels of grain for a hungry world from Canada alone.
In the view of the delegate from Sarawak, the astronomical rise in oil prices could be countered either by stabilising the price of oil, or by finding alternative methods of generating energy. Malaysia, of which Sarawak was a part, favoured the second option, and the mini-hydro concept in particular, which was suited to the requirements of small communities.
The responsibility for the oil crisis rested with the whole world, not only with the OPEC countries; and although Malaysia's dependence on energy generally was not as great as that of most other countries, its overdependence on petroleum products had to be reduced.
Those Commonwealth countries with advanced technologies should help the less fortunate Commonwealth countries.
The EEC's energy research record was reviewed by a United Kindgom delegate-its main aim was to secure future energy supplies and to create the largest possible number of options. It had undertaken considerable work on nuclear safety; Euratom had the highest standards for power station operations and the control of uranium fuels.
It was intellectual dishonesty to pretend that wind, wave, and water power were likely to solve current problems; those who led the attack on nuclear power for peaceful purposes were well aware of that. His colleague had not produced a shred of evidence to support his case against nuclear power. He was right to demand a safe source of energy but he was living in Cloud Cuckooland if he believed they would walk away from nuclear power development.
A Canadian delegate spoke of the tremendous oil and gas reserves off the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, while stressing the importance of hydro power, which, along with fishing, constituted Newfoundland's most valuable renewable resource. The fact that the resource had not been developed was due to the province's small population, and the short-sightedness of the Federal Government.