Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Regarding natural resources, I wanted to share a few observations I’ve made while observing the world we live in, which are good ideas to share with my contemporaries.
The first reflection I’d like to share with you is that we are still underexploiting a good number of oil deposits, or even more so, hydrocarbon deposits, which are already available to us underground, from where we could easily extract them! In my opinion, hydrocarbon exploration still has a bright future ahead of it. I’ll give you some examples here.
First of all, and since I’m French, let’s talk about France, my country. There are many untapped mineral resources in France—perhaps you’ll read me describe them in another article. And as for hydrocarbons, well: they’re abundant in Aquitaine, both oil and gas. Oil and gas are also found elsewhere in the country, such as a gigantic oil reserve beneath the Paris Basin, which I was the first to reveal to modern readers, but which has since been widely discussed. Gas is found throughout the northeast of the country, in Moselle and Champagne-Ardennes, for example. Gas is still found in Brittany… And I really wonder why this hasn’t been exploited yet, because our hydrocarbon reserves would be sufficient to ensure the country’s energy independence. And to substantially lower the price of fuel and heating for our fellow French citizens, while enabling ecological progress that is obvious because we would no longer import, or much less, from abroad, with the risks and environmental footprint that this entails… We have everything to gain from this. I call on my country to do so, as quickly as possible!
However, the situation is the same in many countries around the world. In the United States, for example, where little oil is being exploited in Texas, almost none in California yet, and close to none in all the East Coast, particularly in Pennsylvania. In the Democratic Congo, where there is probably a lot of oil. In Romania, still. In Popular China where I believe one could prospect on the Southern coast for oil. In the Nordic countries of Finland and Norway, still… In many locations around the British Isles, and not only Northern Scotland. Upon Galicia and Biscaye, in Spain… We still have a lot of work to do.
And this situation of a proven lack of exploitation of natural resources, particularly mineral resources, does not only concern hydrocarbons. I recently advised Russian leaders to take an interest in the tremendous mining potential of their three large northern islands, within the Arctic Circle: Novaya Zemlya, New Siberia, and the Northern Territory. Even though I now firmly disagree with the Russian invasive wars.
But here again, I can just as easily advise countries that share the Alps, for example, to take an interest in their gold and precious minerals. I can advise Japan to reopen the old mines of Osaka, where the gold used in the crowns of the Edo emperors came from. Same reasons for the Indian government to dig for gems and gold, much more potentially than today!
The list would be too long for this short book, of areas where I know mineral riches await prospectors. What I most want to emphasize here is that we must explore, that we must exploit the resources we find, that we must commercialize these minerals, these fossil resources, to improve the quality of life of the populations concerned and to enrich global trade. Everyone will benefit, of course, and I am convinced that a new and greater diversity of supplies will bring international stability and peace to our planet.
I will conclude this presentation of these natural resources, which I know are no longer known or underexploited, with the case of Spain, to tell you about another form of resource: the agricultural.
And I’m happy to talk to you about agriculture again, with the idea that Spain, although it would benefit greatly from doing so, exploits very little of its cork oak forest. Cork oaks, which are very abundant throughout the Iberian Peninsula, are used to make the cork material, which has many practical applications, the most famous and common of which is its use as stoppers, particularly for wine bottles.
Cork, however, is rare and expensive today, and is therefore not found everywhere. There is plenty of it in Spain and Portugal, two countries that are also major wine producers. But to repeat, cork production through cork oak cultivation has been almost abandoned there, one might say, given how much progress could still be made. It’s a good idea for the Spanish and Portuguese to exploit them more effectively.
I should point out here that many of these trees are also found in the Maghreb and Argentina.
I will only then quote finally here the broad idea than, would we try to export not only the fruits and edibles, but also the cultivation of many different vegetal species to elsewhere in the World, well obviously the benefits would be immense locally for those who would grow new crops, new trees, new plants, on their lands, where they could often very easily grow. As per example France has now an important production of Oceanic kiwis, brought at first from New Caledonia and New Zealand… Which trees grow absolutely well here, for our delight.
Timothee Bordenave, Paris, France
For Haryana University and Dr. Dalip Khetarpal. For Dr. Eva Petropoulou, Mrs. Anna Keiko Wang, Mrs. Lina Leni Marlina. (…)
