Renewable Energy Development - Peak Oil or Not?
There was time few years ago that many experts were predicting that world will soon run out of oil and therefore we must develop renewable energy. Global warming concerns were cited to reduce CO2 footprint by switching to renewable clean energy sources.
Development of new oil recovery technologies such as hydrofracking are enabling extraction of oil from the harder to recover formations all around world. Infrastructure exists and it is more likely that oil exploration will continue and natural gas based LNG technology will also expand in next 5 years.
It may no longer be true that world will soon run out of oil. We need to face the realities and change our approach as new facts develop. It will be a mistake to keep sticking to old statements and not adjust to today's realities.
For United States, it is critical that we set a goal for energy independence as the new election campaigns are now talking about. Domestic Oil and Natural gas can stabilize the prices and keep our money in America. Renewable energy surcharge on price of domestic oil and gas, can generate significant revolving loan funds to install energy conservation retrofits and renewable energy systems in our homes and businesses.
Our health impacts from air emissions from oil based technologies should be the prime reason to support renewable energy development. Energy independence has another meaning when we learn about grid power failures. Renewable energy developed in the distribution system provides local micro gird the freedom from dependence on big power grids, as the customer is unaffected when power fails. Local short term energy storage allows them to continue to have power. It happens to be that these actions will help the environment. Supporters of renewable energy should point out the health benefits and other community benefits and not just talk about global warming or oil running out soon.
Go with the flow or risk losing the momentum.
Development of new oil recovery technologies such as hydrofracking are enabling extraction of oil from the harder to recover formations all around world. Infrastructure exists and it is more likely that oil exploration will continue and natural gas based LNG technology will also expand in next 5 years.
It may no longer be true that world will soon run out of oil. We need to face the realities and change our approach as new facts develop. It will be a mistake to keep sticking to old statements and not adjust to today's realities.
For United States, it is critical that we set a goal for energy independence as the new election campaigns are now talking about. Domestic Oil and Natural gas can stabilize the prices and keep our money in America. Renewable energy surcharge on price of domestic oil and gas, can generate significant revolving loan funds to install energy conservation retrofits and renewable energy systems in our homes and businesses.
Our health impacts from air emissions from oil based technologies should be the prime reason to support renewable energy development. Energy independence has another meaning when we learn about grid power failures. Renewable energy developed in the distribution system provides local micro gird the freedom from dependence on big power grids, as the customer is unaffected when power fails. Local short term energy storage allows them to continue to have power. It happens to be that these actions will help the environment. Supporters of renewable energy should point out the health benefits and other community benefits and not just talk about global warming or oil running out soon.
Go with the flow or risk losing the momentum.
Labels: alternative energy, climate change, coservation, global warming, renewable power
posted by ram shrivastava @ 6:45 PM
3 comments
Link to: Renewable Energy Development - Peak Oil or Not? permalink.
3 Comments:
Oil fields that are almost exhausted are not new fields brimming with oil. Fracking can only ever get at the last remaining pools of recoverable oil. Sure, it looks impressive when a long-dead field comes back to life, but it's a temporary high. Those Bakken shale plays will be dead again in less than a decade.
This is not oil's resurrection: it's oil's swan song.
As for renewable energy development, it's just not going to happen. Every viable option is dependent upon fossil fuels, and they are going away (or more accurately, getting too expensive to be useful). We are never going to have an economy based on renewable energy, because in 50 years we probably won't have an economy (not one that we'd recognize as such anyway), and what energy gets used will be based on pre-industrial energy sources such as passive solar and animal muscle.
Research on Renewable energy resources have to become dominant now.More so, existing viable options of renewable resources should become more Market and Economy friendly.Its high time that our Governments realize that sooner or later we will run out of options of Fossil Fuels. Stop the waiting game now and look for long term solutions.
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