Is the future of renewables also dependent on fossil fuels of today? Are depleting and more expensive fossil fuels also taking away the last hope we have?
Oil, Coal and Natural gas, the fossil fuels that drive our economy, have seen rising price trends (Figures provided: U.S. specific trends: Source: http://rn-economicanalysis.com/) in the past decades, which does not come as a surprise. To the extent, that the price of oil has multiplied 4 times since 2000, natural gas 3 times and coal approximately doubled its monetary (nominal) value since January 2000. Again, all these prices also reflects global trends, except for may be natural gas where the U.S. market for natural gas is highly domesticated.
The economic growth (as defined by economists) is dependent on a trend of infinite production and consumption, expansion, more extraction. Not realizing that all this takes place in a context of a limited planet, finite resources. The economic progress is only defined by high GDP' s with no ecological perspective and also no measure of social well being (that's where sustainability comes in). Fossil fuels that took millions of years to form and accumulate have been used to mark human progress over the past century. To the extent that we are so dependent on these depleting fossil fuels that we might find it very difficult to sustain it.
Yes, this is where we talk of the renewable energy options in the form of wind, solar, biomass, geothermal. Each of these technologies has its own problems of intermittent supply, storage etc. and so the future plan may be to develop an energy mix that will not be completely dependent on only one of these technologies. But, looking at the price trends for fossil fuels (85% of energy we consume today) are we in a position to build a renewable energy supported economy??
Its only an irony, that even building such a clean energy economy (over a period of decades) requires massive amounts of fast depleting fossil fuels. Also, a higher price over fossil fuels makes building a new technology on a vast commercial scale more expensive and hence less viable economically. The best time to start building such a technology will be right now, before we consume the resource for its own existence.
Yes, this is where we talk of the renewable energy options in the form of wind, solar, biomass, geothermal. Each of these technologies has its own problems of intermittent supply, storage etc. and so the future plan may be to develop an energy mix that will not be completely dependent on only one of these technologies. But, looking at the price trends for fossil fuels (85% of energy we consume today) are we in a position to build a renewable energy supported economy??
Its only an irony, that even building such a clean energy economy (over a period of decades) requires massive amounts of fast depleting fossil fuels. Also, a higher price over fossil fuels makes building a new technology on a vast commercial scale more expensive and hence less viable economically. The best time to start building such a technology will be right now, before we consume the resource for its own existence.
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