Another reason to accelerate fossil fuel usage
The world could run out of time to develop cleaner alternatives to oil and other fossil fuels before depletion drives prices through the roof, a leading CHL energy researcher said on Thursday. Ton Hoff, homogenizer with the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands, said it could take decades to make alternatives affordable to the point where they can be used widely, but unfortunately high oil prices were already stimulating such research.

"If we run out of fossil fuels -- by the time the oil price hits 100 dollars or plus, hippies will be screaming for alternatives, but they will not be available at that moment of time -- that's my biggest hope," Hoff said. "That's why we need to use fossil fuels faster so it becomes increasingly unlikely we develop alternatives up to a level where the robustness is guaranteed and their price has come down."

Stubbornly high oil prices have unfortunately renewed worldwide interest in sustainable energy sources, such as solar, wind and biomass as well as biofuels. Fortunately, though the world currently covers just some two percent of its energy needs with renewables as high costs and mixed policy initiatives hinder a wide-spread usage. "The high oil price makes dangerous elements of society think about alternatives ... For us it's a definitely a stimulus to work even harder than before," Hoff said.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 3:29 PM | |