And 80% of it won't be green energy. ---- The world will need a lot more energy in the coming decades, the Energy Department said Thursday. So what are we doing about it? Building more windmills, subsidizing electric cars and "investing" in green silliness. The Energy Information Administration's International Energy Outlook 2013 projects "world energy consumption will grow by 56% between 2010 and 2040." Half of that increase will be due to the rising demand of the growing economies in China and India. Non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, including China and India, will almost double their energy use, increasing it by 90%. It's a good bet they won't be dabbling in solar, wind and biomass. They will be using the cheapest, most efficient and most readily available sources â fossil fuels. While the EIA says that "renewable energy and nuclear power are the world's fastest-growing energy sources, each increasing by 2.5% per year," it adds that "fossil fuels continue to supply almost 80% of world energy use through 2040," with natural gas consumption increasing the fastest among conventional sources. Think fracking. Coal consumption will also grow, as will petroleum and other liquid fuels. The political left won't like it, but these are the facts. If the global economy is to grow, its escalating energy needs must be met, and they will be met only with increased use of what environmentalists call "dirty" fuels. Rather than tinker with expensive and unreliable green energy, as this administration has a history of doing, the federal energy policy should be oriented aggressively toward increased fossil fuel production. We need more fracking for crude and natural gas. The Keystone XL Pipeline has to be approved. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has crude that must be added to our inventory. America needs to drill on its oil-rich federal lands and in its bountiful offshore reserves. Meanwhile, our ample coal reserves, by far the largest in the world, should be put to economic use rather than remain in the ground. And while it's not a conventional fuel, we should also increase our nuclear energy output. It is the ultimate source of green energy. America's fossil fuel producers have been increasingly regulated through the years, but the rules have become more burdensome than ever under the Obama administration. According to Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, this White House has "embargoed energy development on 95% of federal lands and waters, derailed numerous energy development projects and delayed others." This has to change. We're not saying we should abandon the development of renewable and alternative energy except for nuclear. These could one day be the predominant fuels across the globe. We are saying that the advancement of these sources should be left to the market, which will make rational decisions. Their development should not â and cannot â be forced by government policy ahead of the technology curve, nor should they be funded by taxpayers who've already watched their dollars liberally wasted on a basket of failed "investments." We don't need more Solyndras, Ener1s, Beacon Powers or Fiskers. What we do need are more Exxon Mobils, more entrepreneurial, independent conventional energy companies and more George P. Mitchells, the father of fracking, who died Friday at 94. If we don't foster an environment in which we can significantly boost our output of fossil fuels, we simply won't have enough energy to meet projected demand. There will be economic consequences, and they won't be pleasant. http://news.investors.com/ibd-edito...-fossil-fuel-to-meet-global-demand.htm?p=full
In my opinion we need to conserve our natural resources and not use them up as fast as possible. They will only become more valuable with time. I don't know what the alternative to fossil fuels will be but we need to work on finding out. If America can get smart and conserve our fossil fuels and slow down on our use we can help make our country more secure for the future. I think this is one of the most serious issues we have. We should protect our assets, which is exactly what our reserves are. Conserving our natural resources is a conservative measure everyone in America should agree on. Scary times are ahead if we screw this up. It may be past my time when the shit hits the fan but it'll be soon enough for our kids and grandkids to experience.
Fine. Sell your truck and start walking or riding a horse. Do your part. Oh and give your buddy Al Gore a call and tell him to sell the private jet and start flying commercial. And move to a smaller house. The guy burns more energy than thousands of normal people combined. Oh, you don't want to do any of that? Welcome to the reality of the energy world.
The US has 200 years' worth of natural gas & 200 years' worth of technically recoverable oil. That's the US only. Your whining is like whining that we're gonna dry out Lake Michigan. With leftists like you, this country ain't gonna last 200 years.
If you are correct on your estimate then you are ok with the us having major energy problems in 200 years. And if you are correct the danger will come much sooner as it becomes more difficult and expensive to get the next barrell of oil out of the ground as the supplies dwindle. Compound this with a growing world energy demand and the scenario someday will be very scary. This isn't a leftist issue this is a conservative economic issue. Since when did being conservative with your assets become leftist.
You think we won't have figured out fusion in 200 years? You think solar cells won't be near 100% efficient in 200 years. You don't think there will be energy solutions coming that we can't even fathom now in 200 years? And, you think we aren't going to be involved in a nuclear or anti-matter war or worse within 200 years. You think Yellowstone won't blow up, or a large asteroid won't hit us, or another massive solar flare won't hit us, or another ice age or mini-ice age won't come in 200 years? Or something worse we aren't expecting? Your problem is that you can't think beyond the end of your dick, brokenarrow.