fossil fuel, nonrenewable energy production, green energy production, fossil fuel reserves, usable
energy, true life-cycle costs, nuclear fuel, renewable energy production
Over the next decade, we project that renewable
energy resources will have established themselves
in both on-grid and off-grid applications. While
coal and natural gas have several centuries of projected
supply, the liquid fossil fuel reserves are projected
to peak and diminish in our lifetimes. (See "peak
oil")
The demand for energy is expected to triple by
2050 as global population grows to approximately
nine billion people (9,000,000,000). Generation
capacity must be developed at an unprecedented pace
to meet this demand.
According to numerous studies, the world receives
thousands
of times more energy every day from the sun
than we could ever use. Wind power potential could
meet all human needs fourfold — and wind technology
has recently become cost competitive with coal-fired
baseload power. We don't have to worry about running
out of renewable energy. Fossil fuels are finite
and increase in cost as supply dwindles.
Renewable energy production is currently growing
at 20-30% annually, and the share of total production
will grow as production costs decrease and government
policies reflect the true life-cycle costs of fossil
and nuclear fuel.
The growth rate of fossil fuel production has slowed
to 1-2% annually, The market will shift as government
policies, adequate investment and reduced production
costs make renewable energy resources competitive
with fossil and nuclear power.
