Renewable Energy Key to Addressing Declining Oil Reserves

In an survey conducted by KPMG, oil and gas executives believe that renewable energy sources are necessary to alleviate the problems of declining oil reserves. Here is the article.

Some key points from this article are...

• In the KPMG survey, which polled 553 financial executives from oil and gas companies in April 2007, twenty-five percent of the respondents said that at least 75 percent of government funding into energy should be directed at the renewable sources sector and a further 44 percent said that at least 50 percent of funding should be allocated in the same way. These feelings stem from the overwhelming majority, or 82 percent, citing declining oil reserves as a concern.
• Sixty percent of the executives believe that the trend of declining oil reserves is irreversible. And, when asked about the impact of emerging markets, such as China, will have on declining oil reserves, almost 70 percent of the executives said that it would lead the situation to worsen.
• Sixty-five percent of the respondents say that while they believe global warming is occurring, it is a natural weather cycle, and 11 percent say that they do not believe it is occurring. Just under a quarter believe CO-2- induced global warming is occurring.

US to add 3000MW of Wind Power in 2007

The US is in on track to increase its Renewable Energy Portfolio from wind by 25% for the year 2007. Already one of the leaders in generating energy from clean sources in the US, Texas alone will account for two thirds of this capacity. How does Texas do it?

George Bush as the Governor of Texas signed a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (RPS) into law in the year 1999. The RPS apparently uses market mechanisms (whatever that is!) to ensure that a growing percentage of electricity through clean energy sources.

Canadian Renewable Energy Initiative

With all the cold weather in their country it is easy to think that Canadians are probably least concerned about global warming. However, there are already Canadian government programs in place to drive clean energy sources into the mainstream. Here is an example. The Ontario government is willing to pay 7 times more than the cost of power generated through coal fired plants. Even if these costs will be eventually passed on to the consumer, I believe the initiative shows the will to look in a new direction and a deep understanding that global warming is indeed manmade.