Efficient Energy

Energy Sustainability

According to the IEA’s 2013 Key World Energy Statistics, World fuel shares in 2011 were primarily driven by oil with 40.8% of total consumption. At 66.4%, fossil fuels remain at the forefront of fuel sources. However, this share has fallen from 75.8% in 1973. So, can one say that we have become more sustainable in our energy consumption?

The fact that there appears to have been a noticeable shift away from oil is not sufficient in and of itself because there has been a large shift towards electricity as an energy source. The creation of electricity can be done using several different sources such as nuclear and photovoltaic. However, it can also be done using coal or oil. As such, this shift alone is not enough to demonstrate a shift away from fossil fuels. This is further compounded by the fact that overall consumption has moved from 4,674 Mtoe in 1973 to 8,918 Mtoe in 2011, a 90.8% increase.

Consequently, even if in a best case scenario, there has been a true move away from fossil fuels over the past forty years, relatively speaking, gross usage has increased. Some may then ask, does it make any difference where the energy comes from as long as it is readily available and affordable? And from a geopolitical perspective, perhaps most importantly, should emerging nations not have the same right to energy that western nations have enjoyed?

One of the greatest challenges against current energy consumption habits has been the claim of global warming. A majority these days accept that there is indeed global warming, driven primarily by human energy consumption through the use of fossil fuels. However, even for those who accept global warming is indeed taking place, it has been challenged whether this truly should be a cause for concern or rather seen as a blessing in disguise. With weather related fatalities due to cold supposedly outweighing those of heat, should we in fact embrace global warming for the overall common good?

Another problem that has been identified is the supply availability of our traditional energy sources. For oil the notion of peak oil was brought forward, a point at which half of all recoverable oil has been consumed and the remaining oil is becoming increasingly challenging to extract. Whether this point has already been passed or still lies ahead is, in the long term, irrelevant as not only oil, but natural gas, coal and uranium all are finite resources. As such, it may be true that supply constraints will not become a problem for the current generation, perhaps not even for the next. But a point will come when these resources will have been used up.

Finally, the world is continuing to see not only a growing gross energy usage but also, and partially fuelled by it, a growing population. The UN estimates that the world’s population will grow from 6.1 billion in 2000 to 8.9 billion in 2050. This is a