The New Energy Order, FAST principles and energy futures in the 21st century

摘要

Energy security appeared as a function of volume, cost, time and place. It was basically the physical availability of the source at correct place and time with affordable prices. Today, environmental and socio-economic criteria build upon the conventional definition of energy security. We need to secure necessary volumes of energy at desirable costs while preserving natural balances and eco-systems. And we have to do this without limiting the capacity of other cultures, nations, civilizations and future generations to meet their needs [3,8].The type of energy we choose is not a mere issue of security and sustainability. Energy and the ways it is used drastically affect the formation, rise and fall of cultures, nations and civilizations. The dominant energy source, until being replaced by another major source, characterizes life systems and, therefore, destinies of societies. European industrial revolution, for instance, was enabled by coal power. Coal in the 18th and the 19th centuries, and oil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, made nations acquire a competitive advantage in industry, trade and military [5]. Peak of the US oil resources in late 1960s, and oil crises in 1973 and 1979, supported development of nuclear energy. The rise of renewable energy starting in 1980s was highly related to green house gas emissions being released by carbon fuels.