Peak oil and global warming -is there a common solution?

摘要

Energy issues appear daily in IT newspapers, magazines and television T~Z news across the nation and the world. It didn't use to be that way; rather, abundant cheap energy supplies were generally taken for granted with only intermittent disruptions, such as the Arab oil embargo in the '70s and occasional power failures such as the black-out in some Great Lakes states and adjacent Canada two years ago. Today, however, our nation's and the world's attention is focused on the imbalance between the rate of new hydrocarbon discoveries and the rate of production, making many predict that a global peak in oil production is just around the corner. Equally disturbing is the geographic imbalance between the location of the world's major oil and gas supplies and the largest markets, with attendant security concerns. Finally, the direct linkage between increases in global temperature and industrial production of CO_2 has now been demonstrated beyond any mourn the defunct Kyoto Protocol, we should start taking the small steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions today that can make a big difference down the road. The private sector already understands this and it efforts will be crucial in improving fossil fuel efficiency and developing alternative sources of energy. To harness business potential, however, governments in the developed world must create incentives, improve scientific research and forge international partnerships." Similar views are also expressed by Lord Oxburgh, chairman of Shell. "No one can be comfortable at the prospect of continuing to pump out the amounts of carbon dioxide that we are pumping out at present with consequences, that we really can't predict but are probably not good.