The Making of the New Energy World Order

By `Lanre Okanlawon

At the fore front of the renewable energy technology development are committed men and women who are relentlessly seeking for the possibility of a world with an infinite, sustainable and ultimate energy solution to the pertinent energy crisis faced by mankind. In this clearly emerging new world order, the outcomes of several researches and technological developments all point to one obvious fact- that renewable energy is here to stay because it is safe, environmental friendly, feasible and worth investing in.

After spending over £1 billion in financing clean and sustainable energy technologies in the past 3 years, the UK government still sees the need to inject another £100 billion described as a “surge of investment in new energy sources” in the final version of the UK government’s Energy National Policy Statement published yesterday ahead of the much anticipated energy debate at the parliament. This is not because the governments of the 8 major economies of the world are pro-renewable energy. It is simply because the whole world has realized that we cannot continue to generate energy in the conventional manner (the business as usual approach) if we intend to tackle the present issues associated with energy supply, demand, pricing and, most importantly, energy security. The need for secure, low carbon and cost effective energy sources cannot be over emphasized at the moment.

Since the early 90s when the energy revolution actively “re-started”, the cost of renewable energy systems have been reducing as extensive research and development have contributed to increasing the efficiency and performances of different green energy technologies particularly solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, tidal and wave energy systems. The gospel of this new energy order has also been spreading like wild fire to the corners of the earth. All of this has been made very possible by scientists, engineers, investors, politicians, environmental activists and energy enthusiasts like you and I who understand the key role energy security and sustainability will play in the rest of the 21st century.

I really can’t describe the progress being made so far better than the International Energy Outlook 2010 which stated that renewable energy has the highest development indices in terms of electricity generation. It also states that the global energy generation from all sources will increase by 2.3% per year from 2007 to 2035 (the highest rate ever). These statistics indicate that renewable energy is significantly contributing to meeting the ever increasing global demand for energy. It is a common knowledge that the demand for oil will be surpassing the capacity for oil producing countries to supply oil resources on a long term basis. This simply means that the world is consuming oil quicker than it is producing. Since 1970, every global recession recorded has been characterized by dramatic increases in the prices of oil. This is should be a source of concern.

At present, it is quite hard to overstate the need for more hands on deck to spur the realization of a global sustainable and affordable energy system. As the story of the making of a new energy world unfolds, we can be sure that the solution to the world’s pertinent energy crisis rests our ability to emerge with efficient, secure and affordable energy resources to compete with oil.

Let’s bring it on!