Energy
Strategy, Technology, and Current Issues in
the Oil Industry
Energy Overview / Current Issues in Energy
Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
Issue:
Alternative Energies: Easy-to-find,
cheap-to-produce oil no longer exists.
Alternative energies have been caught in bubbles as well, although
as a long-term solution, they will definitely continue to be of
interest as technologies improve.
According to many to pundits, the clean energy bubble popped in
2009, resulting in an opportunity to rebuild now.
Cheap, easy, convenient oil has more or less disappeared. Right
now, oil reserves cost more to exploit. They are in harsh
environments (deepwater offshore, remote jungles, and in the
arctic), and require extreme technology (imaging for subsalt
reservoirs). There are also enhanced oil recovery efforts in
mature basins, which present technological and environmental
challenges.
On the other hand, other industry experts and leaders claim that
the concept of “peak oil” is groundless. For example, Bob Dudley,
chief executive of BP claims that oil production will increase
along with gas from unconventional sources.
They are controversial, however, because they utilize so much
water and they require energy to produce them.
There will be a great deal of effort expended in piggybacking
alternative / renewable energy with the extraction of
non-renewables to make a more environmentally friendly solution
possible.
Readings:
Solar Energy Outlook for 2013
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/the-solar-outlook-for-2013
Wind Energy Fact Sheet
http://www.awea.org/learnabout/publications/factsheets/index.cfm
Global Renewable Energy Market Outlook 2013 (Bloomberg New Energy
Finance)
http://about.bnef.com/files/2013/04/Global-Renewable-Energy-Market-Outlook-2013.pdf
Biomass Energy Industry Outlook: Dogged by Regulatory Uncertainty
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/biomass-industry-outlook-2013-dogged-by-regulatory-uncertainty
Energy sources will be increasingly important as global energy
demand is projected to continue to increase at an average of 2%
per year until 2020, and then by 1.3% by 2030, with most of the
increased demand coming from China and India. (Harvey, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/16/peak-oil-theories-groundless-bp)
Harvey, Fiona (2013) Peak oil theories ‘increasingly groundless’,
says BP chief. The Guardian. Jan 16, 2013.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/16/peak-oil-theories-groundless-bp
Geothermal Energy CoProduction with Oil and Gas
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/07/oil-and-gas-coproduction-expands-geothermal-power-possibilities
Time to Move On to the Next Bubble: Clean Energy
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2008/01/time-to-move-on-to-the-next-bubble-clean-energy-51203
Guiding Questions:
What is the key argument in favor of the idea that we do not have
to worry about oil or gas shortage?
What are some of the points that Bob Dudley makes? Do you agree?
How is the world demand for energy increasing? Where is it
increasing? Why? What kinds of energy are under the most pressure
to expand?
Why and how could clean energy growth be a bubble? What would
cause unsustainable growth?