Estimated percentage by which renewable energy will be represented in Europe during the next few years:
• In 2015, 15% of electricity produced will be from renewable sources
• In 2020, 20% of energy production (excluding electricity) will be from renewable sources. Based on these predictions, renewable energy production will be six time greater in 2020 than it was in 2007
A SHORTAGE IN FOSSIL FUELS…RISING WORLDWIDE DEMAND
Rising energy prices coupled with climatic instability have awakened the general public, politicians and industry leaders to shortages in fossil fuels and the deteriorating environment caused by the way we produce and consume energy.
Given our current rate of consumption of fossil fuels, known reserves are approximately the following:
• Petroleum, 40 years of proved reserves
• Natural gas, more than 60 years (estimates vary between 65 and 100 years)
• Coal, more than two centuries
• Nuclear power, 50 years without uranium recycling, 100 years with recycling
In addition, there are unconventional resources of low-quality hydrocarbons that are difficult to extract: tar sands, deep offshore, etc.
The quality of these reserves is equal to conventional resources.
Finally, there is a significant quantity of methane gas (the primary ingredient in natural gas) present in the first 1,640 feet of oceanic sediment that has always been the object of heated debates as to whether or not it can be exploited.
In conclusion, with an increase in demand of 2% per year, there will be neither petroleum nor natural gas by 2100.
At the same time that shortages are being announced, worldwide demand for energy sources is progressively growing, especially in countries in rapid development, like China and India. The demand will grow by a minimum of 37% between now and 2030.
These opposing forces of decreasing supply and rising demand make renewable energy significantly more attractive as an alternative to fossil fuels.
In Europe, the renewable energy market, under market demands and government incentives, will triple between 2007 and 2030.
At the European Summit in Brussels in March 2007, state and government leaders committed to:
• Raising renewable energy’s part in the total consumption of energy from 6.5% to 20% by 2020
• Reducing greenhouse gases to less that 20% by 2020