IEA warns oil will hit $200 a barrel by 2030

International Energy Agency claims "current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable"

Posted by Zaki Bernoussi

Tom Young, BusinessGreen, 07 Nov 2008

The IEA (International Energy Association) has claimed that oil will hit 200 a barrel by 2030. Though this seems far away, and in our present time oil is relatively low, the IEA has predicted that this low oil price is not here to stay. Even as early as mid next year we could be seeing oil back to high high prices.

The demand for oil is increasing on a global scale because of the drying of the oil fields that we have so feverishly depleted. The oil industry will have to invest in excess of 16 trillion over the next 20 years to meet demand. New fields are trying to be found but the reality is a need for new renewable resources. Oil companies are having to resort to more costly alternatives such as oil from tar sands.

The idea is that we must cut carbon emissions. If this is done through a newer way to fuel our everyday lives then the predictions of the IEA may not have to come true. A spokeswoman for the UK's largest solar manufacturer, Solar Century, said that the IEA report was "an indicator of the need for the economy to change to a new energy mix".

Nick Medic of the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), argued that in the long term renewable energy sources had the potential to deliver a more stable energy supply than oil. "This kind of price volatility with oil will encourage countries to realise an energy mix with a greater share of renewables is going to provide a more reliable supply of energy at a more stable price," he said.

The IEA report has taken what needs to be done and given just another reason to get it done. We have a crisis in the form of oil and energy and all signs point to a future with very high prices for this depleted resource; we must act now and find an alternative. To me it seems that wind energy is in the minds of most experts. I say lets go for it while oil prices are still relatively low.



http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2230069/soaring-oil-price-encourage