Fossil fuels could soon become significantly cheaper and more abundant as governments accelerate the transition to clean energy towards the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency.
This still works, see?
Reduced demand as everyone uses windmills, prices down……
The answer to expensive energy is fossil fuels – who’da thunk it?
Now all we need is for those in power to tell people this and offer us the option – cheap, reliable, fossil fuel energy or expensive, unreliable, renewable energy*.
*Of course, not forgetting that the expensive, unreliable renewable energy will still have to be supplemented by cheap, reliable, fossil fuel energy for decades to come……..
Addolff
One does wonder whether the Queensland Libs policy of just keeping the coal burners going indefinitely will gain them any votes on 26 Oct.
But I think all it’ll do is make sure they don’t lose any of the raving right wingers like me. Labor has already nailed their colours to the Green mast.
The government will manipulate the supply curve by adding fuel duty and manipulate the demand curve by banning things.
The laws of physics are the final arbiter, end of!!!
The answer to expensive energy is cheap energy.
Isn’t the demand for oil forecast to grow from that of today by 2050? Current consumption is just under 100m bpd, OPEC expect 120m bpd by 2045. Yes Western estimates are lower (BP suggests as low as 75m bdp by 2050) but I think I’ll take the views of the politically uncorrect Arabs over those of a woke corporate bureaucracy. Plus a higher demand prediction doesn’t actually favour OPEC as it would suggest higher prices in the future, meaning marginal non-OPEC producers might decide to stay in the market, in the hope of better times. If OPEC were promoting their own interests surely they’d predict a collapse in demand hoping to shake out a few marginal producers and thus be able to gain more pricing power in the future.
“The government will manipulate the supply curve by adding fuel duty and manipulate the demand curve by banning things.”
Well it can certainly try. The ban on fentanyl, heroin and cocaine is working so well. Add tobacco.
There comes a time when people stop listening to the government and just get on without them. The government lackies have to live somewhere, buy food from somewhere, get water from somewhere…
If they are so busy living inside their fortress they cease to bother anyone outside it. For long, anyway.
Isn’t this the Jeavon Paradox? Also, lately, I’ve been wondering at what point it’s cheaper to buy a diesel generator and switch off the mains feed. I’ve already got a petrol generator due to the frequent power cuts we get here in rural Wiltshire, but it does cost a bit to run – diesel might be a lot cheaper.
Current demand 103 million barrels per day (mbbl)
2050 forecast:
OPEC 120 mbbl
Exxon 80 mbbl
BP. 60 mbbl
In other words, no one has a clue.
… or Exxon and BP are “bigging up” their “Green” credentials. 🙂
Mmmm… From that we can take that, for energy, renewables will never actually be cheaper than fossil fuels.
China has been on a mad dash to electrify everything lately. In the domestic car market, EVs and PHEVs have a 50% market share. When a country of 1.4bn people consumes less oil, the global price falls.
This long piece from Reuters today goes into good detail: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-rapid-electrification-is-catching-out-oil-producers-russell-2024-10-16/