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#REDIRECT [[Energy_development#Future]]
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[[Energy development]] is the ongoing effort to provide abundant and accessible energy, through knowledge, skills and constructions. When harnessing energy from primary energy sources and converting them into ever more convenient secondary energy forms, such as electrical energy and cleaner fuels, both quantity (harnessing more energy) and quality (more efficient use) are important.
Future energy development faces great challenges due to an increasing world population, demands for higher standards of living, demands for less [[pollution]] and a much discussed end to fossil fuels.
Without energy, the entire infrastructure would collapse; [[agriculture]], [[transportation]], [[sewage|waste collection]]. In that scenario, the resulting mass [[famine]] could lead to a [[Malthusian catastrophe]], in which humanity will need to move out of the cities and rely on [[foraging]] and basic survival again. [[Image:World energy consumption, 1970-2025, EIA.png|frame|Historical and projected world energy production by energy source, 1970-2025, Source: International Energy Outlook 2004, [[Energy Information Administration|EIA]]. [[International Energy Agency|IEA]] makes a similar projection. Others instead predict early oil and gas production peaks, see [[Hubbert Peak]].]]
== General considerations ==
All the energy we consume is generated by using the four [[fundamental forces]] of nature: [[gravity]], [[electromagnetism]] (commonly known as solar radiation or [[solar energy]]), the [[weak nuclear force]] and the [[strong nuclear force]] to create [[mechanical work|work]]. [[nuclear fission|Fission]] energy and [[nuclear fusion|fusion]] energy are generated by the strong nuclear force. Most forms of terrestrial energy can be traced back to fusion reaction inside the sun, with the exception of [[tidal power]], [[geothermal energy]] and [[nuclear power]]. Geothermal energy is generated by nuclear reactions inside the Earth. Radioactive decay energy is generated by the weak nuclear force. Tidal energy comes from the gravity energy of the Earth/Moon system.
Most human energy sources today use energy from sunlight, either directly like solar cells or in stored forms like fossil fuels. Once the stored forms are used up (assuming no contribution from the three previous energy sources and no energy from space exploration) then the long-term energy usage of humanity is limited to that from the sunlight falling on earth. The total energy consumption of humanity today is equivalent to about 0.1-0.01% of that. But humanity cannot exploit most of this energy since it also provides the energy for almost all other lifeforms and drives the weather cycle [http://www.aims.ac.za/~mackay/oomm.html][http://www.world-builders.org/lessons/less/biomes/SunEnergy.html].
World energy production by source: Oil 40%, natural gas 22.5%, coal 23.3%, nuclear 6.5%, hydroelectric 7.0%, biomass and other 0.7% [http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/energy/stats_ctry/Stat1.html]. In the U.S., transportation accounted for 28% of all energy use and 70% of petroleum use in 2001; 97% of transportation fuel was petroleum [http://www.spe.org/spe/jpt/jsp/jptmonthlysection/0,2440,1104_11038_1040074_1202151,00.html].
The United Nations projects that world population will stabilize in 2075 at nine billion due to the [[demographic transition]]. Birth rates are now falling in most developing nations and the population would decrease in several developed nations if there was no [[immigration]] [http://www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.htm]. Still, [[economic growth]] probably requires a continued increase in energy consumption. Since 1970, each 1% increase in world GDP has yielded a 0.64% increase in energy consumption [http://www.iea.org/Textbase/nppdf/free/2000/weo2002.pdf].
In [[geology]], ''resources'' refer to the amount of a specific substance that may be present in a deposit. This definition does not take into account the economic feasibility of exploitation or the fact that resources may not be recoverable using current technology. ''Reserves'' constitute those resources that are recoverable using current technology. They can be recovered economically under current market conditions. This definition takes into account current mining technology and the economics of recovery, including mining and transport costs, government royalties and current market prices. Reserves decrease when prices are too low for some of the substance to be recovered economically, and increase when higher prices make more of the substance economically recoverable. Neither of these terms consider the energy required for exploitation (except as reflected in economic costs) or whether there is a net energy gain or loss.
Energy production usually requires an energy investment. Drilling for oil or building a wind power plant requires energy. The fossil fuel ''resources'' (see above) that are left are often increasingly more difficult to extract and convert. They may thus require increasingly higher energy investments. If the investment is greater than the energy produced, then the fossil resource is no longer an energy source. This means that a large part of the fossil fuel resources and especially the non-conventional ones cannot be used for energy production today. Such resources may still be exploited economically in order to produce raw materials for [[plastics]], [[fertilizers]] or even transportation fuel but now more energy is consumed than produced. (They then become similar to ordinary mining ''reserves'', economically recoverable but not net positive energy sources.) New technology may ameliorate this problem if it can lower the energy investment required to extract and convert the resources. One example being that the use of [[lasers]] may revolutionize [[oil drilling]] [http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/features/fex40407.htm].
The classification of energy sources into renewables and non-renewables is not without problems. Geothermal power and hydroelectric power are classified as [[renewable energy]] but geothermal sites eventually cool down and hydroelectric [[dams]] gradually become filled with [[silt]] which is be very expensive to remove. Although it can be argued that while a specific ___location may be depleted, the total amount of potential geothermal and hydroelectric power is not and a new power plant may sometimes be built on a different ___location. Nuclear power is not classified as a renewable but the amount of uranium in the seas may continue to be replenished by rivers through erosion of underground resources for as long as the remaining life of the [[Sun]]. Fossil fuels are finite but hydrocarbon fuel may be produced in several ways as described below.
==Fossil fuels==
[[Fossil fuels]] supply most of the energy consumed today. They are relatively concentrated and pure energy sources and technically easy to exploit, and provide cheap energy if the costs of pollution are ignored. [[Petroleum]] products provide almost all of the world's transportation fuel.
[[Pollution]] is a large problem. The fossil fuels contribute to [[global warming]] and [[acid rains]]. The use of fossil fuels, mainly coal, causes tens of thousands of deaths each year in the US alone from diseases like respiratory disease, [[cardiovascular disease]], and [[cancer]] [http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/cleanair.htm]. Both derivatives from the hydrocarbon fuel itself like [[carbon dioxide]] and impurities like [[heavy metals]], [[sulfur]], and [[uranium]] contribute to the pollution. Natural gas is generally considered the least polluting of the fossil fuels with coal being the most polluting. Some of the non-conventional forms like oil shale may be significantly more polluting than the conventional ones. These problems may be lessened by new ways of burning the fuels and cleaning up the exhaust. The storage of the [[ashes]] and the pollutants recovered from the cleaning processes may also be a problem. To ameliorate the greenhouse gas emissions from burning hydrocarbons and coal, various techniques have been proposed for [[carbon sequestration|CO<sub>2</sub> sequestration]].
Fossil fuels are also finite. See [[Hubbert peak]] for a discussion about the projected production peak of oil and other fossil fuels.
===Oil===
====Conventional oil====
''Main article: [[Hubbert peak]]''
The pessimists predict that conventional oil production will peak in 2007. There are many other predictions, one example is that the world conventional oil production will peak somewhere between 2020 and 2050, but that the output is likely to increase at a substantially slower rate after 2020 (Greene, 2003).
====Non-conventional oil====
''Main article: [[Non-conventional oil]]''
Non-conventional types of production include: [[tar sand]]s, [[oil shale]] and [[bitumen]]. These resources are estimated to contain three times as much oil as the remaining conventional oil resources but few are economically recoverable with current technology [http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/DeutscheBankOil.htm].
===Natural gas===
====Conventional natural gas====
The turning point for conventional [[natural gas]] will probably be somewhat later than for oil [http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/DeutscheBankOil.htm]. The pessimists predict a peak for conventional gas production between 2010 and 2020.
====Non-conventional natural gas====
There are large unconventional gas resources, like [[methane hydrate]] or geopressurized zones, that could increase the amount of gas by a factor of ten or more, if recoverable [http://www.naturalgas.org/overview/unconvent_ng_resource.asp][http://www.naturalgas.org/overview/resources.asp].
Vast quantities of methane hydrate are inferred from the actual finds. Methane hydrate is a [[clathrate]]; a [[crystal|crystalline]] form in which [[methane]] molecules are trapped. The form is stable at low temperature and high pressure, conditions that exist at ocean depth of 500 meters or more, or under [[permafrost]]. Inferred quantities of methane hydrates exceed those of all other fossil fuels combined, including oil, conventional natural gas and coal [http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2000/weo2001.pdf].Technology for extracting methane gas from the hydrate deposits in commercial quantities has not yet been developed. A research and development project in [[Japan]] is targeting commercial-scale technology by 2016 [http://www.mh21japan.gr.jp/english/mh21/02keii.html].
There are several companies developing the [[Fischer-Tropsch process]] to enable practical exploitation of so-called [[stranded gas reserve]]s.
===Coal===
There are large but finite [[coal]] reserves which may increasingly be used as an energy source during oil depletion. There are today 200 years of economically exploitable reserves at the current rate of consumption. Reserves have increased by over 50% in the last 22 years and are expected to continue to increase [http://wci.rmid.co.uk/uploads/RoleofCoal.pdf]. Coal resources are estimated to be 10 times larger. [http://www.worldenergy.org/wec-geis/publications/reports/ser/coal/coal.asp] Large amounts of coal waste that has been produced during coal mining and stored near the mines could become exploitable with new technology [http://www.ultracleanfuels.com/main.htm].
[[Image:WEC Scenario A3.jpg|frame|left|The World Energy Council in 1993 projected several possible scenarios for energy production during the 21th century. This is scenario A3, in which economic growth, energy consumption increases and energy efficiency improvements are strong. The roles of natural gas, new renewables and nuclear is emphasized in averting serious problems from emissions [http://www.worldenergy.org/wec-geis/edc/scenario.asp].]]
==Nuclear power==
''Main article: [[Nuclear power]]''
At the present use rate, there are 50 years left of low cost known [[uranium]] reserves [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf75.htm]. Given that the cost of fuel is a minor cost factor for fission power, more expensive, lower grade, sources of uranium could be used in the future. For example: extraction from seawater or granite. Another alternative would be to use [[thorium]] as fission fuel. Thorium is three times more abundant in the Earth crust than uranium [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.htm].
Current [[LWR|light water reactors]] burn the nuclear fuel poorly, leading to energy waste. [[Nuclear reprocessing]] [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf04.htm] or burning the fuel better using different reactor designs would reduce the amount of waste material generated and allow better use the available resources. As opposed to current light water reactors which use [[Uranium-235]] (0.7% of all natural uranium), [[fast breeder|fast breeder reactors]] use [[Uranium-238]] (99.3% of all natural uranium). It has been estimated that there is anywhere from 10,000 to five billion years worth of Uranium-238 for use in these power plants [http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/cohen.html]. Breeder technology has been used in several reactors [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf08.htm].
The possibility of reactor accidents, like the [[Three Mile Island]] and [[Chernobyl]] [[Nuclear meltdown|meltdowns]], have caused much public fear. Research is being done to lessen the known problems of current reactor technology by developing automated and [[passively safe]] reactors. Coal and hydropower has caused many more deaths per energy unit produced than nuclear [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf06.htm]. Various kinds of energy infrastructure might be attacked by [[terrorists]], including nuclear power plants, hydropower plants, and [[liquified natural gas]] [[tankers]].
[[Nuclear proliferation]] is the spread from nation to nation of nuclear technology, including nuclear power plants but especially [[nuclear weapons]]. New technology like [[SSTAR]] may lessen this risk.
The long-term [[radioactive waste]] storage problems of nuclear power have not been fully solved. Several countries have considered using underground repositories. U.S nuclear waste from various locations is planned to be entombed inside [[Yucca Mountain]], Nevada. Nuclear waste takes up little space compared to wastes from the chemical industry which remain toxic indefinitely [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf04.htm]. In the future, fusion or ADS systems could eliminate waste [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf35.htm]. In the meantime, spent fuel rods are stored in concrete casks close to the nuclear reactors [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.02/nuclear.html].
Advocates of nuclear power point out that it is a cost competitive way to produce energy versus fossil fuels, especially if you take into account fossil fuel [[Externality|externalities]], the same way nuclear reactors have to pay for their pollution and plant decommissioning costs [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf02.htm]. Using life cycle analysis, it takes 4-5 months of energy production from the nuclear plant to fully pay back the initial energy investment. Nuclear energy gives more energy per input energy than many other energy sources. If energy becomes scarce, this could be important [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf11.htm]. It is possible to relatively rapidly increase the number of plants. New reactor designs have a construction time of 3-4 years.[http://www.uic.com.au/nip16.htm]. 43 plants were being built in 1983, before an unexpected fall in fossil fuel prices stopped most new construction. Developing countries like India and China are rapidly increasing their nuclear energy use [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.09/china.html][http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf17.htm].
[[Fusion power]] could solve many of the problems of [[nuclear fission|fission power]] (the technology mentioned above) but, despite research having started in the 1950s, no commercial fusion reactor is expected before 2050 [http://www.iter.org/index.htm]. Many technical problems remain unsolved.
==Renewable energy==
''Main article: [[Renewable energy]]''
Another possible solution to an energy shortage or predicted future shortage would be to use some of the world's remaining fossil fuel reserves as an investment in [[renewable energy]]. Before the [[industrial revolution]], they were the only energy source used by humanity. Solid [[biofuel]] like [[wood]] is still the main power source for many poor people in developing countries, where overuse may lead to [[deforestation]] and [[desertification]]
[[Hydroelectricity]] is the only renewable today making a large contribution to world energy production. The long-term technical potential is believed to be 9 to 12 times current hydropower production, but increasingly, environmental concerns block new dams [http://www.spe.org/spe/jpt/jsp/jptmonthlysection/0,2440,1104_11038_1040074_1202151,00.html].
[[Solar cells]] can convert around 17% of the energy of incident sunlight to electrical energy. [[Solar thermal energy|Solar thermal]] collectors can capture 70-80% as usable heat. Researchers have estimated that algae farms could convert 10% into [[biodiesel]] energy. If built out as solar collectors, 1% of the land today used for crops and pasture could supply the world's total energy consumption. A similar area is used today for hydropower, as the electricity yield per unit area of a solar collector is 50-100 times that of an average hydro scheme. [http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/14/6/2/1]
[[Wind power]] is one of the most cost competitive renewables today. Its long-term technical potential is believed to be up to 1.4 times total current world energy use [http://www.spe.org/spe/jpt/jsp/jptmonthlysection/0,2440,1104_11038_1040074_1202151,00.html]. This number could increase if using high altitude airborne wind turbines [http://www.wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,67121,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2].
[[Geothermal power]] and [[tidal power]] are the only renewables not dependent on the sun but are today limited to special locations. All available tidal energy is equivalent to 1/4 of total human energy consumption today [http://www.spe.org/spe/jpt/jsp/jptmonthlysection/0,2440,1104_11038_1040074_1202151,00.html]. Geothermal power has a very large potential if considering all the heat generated inside Earth.
[[Ocean thermal energy conversion]] and [[wave power]] are other renewables with large potential. Several other variations of utilizing energy from the sun also exist, see [[renewable energy]].
Most renewable sources are diffuse and require large land areas and great quantities of construction material for significant energy production. There is some doubt that they can be built out rapidly enough to replace fossil fuels [http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/14/6/2/1]. The large and sometimes remote areas may also increase energy loss and cost from distribution. On the other hand, some forms allow small-scale production and may placed very close to consumers which reduce distribution problems.
The large areas affected also means that renewables may have a negative environmental impact. Hydroelectricity dams, like the [[Aswan Dam]], have adverse consequences both upstream and downstream. The flooded areas also contain decaying organic material that release gases contributing to global warming. The mining and refining of large amounts of construction material may also affect the environment.
Aside from hydropower and geothermal power, which are site-specific, renewable supplies generally have higher costs than fossil fuels if the externalized costs of pollution are ignored, as is common. Renewables like wind and solar are cost effective in remote areas that are off grid because the cost of a grid connection is high, as is the cost of transporting diesel fuel. The fact that small diesel [[generators]] are not hugely efficient and the fact that they consume fuel and make noise even when offload also makes renewables seem more desirable in this situation.
There is some hope that further investment in R&D might bring down the cost of some renewable energy sources. Nuclear power has been subsidized by 0.5-1 trillion dollars since the 1950s. No comparable investment has yet been made in renewable energy. Even so, the technology is improving rapidly. For example, [[solar cells]] are a hundred times less expensive today than the 1970s. Larger scale production of renewable sources might also decrease unit costs.
Renewable sources currently make most sense in less developed areas of the world, where the population density cannot economically support the construction of an electrical grid or petroleum supply network. Without these investments, fossil fuel energy sources do not enjoy large [[economies of scale]], and distributed, small-scale electrical generation from renewables is often cheaper.
[[Image:HDI & Electricity per capita.png|frame|right|Higher electricity use per capita correlates with a higher score on the [[Human Development Index]](1997). Developing nations score much lower on these variables than developed nations. The continued rapid economic growth and increase in living standards in developing nations with large populations, like China and India, is dependent on a rapid and large expansion of energy production capacity.]]
==Increased efficiency in current energy use==
New technology may make better use of already available energy, examples being more efficient [[lightbulbs]], [[engines]] and [[insulation]]. Using [[heat exchanger]]s, it is possible to recover some of the energy in waste warm water and air, for example to preheat incoming fresh water. [[Mass transportation]] increases energy efficiency compared to widespread automobile use while [[air travel]] in its current form is regarded as inefficient. Hydrocarbon fuel production from [[pyrolysis]] could also be in this category, allowing recovery of some of the energy in hydrocarbon waste. [[Meat]] production is energy inefficient compared to the production of protein sources like [[soybean]] or [[Quorn]]. Already existing [[power plants]] often can and usually are made more efficient with minor modifications due to new technology. Note that none of these methods allows [[perpetual motion]], some energy is always lost to heat.
[[Electricity distribution]] may change in the future. New small scale energy sources may be placed closer to the consumers so that less energy is lost during electricity distribution. New technology like [[superconductivity]] may also decrease the energy lost. [[Distributed generation]] permits electricity "consumers", who are generating electricity for their own needs, to send their surplus electrical power back into the power grid.
==Energy storage and transportation fuel==
There is a widely held misconception that [[hydrogen]] is an alternative energy source. There are no uncombined hydrogen reserves on Earth that could provide energy like fossil fuels or uranium. Uncombined hydrogen is instead produced with the help of other energy sources. It may play an important role in a future [[hydrogen economy]] as a general [[energy storage]] system, used both to smooth power output by intermittent power sources, like solar power, and as transportation fuel for vehicles. However, the idea is currently impractical: hydrogen is inefficient to produce, and expensive to store, transport, and convert back to electricity. New technology may change this in the future.
Many renewable energy systems produce intermittent power. Other generators on the grid can be throttled to match varying production from renewable sources, but most of this throttling capacity is already committed to handling variations in load. Further development of intermittent renewable power will require simultaneous development of storage systems such as hydrogen. See [[grid energy storage]] for other alternatives. Intermittent energy sources may be limited to at most 20-30% of the electricity produced for the grid without such storage systems. Some energy will be lost when converting to and from storage and the storage systems will also add to the cost of the intermittent energy sources requiring them. If electricity distribution loss and costs could be greatly reduced, then intermittent power production from many different sources could be averaged into smooth output. Renewables that are not intermittent include hydroelectric power, geothermal power, [[solar chimney]], ocean thermal energy conversion, high altitude airborne wind turbines, [[biofuel]], and [[solar power satellite]]s.
There are also other alternatives for transportation [[fuel]]. The [[Fischer-Tropsch process]] converts coal, natural gas, and low-value refinery products into diesel. This process was developed and used extensively in World War II by the Germans, who had limited access to crude oil supplies. It is today used in South Africa to produce most of country's diesel from coal. [http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/pdfs/epa_fischer.pdf] This technology could be used as an interim transportation fuel if conventional oil were to disappear. Coal itself has historically been used directly for transportation purposes in vehicles and boats using [[steam engines]]. [[Compressed natural gas]] is another alternative.
Liquid hydrocarbon fuels can also be produced by [[pyrolysis]] of organic wastes, by [[photosynthesis]] from [[carbon dioxide]] which produces [[biofuels]] like [[biodiesel]] or [[alcohol fuel]]s, or by industrial processes [http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2620]. Although the last possibility requires energy from some other source. Compared to hydrogen, these fuels have the advantage of reusing existing engine technology and existing fuel distribution infrastructure.
Nuclear power has been used in large ships [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf34.htm]. High technology [[sails]] could provide some of the power for ships [http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/mg18524881.600]. [[Electric vehicles]] and [[electric boat]]s not using hydrogen are other alternatives. Several companies are proposing vehicles using [[compressed air]] as fuel. [http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/aircar18_20040318.htm] [http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/03/2335206&from=rss]. [[Airship]]s require less onboard fuel than a traditional aircraft and combining airship technology with [[glider]] technology may eliminate onboard fuel completely [http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002239.html]. Some [[mass transportation]] systems, like [[trolleybus]] or [[metro]], can use electricity directly from the grid and do not need a liquid fuel or battery.
[[Boron]] [http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/boron_blast.html] or [[silicon]] [http://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000079095.pdf] have also been proposed as energy storage solutions.
==Speculative==
[[Abiogenic petroleum origin]] and [[cold fusion]] has been proposed as very controversial future sources of energy. [[Space exploration]] could yield energy sources from satellites (see [[solar power satellite]]), from the moon (see [[helium-3]]), from other planets (see [[abiogenic petroleum origin]] for a list of planets with hydrocarbons), and from a [[Dyson sphere]]. The [[accretion disc]] of a [[black hole]] can convert about 50% of the mass energy of an object into radiation, as opposed to nuclear fusion which can only convert a few percent of the mass to energy.
==See also==
*[[Earth's energy budget]]
*[[Environmental concerns with electricity generation]]
*[[Kardashev scale]]
==External links==
===Organizations===
*[http://www.iea.org/Textbase/subjectqueries/index.asp IEA Energy Information Centre]
**[http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/pubs/index.asp World Energy Outlook series, free before 2003, different focus each year]
**[http://www.iea.org/Textbase/publications/newfreesearch.asp Free publications from IEA]
*[http://www.worldenergy.org/wec-geis/publications/reports/ser/overview.asp WEC Survey of Energy Resources]
**[http://www.worldenergy.org/wec-geis/publications/default/online.asp Online publications from WEC]
**[http://www.worldenergy.org/wec-geis/edc/energy_links.asp Links to a broad range of international governmental and non-governmental organisations]
*[http://www.eia.doe.gov/ U.S. Energy Information Agency]
**[http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html International energy outlook 2004]
*[http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid17.php Rocky Mountain Institute articles on energy]
*[http://www.electricitystorage.org Electricity Storage Association on articles on energy storage]
*[http://www.intuser.net/ Information Network on the Technology of Utilisation and Sustainability of Energy Resources]
===Articles===
*[http://www.aims.ac.za/~mackay/oomm.html Order of Magnitude Morality]
*[http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/14/6/2/1 Do we need nuclear power?]
*[http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/sustainability-faq.html Progress and its sustainability]
*[http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/AlternativesToOil.html Alternatives to Oil: Fuels of the Future or Cruel Hoaxes?]
*[http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/052703_9_questions.html Nine Critical Questions to Ask About Alternative Energy]
*[http://www.hubbertpeak.com/youngquist/altenergy.htm Alternative Energy Sources]
*[http://www.spe.org/spe/jpt/jsp/jptmonthlysection/0,2440,1104_11038_1040074_1202151,00.html World energy beyond 2050]
===Blogs===
*[http://alt-e.blogspot.com/ Alternative energy blog]
*[http://energyoutlook.blogspot.com/ Energy outlook]
*[http://www.futurepundit.com/ Futurepundit]
*[http://www.greencarcongress.com/ Green car congress]
*[http://renewablesoffshore.blogspot.com/ LOCE Wind and Wave Energy Weblog]
*[http://blog.monkeysign.net/ Monkeysign]
*[http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/ NEI Nuclear Notes]
*[http://peakoiloptimist.blogspot.com/ Peak oil optimist]
*[http://ergosphere.blogspot.com/ The Ergosphere]
== References ==
*Greene, D.L. & J.L. Hopson. (2003). [http://www-cta.ornl.gov/cta/Publications/ORNL_TM_2003_259.pdf Running Out of and Into Oil: Analyzing Global Depletion and Transition Through 2050] ORNL/TM-2003/259, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Octobe
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