The space where oil is competitive is transportation. We are seeing massive gains in efficiency in that space.
The space where oil is competitive is transportation. We are seeing massive gains in efficiency in that space.
Even with electrical generation it's a mixed bag. The recent US fracking boom has also dramatically lowered the prices for natural gas. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal, so to the extent it's pushing us away from coal consumption it's serving to buy us some time. But it's still desequestering carbon, which means we're still going to need to stop well before we run out of available natural gas to burn.
My whole point is that I believe clean energy can stand on its own feet, and that when it does, fossil fuel use will plummet dramatically to almost nothing.
In the meantime, having a plentiful supply of fossil fuels is good for the economy and for national security. The whole point is to have a ton available but never need to use it.