Knowing energy trends will probably allow us to make some predictions and help us cope with future changes. That is my belief anyway. Here is some data to think about:
nuclear - would wide energy generation has been steady for the last 10 years. New plants have been built in China, Japan, South Korea and plants abandoned in the USA and parts of Europe. wind - rapid growth in generating capacity. Europe is leading in wind energy. Wind generators are one of the lowest cost generators at present. fossil (oil,coal,gas) - energy use has been level for the last 5 years but the long term trend is still up. The price of oil is fluctuate which is a warning sign. Many people believe we are reaching the hump and oil reserves will decline as will usage. solar - rapid growth. The long term trend is up. Costs are slowing decreasing. (this data is from the book "Vital Signs 2001" published by Worldwatch Institute) Conclusions: future use of wind is limited to a few good sites. Both nuclear and fossil fuels have natural limits and other problems. Solar has great potential. The energy source seldom mentioned is plants (solar energy collectors). At some point i think they will begin to appear on the charts. Last i heard fire wood was still the worlds major heating resource. jeff
