Future of fossil fuels
Fossil fuels (particularly oil and gas) are meanwhile becoming scarcer and more expensive. When are oil and gas from the North Sea expected to ‘run out’?
This is a difficult question to answer since new deposits are still being discovered (see graph).
- The DTI estimated at end-2004 that 4333 million tonnes of oil had been discovered so far in the UK, of which 3005 had been produced and used. A higher proportion of gas remains to be produced.
- Production from the North Sea should continue into the 2040s, but will gradually decline from the present peak rate of 4 million barrels of oil per day.
Worldwide it has been suggested that production of gas will not peak until 2090. - There is also a plentiful supply of coal, with global reserves identified that are sufficient for several hundred years at present rates of use.
Fossil fuels produce global warming. What are the UK plans to replace them?
How can the CO2 targets be met? Are there alternative energy sources to fossil fuels?
- The aim is to generate 10% of electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2010 and 20% by 2020.
