The Production of Sound Frameworks and Systems for the Development Sources of Energy - Research Paper Example

Evidence from around the world portrays a general picture of declining oil reserves. Countries that were known for sustainable oil reserves have signaled a drastic change in the levels of production and availability of oil (Michaelides, 2011, p. 141). The emerging trend is that of countries that have reached their peak in the production of oil and instead converted into net importers of the commodity. The United Kingdom is one of the countries that has experienced especially sharp decline in its reserves and production levels (Kowalski, 2011, p. 63). Other countries that have reported significant decline in the levels of oil production include USA, Argentina, Norway, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Indonesia, and Mexico. Others are Denmark, Romania, Oman, Yemen, Gabon, and Australia (Gunkel, 2006, p. 55) Currently, some of the countries that still enjoy some significant amounts of oil reserves are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Canada, Venezuela, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Libya, and Nigeria. Fears over the possible depletion of oil reserves in the world have led many countries to increase their exploration activities in alternative regions with the hope of shoring up the dwindling supply of the natural resources (Farret, 2006, p. 45). In essence, it is important to consider the fact that some of the issues that have been associated with the need to increase the supply and prospecting of oil are predicated on the close association between the global economic stability and the availability of the oil reserves. Generally, some of the issues that connect with matters of stability of the world economies are dependent on the manner in which some oil producing countries have sought to influence systems through their conglomerates and other systems. Statistics from the British Petroleum (BP) indicate that oil reserves as at the period ending 2009 are same as 46 years when compared to the current levels of extraction (Ngo & Natowitz, 2012, p. 71). According to the same statistics, the total production of oil stood at 79.9 million barrels daily in the year 2009. The figures show that the total reserves around the world stand at 1333 billion barrels as at the period ending 2009. Other consultants affiliated to the World Bank show that the reserves within the OPEC group are much lesser than the 800 billion barrels that have been cited in alternative sources. According to other statistics, the new discoveries of oil in alternative parts of the world only reach one-fifth of the average consumption rate according to the current standards (Lillington, 2004, p.103). Projections from other sources indicate that the current rates of extraction have depleted nearly half of all available reserves of oil around the globe. In essence, it becomes necessary to consider the fact that some of the issues that connect with the levels of production are determined by the fears of total decline. The remaining reserves of oil around the world, according to some sources, will be exploited in a way that will reach a uniform peak before the world begins to experience a steady decline in the production (Giacobello, 2002, p. 26). All indicators show that the world will face an acute shortage of oil within a few decades. Current fluctuations in prices and the inability of global powers and the oil producers to reach agreements on the more sustainable ways of exploiting the oil resources has worsened fears of an early decline in oil production in many parts of the world. More grim projections show that world has already reached the peak of production. According to those who hold onto this view, the world reached a plateau in the production of oil at around the year 2015 (Giacobello, 2002, p. 96). Experts from Shell Oil Company have indicated that the world will feel the impact of the declining oil resources before the year 2015. According to the experts, the supply of oil will fail to reach the global demands (Giacobello, 2002, p. 88). Currently, the demand of oil has increased due to the many development activities that continue to take shape in the developed and the developing world. Another observation by a German-based group pointed out that the production of oil reached its peak in 2006 (Michaelides, 2011, p. 77). In a report published in 2007, the group pointed out that the production of oil will experience a percentage decrease of 3 percent annually. According to the group, the world will face severe shortage of oil given the fact that supplies will diminish by half the peak value by the year 2030. This view projects that many of the traditional oil production areas will deplete their supplies within two decades. This will precipitate significant competition by the industrialized powers to eat into the few remaining supplies in order to store up sufficient stocks for contingency incase the world reaches crisis levels. The whole picture portends of a sharp decline in the oil resource as countries around the world strive to achieve the optimum levels of production against an exponential increase in demand in both the developed and the developing world (Lillington, 2004, p. 53). In essence, industrialization and general development in the developing and the developed world will require the application of a range of strategies in order to achieve sustainability in energy in the wake of diminishing supplies around the world. Experts have observed that the prices of oil will continue to escalate in a way that will adversely hamper the economies of poor countries (Herbst & Hopley, 2007, p. 69). Rich countries will push poor countries from the market by hedging the prices of the commodity to levels that cannot be sustained by the latter. The increase in the price of oil from 20 dollars per barrel to 140 dollars per barrel between the years 1999 and 2008 is sufficient proof of the amount of the unsteady oscillation of the prices due to the unpredictable nature of supply against a sharp increase in consumption of the resource. Bidding of oil, according to energy experts will be limited to the rich countries. The economy balance in the world, according to some analysts will shift from the consumer countries to the producer countries. The imbalances between production and consumption of oil will create changes in the balance of power in the geopolitical sphere in ways that will illustrate the patterns of economic global supremacy. Although the exact impact of the unsteady oil prices on the world economy has not been detected, there are fears that some of the issues that connect with the increase in prices will inevitably lead to sharp increases in poverty levels due to a rise in the cost of living and inflationary pressures. Major oil companies and governments around the globe have collaborated for increasing the exploratory activities in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (Herbst, & Hopley, 2007). Countries in the East African regions such as Kenya and Uganda have offered some promising results in the initial phases of prospecting for the oil reserves. Nevertheless, projections indicate that the current efforts in the prospecting of oil cannot match the rising demands. As such, the world remains at the peril of depleting oil resources with indications showing that the future economies may become nearly dysfunctional if alternative sources of oil are not considered with considerable speed. One of the causative factors behind the rapid decline of oil reserves is the global trend of industrialization. The past decades have witnessed some significant improvement in the world economies despite some of the challenges that have attended to some of these developments (Richards, 2010, p. 31). Economic development, as understood in the modern economic discourse is largely determined by the pace of industrial development. Industrialization has become the universal hallmark of development. As such, it has become necessary for many countries around the world to engage in activities that contribute meaningfully towards industrial growth. Industrialization involves the consumption of large amounts of oil by the industries. In essence, prospects of competitive industrialization will eventually create significant pressure on the available resources. The rise of China as a world economic power has worsened the situation of the depleting oil resources. Today China is a leading importer of oil from multiple countries in the oil producing regions (Richards, 2010, p. 20). China’s economy continues to grow exponentially signaling the possibility of a severe strain on the world supply of oil. The main industrial developments that continue to take place in the country require sufficient supplies of fuel in order to achieve the optimum levels of production as determined in the current global economic climates. It is important to consider the fact that some of the issues that connect with the world economic stability have to be understood within the framework of competition for the limited oil resources. As one of the most precious commodities in the global economic matrix, oil has become a major determinant of economic growth and geopolitical power (Manwell, McGowan, & Rogers, 2009, p. 58). Such realities are caused by the fact that many of the economists, governments, and businessmen have embraced the reality of its continued depletion. Efforts by the world powers to revamp the production capacities of various countries have often involved a range of strategies that connect effectively with the need for the world to organize contingency measures to show up the failing capacities. Such efforts have mostly been directed towards the traditional oil producers in Europe, America, the Arab World, Asia, and other parts of the globe that have demonstrated some significant capacities in the production of oil (Hemami, 2012, p. 47). Fears abound regarding the long-term and short-term decline of oil reserves in the world. Some economists argue that such an eventuality could precipitate a devastating economic melt-down that could reverse much of the gains that have been achieved in the course of centuries. The oil resource remains one of the important factors that determines the world’s economic stability. Many levers of the economy are dependent on oil for the stability and sustainability. As such, fluctuations and instabilities in production and reserves effectively influence the state of other dependent economies. Efficiency in fuel consumption is one of the ways in which the world has responded to the decreasing supply in fossil fuels. Car manufacturers and engine builders have sought to develop fuel-efficient systems that consume less amounts of fuel. Other countries have adopted policies and practices that control the levels of usage of the oil resource by individuals and organizations. Such measures include the standardization of certain gadgets, implements, and machineries that are dependent on oil, with the objective of preventing the levels of consumption of the commodity and improve sustainability in the patterns of usage of the resource. For instance, certain capacities of engines attract higher levels of taxes in different countries and have been used to determine the manner in which companies and individuals use the available resources to lessen the impact of the global shortage of the oil resource. The production of fuel efficiency cars and the continued experimentations of the hydrogen cars and electric cars are some of the efforts that have sought to change the traditional patterns in engineering in response to insecurities in the oil resource. Alternative Sources of Energy Over the times governments, organizations, individuals, and the global community have used significant amounts of resources to explore on the possibilities of alternative sources of energy (Mitchell, 2011, p. 40). The developments around the world indicate that much of the driving concerns in the development of alternative sources of oil relates with the desire to achieve sustainability in energy and to lessen the kinds of speculation that have hampered the global financial markets due to the unpredictable nature in the availability and supply of oil resource. A range of alternatives has been considered with many countries attempting to implement strategies that might be relied upon to enhance the replacement or reduce the dependency of fossil fuels in the current economic world order (Pandey, Larroche, Ricke, Dussap, & Gnansounou, 2011, p. 74). Challenges of logistics, high costs of implementations, and fears of feasibility are some of the issues that have dogged numerous efforts to achieve alternative source of energy. Green energy and nuclear energy are some of the alternative sources of energy that have continued to retain the interest of the world economies. Many countries in the developed world have switched rapidly to nuclear energy as a reliable and efficient alternative source of energy for their economic systems (Scragg, 2009, p. 82). Britain, Germany, Japan, the United States, and Russia are some of the countries that rely significantly on nuclear energy for the production of electricity and other tasks that would have required significant amounts of fossil fuels. Nuclear energy is efficient in the sense that it produces a lot of energy with very little input. However, one of the major shortcomings of nuclear energy is that it requires significant amounts of financial input in order to develop the highly complex systems within which it operates. This would cause a problem for many poor countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa where budgetary allocations fail to meet the required levels of investment in the energy sector. Safety concerns remain a real threat that attaches to the development of nuclear energy. Essentially, the world is bound by systems that develop within certain frameworks that determine the manner in which systems operate. Past accidents relating to nuclear energy have been witnessed in Japan and Russia. Studies have not provided exact estimates on the levels of destruction that resulted from the two accidents. The environmental impact of nuclear energy in terms of radiation has made many environmentalists to oppose the development of nuclear energy citing the hazardous nature of the development. In essence, some of the issues that relate to the development of nuclear energy revolve around the factors of cost and safety. Solar energy remains one of the commonly used alternative sources of energy. Supporters of the use of solar energy argue that the source of energy is one of the most efficient when analyzed on the score of cost and maintenance. Other advantages that connect with the use of solar energy include the fact of pollution. Solar energy does not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As such, it is considered to be environmentally friendly and efficient in the manner in which it provides sufficient energy with minimal input. The application of solar power has featured mostly in the developing world mainly because the technology is user-friendly and cost-effective. Human societies have relied on wind energy for generations dating from 5000 BC. Cretans, Persians, and the Chinese are some of the generations that relied significantly on the use of wind energy. Early usage of wind energy was limited to a few tasks such as pumping of water and sailing. However, modern generations have adopted the use of wind energy for the purposes of generating electricity. Past decades have seen an increase in wind energy as countries continually switch to the wind as the most appropriate and affordable form of energy. It is important to consider the fact that the generation capacity of wind has increased with continued investment into this alternative. In essence, some major energy companies around the world have invested significantly in wind energy in order to protect themselves from the adverse impact of diminishing energy supplies in from the fossil fuels. Some of the challenges facing the production of wind energy relates to the lack of capacity of existing oil companies to acquire the necessary infrastructure that might be used in the generation of energy. The location of sites, environmental impact and the disruption of marine life are some of the challenges that have made it difficult for some companies to obtain the necessary official licenses required to proceed with the investment in wind energy. However, studies indicate that wind energy would offer a good alternative to fossil fuel because it does not have a heavy element of pollution when compared to the alternative forms of energy. Moreover, the cost of producing wind energy is much less when compared to the cost of producing fossil fuels. Another important advantage of wind energy is that wind cannot be depleted. Offshore and on-shore generation of wind has demonstrated significant efficiency, which includes the aspect of costs and production capacity. Usually, wind energy is considered to be at an experimental stage in most parts of the world. As such, there has not been a determined shift from the use of fossil fuels to the adoption of wind energy as an alternative form of energy. In essence, some of the countries that have adopted wind energy are those that enjoy certain geographical advantages such as proximity to large water bodies which are usually associated with abundance supply of wind. Water remains an important source of energy (Sherman, 2004, p. 8). Energy sourced from water compares to the energy that is produced from wind in the sense that they require less logistical expenses as compared to fossil fuels. Hydro generation remains one of the most widely used source of energy both in the developed and developing world (Edwards, 2003, p. 31). The abundance of water bodies in many parts of the world has favored the production of electricity from dams and other systems that suited to work with water. Further researches have continued with regard to the possibility of manufacturing hydrogen cars. The preliminary attempts in this direction have shown that such cars would pose lesser environmental challenges as compared to the conventional cars. A major disadvantage that has been associated with the generation of hydroelectric power is the unpredictable levels of water due to the effects of global warming and other environmental factors (Edwards, 2003, p. 28; Rodger, M 2010). Seasons of poor rainfall patterns often result in significant drops in water levels making it difficult for companies to generate sufficient electricity. Usually, the process of generation stalls whenever the levels of water drop below the optimum amounts necessary for the running of the dependent systems. Scientists and engineers have increased their efforts in attempts to produce green energy as a supplement or substitute to fossil fuels. Countries such as Brazil and the United States have carried out various experiments with the objective of assessing the possibility of the world switching from fossil fuels to biofuels (Pimentel, 2008, p. 85; Aluya, & Garraway, 2009). The experiments are still at the initial phases of the generations and concerns have continued regarding the manner in which such processes have to be streamlined within the process of producing alternative energy owing to the absence of precedents against which to measure the levels of feasibility, challenges, options, and opportunities (Demirbas, 2008, p. 111). Options for Oil Companies Currently, oil companies should increase their levels of expenditure and investments in processes and programs that are meant to fast-track the development of clean energy. Funding in areas of research into alternative forms of energy should continue with set limits on time in order for the companies to manage further explorations in areas that have been neglected. On this score, the oil companies should make use of the subsidies that governments such as the United States have offered to increase their activities in the search for alternative sources of energy. Such efforts would place the companies in good positions that could connect effectively with the emerging situations of oil shortages around the world. Some of the issues that have come up to define the place of oil companies in the world include the determination of a range of challenges that include logistics and the high costs of research into alternative sources of fuel. On this matter, oil companies should partner with governments, non-state actors, environmentalists, and other stakeholders to establish funds for use in the programs and processes required for the production of alternative sources of fuels. Such monies could be used in the lobbying for expanded policies on energy, which would make it possible for the oil companies to increase their efforts in the search for alternatives to fossil fuels. Energy companies should partner with research institutions that have made tremendous progress in the production and development of sound frameworks and systems for the development of alternative sources of energy. Many such companies have been limited by financial constraints to expand their processes to levels that can increase the feasibility in the search for alternative energy sources. As such, it becomes necessary to consider the fact that the shift to alternative sources of energy from the diminishing fossil fuels will require multiple players and strategies. Works Cited Aluya, J, & Garraway, O, L 2009, Disruptive Technology Meets the Biofuels Industry: Biofuels Global Implications, AuthorHouse, New York. Demirbas, A 2008, Biodiesel: A realistic fuel alternative for diesel engines, Springer, London. Edwards, B, K 2003, The economics of hydroelectric power, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. Farret, F, A 2006, Integration of Alternative Sources of Energy, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken. Giacobello, J 2002, Nuclear power of the future: New ways of turning atoms into energy, Rosen Publishers Group, New York. Gunkel, D 2006, Alternative energy sources, Greenhaven Press, Detroit. Hemami, A 2012, Wind turbine technology, Delmar, Cengage Learning, Clifton Park, New York. Herbst, A, M, & Hopley, G, W 2007, Nuclear energy now: Why the time has come for the world's most misunderstood energy source, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New.Jersey. Kowalski, K, M 2011, Alternative energy sources, Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, New York. Lillington, J, N 2004, The future of nuclear power, Elsevier, Oxford. Manwell, J, F, McGowan, J, G, & Rogers, A, L 2009, Wind energy explained: Theory, design and application, Wiley Chichester, U.K. Michaelides, E, E 2011, Alternative Energy Sources, Springer Berlin, Berlin. Mitchell, D, O 2011, Biofuels in Africa: Opportunities, prospects, and challenges, World Bank, Washington, D.C. Ngo, C, & Natowitz, J 2012, Our Energy Future: Resources, Alternatives and the Environment, John Wiley & Sons, New York. Pandey, A, Larroche, C, Ricke, S, C, Dussap, C, G, & Gnansounou, E 2011, Biofuels: Alternative Feedstocks and Conversion Processes, Elsevier Science, Burlington. Pimentel, D 2008, Biofuels, solar and wind as renewable energy systems: Benefits and risks, Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands. Richards, J 2010, Wind energy, Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, New York. Rodger, M 2010, Hydroelectric power: Power from moving water, Crabtree, New York. Scragg, A, H 2009, Biofuels, production, application and development, CABI, Wallingford, Oxfordshire. Sherman, J 2004, Hydroelectric power, Capstone Press Mankato, Minnesota. Read More