Breaking free during times of recession

In 2008, oil prices spiked and then collapsed, climate-change talks stuttered and nuclear power re-emerged.

Europe banned incandescent light bulbs and Britain made cutting emissions legally binding. While nature and the economy can be unpredictable, experts believe a warmer year is coming.

Carbon dioxide emissions are likely to drop as businesses slow. Some experts hope “green collar'' jobs will help reverse the recession but fossil fuels will probably continue to power much of the world for years.

Going green

Environmentalists say green technology is more labour-intensive than traditional energy resources such as oil and nuclear.

There will also be plenty of jobs in the energy-efficiency segment, according to Lester Brown, founder of the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute, who sees benefits to the economy and environment by retrofitting buildings.

Demand for crude oil, which neared $150 (Dh551) per barrel, fell in the previous year for the first time in 25 years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Radical shift

Oil prices will rise when economic growth resumes — unless the world transforms the energy model.

Concentrated solar-energy plants, electric cars, wave power — the list of new technologies is as long as it is exotic. For a transformative shift, experts are eyeing familiar turf.

1 Wind power: The world could generate 40 per cent of its electricity from wind by 2030. This will require 1.5 million turbines producing 2 megawatss each.

There are 100,000 turbines in operation and deployment is increasing. It may not be as far-fetched as it seems.

2 Carbon capture and storage: Even with a massive deployment of renewable energy, the world will still burn coal.
Efforts will have to be redoubled to develop systems that can sequester the carbon produced by burning coal and pump it back into the ground — an unproven technology called carbon capture and storage.

3 Energy efficiency: According to the IEA, by 2050, energy efficiency can cut usage by half of today's consumption. “We can change light bulbs,'' says Antony Froggatt, a climate-change expert at London's Chatham House think-tank.

“Buildings amount to 30 per cent of energy consumption in Europe. We can retrofit buildings.''