Alternative sources of energy
Non-sustainable energy resources as oil, gas, uranium and coal cover 86 % of our energy needs and as it took 300 million years for the planet to form fossil fuels, new fossil fuels simply cannot be created.
Renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydro power and bio fuels are a necessity, but not enough. In January 2007, The International Energy Agency estimated that renewable energy only supplies app. 13 % of the world’s energy use. The world must also reduce the waste of energy.
Source: International Energy Agency: "Renewable Energy Fact Sheet",. January 2007
The sixth fuel
The most sustainable and economically viable energy is the energy we do not use. Energy efficiency has become the largest ‘energy resource’ available. Bigger than oil. And much bigger than the renewable energy sources. As buildings account for some 40 % of our energy use in Europe and the US, there is a huge potential in making our buildings energy efficient. If European buildings undergoing modernization were brought up to contemporary (low) energy standards, it would over time save:
- 3.3 million barrels of oil energy per day
- 270 billion euro in annual energy costs
- 460 million tonnes of CO2 per year (more than the EU Kyoto Protocol commitment)
It would also create more than 500,000 new jobs, make each country capable of using valuable fossil fuels on more necessary purposes than cooling and heating and avoid the energy power to be concentrated on a few hands.
Burning less fossil fuel also has crucial environmental benefits. Energy savings are absolutely essential in reducing the world’s CO2 emissions and combating climate change.
(sources: Ecofys, CEPS and Eurima)
