Energy gap: Crisis for humanity?

Monday, January 30, 2006

A story by Richard Black on the BBC News Web site reviews the current state of affairs and our options:

It is perhaps too early to talk of an energy "crisis".

But take your pick from terms like "serious concern" and "major issue" and you will not be far from the positions which analysts are increasingly adopting. . . .

The immediate question is whether the crash comes soon, or whether humanity has time to plan a comfortable way out.

Even if it can, the planning is not necessarily going to be easy, or result in cheap solutions. Every energy source has its downside; there is no free lunch, wherever you look on the menu. . . .

No free lunch, indeed - but a desperately tortuous and risk-laden menu and a kitchen where political or environmental fires could flare up at any moment.