Alternative Energy
The most effective method of mitigating peak oil is to use renewable or alternative energy sources in place of petroleum.
Nuclear power, considered by some to be a viable alternative source, can be substituted for petroleum in some cases. China is preparing for the post-peak oil future by building pebble bed reactors configured to produce hydrogen fuel from the electrolysis of water. The use of nuclear power is often a highly contentious issue because of questions of the future availability of fuel and the dangerous nature of nuclear waste. Some current research projects are focused on neutron-free fusion power, in which hydrogen and boron are heated to over 1 billion degrees, though technical and economic barriers still exist.
In its October 2009 peak oil report, the Government-supported UK Energy Research Centre warned of the risk that 'rising oil prices will encourage the rapid development of carbon-intensive alternatives which will make it difficult or impossible to prevent dangerous climate change and stated that 'early investment in low-carbon alternatives to conventional oil is of considerable importance' in avoiding this scenario.
Read more about this topic: Mitigation Of Peak Oil
Famous quotes containing the words alternative and/or energy:
“If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Three elements go to make up an idea. The first is its intrinsic quality as a feeling. The second is the energy with which it affects other ideas, an energy which is infinite in the here-and-nowness of immediate sensation, finite and relative in the recency of the past. The third element is the tendency of an idea to bring along other ideas with it.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)