In recent years, the energy industry has seen exponential growth. However, according to several independent assessments, there is growing recognition that the industry may need to resign to the fact that some of its commercially recoverable reserves will have to remain untouched and unexploited permanently. This stems from the pressing need to tackle environmental challenges, particularly global warming, and nudge the world towards more sustainable alternatives for energy production.
1. The energy industry has experienced exponential growth in recent times.
2. There is a growing recognition that some of the industry's commercially recoverable reserves may have to remain untouched due to environmental reasons.
3. The need to tackle environmental challenges such as global warming and a shift towards sustainable alternatives for energy production is pressing.
4. Various assessments indicate that the industry's current practice of exploiting all commercially recoverable reserves overlooks the broader environmental impact.
5. There is an urgent need for the energy industry to reassess its operating methods and explore greener technologies or strategies that would enable less resource extraction without adversely affecting profitability.
According to a study published in the journal Nature in 2015, a third of oil reserves, half of gas reserves, and over 80% of current coal reserves globally must remain in the ground and not be used before 2050 in order to meet the target of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.
However, this statement raises several questions, particularly on how realistically attainable such a goal could be considering the industry's current practices and its inherent structure. These independent assessments argue that the insistence on exploiting all commercially recoverable reserves overlooks the broader environmental impact that such operations would inevitably have. This perspective encourages a shift of thought – to view these untapped resources not as lost profits, but as necessary sacrifices for the sake of global environmental sustainability. Therefore, there is a pressing need for the industry to reassess its modes of operation and perhaps invent newer, greener technologies or strategies that would enable the reduction of resource extraction without significantly impacting profitability.