Reference no: EM13786990

Write a summary of the article Vanishing Oil and Gas.

Supplies of cheap, conventional oil and gas are declining while our energy demands continue to increase. It is clear that our reliance on fossil fuels cannot continue indefinitely. With the world's population projected to increase to over nine billion over the next 40 years, "business-as-usual" is not an option.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), production from known oil and gas reserves will fall by around 40-60 per cent by 2030. Yet the developed world's thirst for energy is unabated, while demand is rocketing in emerging economies, such as China, India and Brazil. If everyone in the world used oil at the same rate as the average Saudi, Singaporean or U.S. resident, the world's proven oil reserves would be used up in less than 10 years. Competition for fossil fuel resources is a source of international tension, and potentially conflict.

Energy companies are increasingly looking to fill the gap with unconventional sources of oil and gas, such as shale gas, oil from deep water platforms like BP's Deepwater Horizon, or the Canadian tar sands. But these come at an unprecedented cost-and not just in economic terms. Many reserves are located in some of the world's most pristine places-such as tropical rainforests and the Arctic-that are vital for biodiversity and the ecosystem services that we all depend on, from freshwater to a healthy atmosphere. Extracting them is difficult and dangerous, and costly to businesses, communities and economies when things go wrong.

Processing and using unconventional fossil sources produces large quantities of greenhouse gasses and chemical pollution, and puts unsustainable demands on our freshwater resources, with severe impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services.