THE COST of oil, using sweet crude, as an example, has increased from less than US$5 per barrel in 1930 to over US$30 per barrel in 2003, and the rise has continued to over US$50 per barrel in 2004 and 2005 with a record high of US$75 per barrel in 2006.
This price escalation is impacting negatively on the energy production which drives the economy over the entire globe and especially in countries that are not blessed with oil, coal, or natural gas resources. All the countries in the Caribbean, except Trinidad, are dependent entirely on imported oil to meet their energy demands. As a result, the price hike is unbearable to the Caribbean developing countries. The International Energy Agency estimates indicate that global conventional oil production may peak between 2010 and 2020 and thereafter decline.
In addition to the rising cost, another negative quality of oil which applies to coal as well is that these fuels on burning emit undesirable materials (carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur compounds) that pollute the atmosphere and contribute to global warming through the so-called greenhouse effect.
Natural gas, although existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in natural underground geological formations, emits less amounts of carbon dioxide, sulphides and nitrogen oxides on burning. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. But the cost of extraction and transmission over longer distances, and gradual depletion of the resource could be limitations.
The rising cost of oil, the possibility of the declining of oil production over the next decade or so and also depletion of coal reserves, and global warming has waken up many nations to venture for other sources of fuels which are alternative to the traditional fossil fuels (oil, coal).
Alternative sources of energy are wind, solar, hydro, biomass (waste gas-methane, ethanol, bio-diesel), geothermal, ocean (thermal, wave), and natural gas. In a particular country and in a given situation, one or more of these energy sources shall be feasible.
Currently, wind, solar, hydro and natural gas are the ones primarily dominating the alternative energy market because of advancement in technologies and resource availability. Winds, solar and hydro have the advantage that they are renewable. Most of the developed nations are harnessing energy from all or some of these alternative sources (especially renewables) successfully to supplement their energy demand.
