When you read statements to the effect that “there is enough oil to last for hundreds of years” combined with demands to remove subsidy payments from renewable energy sources, don’t be fooled.
The reality of oil from tar sands is a toxic wasteland in which oil is blasted from the ground using high pressure steam. For wildlife and residents it is an ecological disaster on an apocalyptic scale. Indeed often referred to as a vision of Dante’s Hell the once pristine Alberta wilderness is now a wasteland.
Such energy intensive oil extraction has of course, only been made economically feasible because of the current high cost of energy. What does this say about where energy prices are expected to go from here?
If we do see an economic recovery it will undoubtedly result in increased energy demands which in turn will force prices yet higher. The higher the price of oil, the more dirty and expensive resources become “attractive” and the more fragile the whole system becomes.
This is exactly why renewable energy subsidies are needed TODAY. To bring in the investment so that the UK is ready when conventional fossil fuel prices spike when economic recovery eventually happens. Aftertall, the £400 million renewable subsidy currently paid out will pale compared to the cost of living with, let along reversing, the effects of climate change.
This is why fossil fuels may appear cheaper, but they come with the biggest subsidy of all.