The Energy Promised Land?

Daniel Yergin from Cambridge Energy Research Associates recently spoke to the US National Governors Association meeting. His message to the governors was seen as optimistic on the future of energy, a welcome relief from the usual cant of negativism. Yergin suggested that clean energies such as nuclear and hydroelectric would provide most of the alternatives to fossil fuels in the future.

Yergin explained how CERA’s analysis in Crossing the Divide uses a scenarios framework to assess the prospects among the various clean energy technologies and help define key risks and opportunities as companies seek to place their technology bets. The analysis addresses new and conventional energy technologies that can provide energy with a minimal carbon footprint and facilitate greater energy security. These technologies include biofuels, renewable power technologies, carbon capture and storage, nuclear and hydropower.___CERA

As can be seen by Al Fin's recent postings on biomass, biofuels, and CHP, we here at Al Fin are particularly optimistic about the energy future--assuming the basic political and economic climate remains intact. Climate change is more of a religion than a science, but it is a particularly dominant religion in the area of government and foundation financing, and science publication. It is an unfalsifiable religion, however, and realists treat it as such when allowed to speak honestly.

Yergin is an energy realist, like Leonardo Maugeri. Energy realists understand that oil, gas, coal, and unconventional petroleum deposits are still plentiful. New technologies will make them even more accessible and economical than at present.

But even realists like Yergin have to saturate their communications with the cloying suffocation of "climate change" rhetoric. Even years after the discrediting of Naomi Oreskes, such caution is required in order to remain within the mainstream of government and quasi-governmental money flow. As James Watson, Larry Summers and many other scientists, engineers, and other technical people have learned, some things cannot be talked about honestly in public.

H/T Energy Blog