The Cost of Living

We have become so adept at extracting fossil fuels from the ground they are the cheapest and most convenient way to produce energy that we know of. Yet at the rate we are using them up, all that trapped energy millions of years in the making will be consumed within in a couple of centuries.

We're also finding our addiction to fossil fuels is the cause of changes to the earth's environment which has implications for us and every other living thing on the planet. If we try to give them up now we may escape the worst of what is predicted to happen to us over the coming decades.

It's not easy though. We are on the whole a lazy bunch and don't do 'global co-operation' very well. One thing everyone understands however is money, how much things cost, and this is often used by governments to change our habits. The cost of energy if increased substantially would lead to a change in our behaviour, we would:

• Demand more efficient machines
• Make better use of the energy we have available (i.e. we would waste less)
• Cut out trivial applications altogether (bye bye patio heaters)

Higher energy costs will also improve the case for renewable energy sources to the point where they compete on grounds of cost. This should translate into greater R&D spend which in turn should lead to better performance. The earth receives more than enough energy every day in terms of energy from the Sun. We just happen to be especially bad at harvesting it.

It's unlikely that sufficiently high energy prices can be levied by any single government. Governments are tied too closely to the populations that elect them to sustain significantly higher energy prices. The pressure to remain competitive keeps this in check.

There are however at least two other routes to higher energy prices which include; the natural depletion of fossil fuels due to use, and international co-operation which will ensure a level playing field between countries. One of these will win through. Given the speed with which countries act in concert in these matters (or lack of it) versus growth of economies such as China and India, it could well be a disparity between demand and supply that forces humanity's hand in this matter. I.e. our supply of fossil fuels run short of demand.

We shouldn't really care too much how the end is achieved, but it would be nice to know that reason and co-operation could triumph over some of our more negative traits.