After triple-digit growth rates during the 1970s and 1980s, the nuclear industry virtually died after a series of massive accidents. But with high oil and gas prices and concerns about global warming, nuclear power is making a comeback.
Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel. For Russia, the world’s most important producer, natural gas is first and foremost a ticket back to geopolitical power.
Oil will remain the world’s top energy source for decades to come, but an imminent decline in oil production could send prices soaring. What sounds like a dream come true for climate activists - the slow end of the Oil Age - could be a time wrought with tensions.
Coal is the world’s number one source of electricity. Unfortunately, it is also the number one energy source of carbon dioxide emissions.
Theoretically, wind could produce enough energy to meet global demand. In 2006, however, less than one percent of global electricity consumption came from wind. Why such an imbalance?
While burning wood to heat or cook is one of the least efficient ways to use bioenergy, it remains the most important energy source for some three billion people. But there are better ways to use biomass.
Every day, the Earth receives more energy from the sun than mankind uses in a year. Still, solar energy remains a tiny sliver in the global energy mix.
Dams are the most common way of generating energy from the flow of water. Now investors are trying to tap into the massive energy resources of ocean waves and tides.
