FORBES FORESEES 2008: NEW ENERGY

Ditlev Engel, CEO, wind energy giant Vestas (citing a Chinese proverb): “Don’t look at the waves. Look at the current.”

Energy Outlook: The Overview; A Breakthrough, Of Sorts
Paul Maidment, September 26, 2007 (Forbes)

WHO
World energy consumers and suppliers, the International Energy Agency (IEA), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) nations, G8 nations and developing nations;
Other articles feature “The Entrepreneur” (Peter Corsell, GridPoint Inc), “The Dreamer” (Miles Rubin, Miles Electric Vehicles), “The Insider” (Jeffrey Serfass (Technology Transition Corporation) and 10 Energy Executives To Watch.

Demand is only going one direction: Up. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Forbes’ overview of world energy: Demand unabated and expected to exhaust supply. Only the world’s awareness of the downside of consumption suggests the possibility of change.

Jim Rogers, CEO, Duke Energy --one of the 10 to watch.

WHEN
This evaluation illuminates 2008 with observations not only about 2007 but about preceding years. It also looks at the IEA forecast through 2030 as well as the APEC nations’ and other nations’ goals for 2020, 2030 and 2050.

WHERE
The overview looks at cumulative world energy demand and supply. Other articles cover Washington and Wall Street and focus on specific energy areas.

Patricia Woertz, CEO, Archer Daniels Midland -- another of the 10.

WHY
- Gas Guzzler looks at natural gas.
- Getting Burned looks at coal.
- Power Blowing In The Wind looks at alternative energy. It focuses primarily on wind energy’s remarkable growth and sprint toward viability.
- Russian Energy Roulette looks at oil.
- Bubble Energy? looks at investing and concludes that because demand is only going to get bigger, the place to invest is New Energy and Energy Efficiency technologies.

The markets know. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- “What is new is the focus on the environmental impact of consuming as much energy as we do in the way that we do. And that is what provides the hope that the world can modify its demand for energy, or at least its fossil-fuel energy demand, through efficiency and conservation.”
- “The world will be using more coal and more natural gas. The expansion of nuclear energy is constrained by the length of time it takes to build plants and get the regulatory approvals to be operate them. The use of biofuels and renewable alternatives such as wind and solar power will grow rapidly, but they have such a small base of use they will not replace significant quantities of fossil fuels any time soon--nor diminish the competition between countries to secure supplies.”