New Delhi, December 6 (IANS). Russian oil company Rosneft PGSC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Igor Sechin addressed the 17th Verona Eurasian Economic Forum in Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE. He also presented a report titled ‘Farewell to Illusions: World Energy in the Thucydides Trap’ and dispelled the misconceptions about green energy and said that the demand for fossil fuels will increase in the future.
Presenting his report on Thursday, Igor Sechin said the modern energy system is entirely based on fossil fuels, which currently account for more than 80 percent of all primary energy consumed worldwide. Oil, gas and coal are indispensable in the lives of modern people and society: fossil fuels are easy to transport.
For example, the amount of energy that can travel a thousand miles for less than a dollar is 4.4 megawatt-hours for oil through a pipeline and 1.2 megawatt-hours for gas through a pipeline, while hydrogen This figure is 0.2 megawatt-hour, which is extremely low.
Igor Sechin said, “Carrying on the research of the great Russian scientist Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, McKinsey experts and renowned scientists from leading Western universities have confirmed that fossil fuels also have a high energy density. According to this, diesel is almost as efficient as hydrogen. 30 times better, and 270 times better than gas, wind and solar energy.”
He said that the peak of demand for fossil fuels is yet to come. To raise the standard of living of the population of developing countries to at least half the level of the “golden billion” will require an increase in oil production in the future by almost two times.
Investment bank JPMorgan expects global oil demand to rise by about 6 million barrels per day by 2035, driven by rising consumption in India and other countries.
The company chief said, “Oil contributes more than 30 percent to global energy consumption, coal 25 percent and gas 22 percent. “Obviously, we are still a long way from any peak demand level for fossil fuels.”
He predicted the arrival of a more modern coal age. Mining company Glencore has earned half of its operating income from its coal production business over the past two years.
Sechin said, “Today, we are being asked to increasingly abandon fossil fuels, citing the dominant influence of man-made factors on the climate. However, the last ice age, also known as the Little Ice Age, lasted for 200 years. “Ended a short time ago, and the current period of warming is part of Earth’s natural cycle.”
In addition, the US is lobbying hard for the Energy Transition Program, which is a powerful sanctions barrier for 88 percent of the world’s population. The US takes full advantage of its position as a global hegemon and relies on creating special conditions for its economy at the expense of other market participants, including its allies.
But even the ancient Greek historian Thucydides described a classic trap in his work “History of the Peloponnesian War”: hegemon fears about the emergence of alternative global power centers will inevitably lead to war with them. goes.
“The United States has allowed leadership in the scientific, technological, industrial and financial spheres to erode, which was really difficult to imagine 20-30 years ago,” Sechin stressed.
Today, more than 70 percent of the world’s capacity to make alternative energy equipment is located in China, not the US.
Sechin said, “The failure of US protectionist policies is obvious: more than six years since the beginning of trade sanctions in the US, industrial production has decreased dramatically. The share of the labor force employed in such industries also decreased. And their trade deficit has increased significantly.”
At the same time, the unhealthy hype artificially created today around the topic of climate change leads directly to abuse and the energy transition will require a complete restructuring of the real, not virtual, economy.
Igor Sechin expressed skepticism, “To achieve these goals by 2050, it is necessary to increase the capacity of low carbon electricity generation by 10 times to 35 terawatts, which is four times more than the entire installed capacity of the world energy system.” This could be real.”
He drew attention to the fact that achieving the Paris Agreement climate goals by 2050 requires an investment of more than $70 trillion.
The head of the company said that green economy companies are not able to achieve their goals on time, so many investors do not want to work with them.
Rethinking their own approach to the “green agenda” oil giants such as Chevron, BP and Shell are shelving projects to produce alternative fuels. Denmark’s largest energy company Orsted has canceled construction of a methanol plant due to low demand.
–IANS
AKJ/ABM
