Shell report predicts peak oil now or soon, ponders 'Depression 2.0'Raw Story: In a recent 'Signals & Signposts' report by Shell, forecasting energy scenarios through 2050, the oil giant predicted a growing volatility in the price of oil and a coming period of 'extraordinary opportunity or misery.' As the demand for oil butts up against actual production and remaining reserves, the climbing price of oil will cause the gross domestic product of all nations to decline, they predict. In another section, Shell calls these economic effects 'Depression 2.0.' ...
Shell predicts that as the energy industry struggles to meet global demand, 'environmental tension will swell and spread.' ... Competition and 'natural innovation' in energy efficiency would only account for a moderation in demand of about 20 percent by 2050. Meanwhile, between 2000 and 2050, demand for easily accessible energy will triple, they predict...
Businesses around the world, they noted, have already started to accept that climate regulations will soon become a reality for global trade and have begun to budget accordingly. But even the most rapid improvements... won't help much in the near term... Shell also predicts that '[the] longer the delay in climate policy action, the more likely the shocks become.'... Read the full report here (.pdf).
