The World in 2030

186 The World in 2030
carbon dioxide could extract heat from rocks more
efficiently than water. 354
Oil is the second most polluting form of fossil fuel but,
as it is the world’s most widely used source of energy (40
per cent 355 ), it is the biggest overall contributor to carbon
emissions. But of all three fossil fuels, oil looks as if it will
be the first one to come close to running out. Oil will not
run out completely for a very long time, but as it becomes
more scarce prices will rise to the point that it cannot be
used as fuel for personal and mass transportation. Oil will
then be reserved for high-value processes and products such
as plastics manufacturing.
Over the decades much has been written about the
future of oil supplies and in July 2007 The Financial Times
reported gloomily:
The world is facing an oil supply ‘crunch’ within five
years that will force up prices to record levels and
increase the west’s dependence on oil cartel Opec,
the industrialised countries’ energy watchdog has
warned.
In its starkest warning yet on the world’s fuel outlook,
the International Energy Agency said ‘oil looks
extremely tight in five years time’ and there are ‘prospects
of even tighter natural gas markets at the turn
of the decade’. 356
However, as soon as one authority suggests reserves will soon
be running out it seems that new reserves are discovered