Here's an unsettling question for you... why are we depending on the 'Oil Companies' to make investments into renewables?
On the surface, it makes sense, but if you look at it - they're OIL companies - not ENERGY companies. The main purpose of the company is to find, drill, ship, process and sell OIL/derivitives. When oil/dirivitive prices go through the roof, why should they be investing in other businesses? (After all - it IS a business, and it's business is to find and process that black gooey stuff; not build wind-turbines, Dams, Solar panels, etc.) They make boatloads of money off our dependance of their product, why would they want that to change?
Now as a helpless bystander who is going to be one of the rest of humanity being affected by this problem of expensive energy, I truly hope they do invest in other sources of energy - but if you look at it as a business, they have no incentive to switch... Just pump till you get bought out (or claim bankruptcy), and then sit on your laurels and enjoy the proceeds of the sale (or bankruptcy court - as the case may be).
That being said, to whom should/can we turn? Government? Energy Companies (ala Enron)? Venture Capital? If these are our only sources of hope, I think I'm going to cry!
Besides building your own personal wind turbine, or micro-hydro plant (energy source which is repairable/mechanical), I feel as if we're going to be up $h%t Creek without a paddle when the downslope of production transpires - be it 2 years or 50 years from now...
Thoughts? (Hopefully more encouraging than this one!)