Has Fracking Killed RE?
Posted: Sat 13 Jun 2015, 10:40:36
Now that Graeme is back and the Renewable Wall of Press Releases has been rebuilt, I was surprised to come across these 2 charts from euanmearns.com that show RE investment stalling out right at the time fracking got rolling
So why the big drop in RE investment even when oil prices were over $100/bbl?
Fracking is seen as not only an unqualified economic success, but a shining example of the triumph of the human ability to technologize our way out of any predicament; it is the killer argument against limits to growth. I'm not really surprised how many articles that talk about fracking nowadays mention peak oil — peak oil gets more press today than it ever did back in '08. It's like when you have a close call and the adrenaline is still flowing and you prattle on about how close you were. I'm beginning to think there is a bias in the mind of the investor that steers him away from RE because he doesn't want to admit PO.
Investors will put money into RE only when they are convinced FF are finished.
http://www.icis.com/blogs/asian-chemica ... ss-credit/
So did fracking kill the RE-Revolution?
Did RE never have a chance to be self sustaining?
Will money flow to RE when fracking gives up the ghost?
(PDF with lots of RE charts)
The $232 billion invested in renewables in 2013 was dwarfed by the $1.6 trillion total global energy investment in that year reported by IEA, and of the 235GW of new generation capacity installed globally in 2012 only 76GW was wind or solar, according to EIA and BP
So why the big drop in RE investment even when oil prices were over $100/bbl?
Fracking is seen as not only an unqualified economic success, but a shining example of the triumph of the human ability to technologize our way out of any predicament; it is the killer argument against limits to growth. I'm not really surprised how many articles that talk about fracking nowadays mention peak oil — peak oil gets more press today than it ever did back in '08. It's like when you have a close call and the adrenaline is still flowing and you prattle on about how close you were. I'm beginning to think there is a bias in the mind of the investor that steers him away from RE because he doesn't want to admit PO.
Investors will put money into RE only when they are convinced FF are finished.
This price [oil] collapse led to the mistaken belief that droves of US oil and gas producers would go bust. It was obvious from at least as early as last October that this analysis was based on people who don't talk to enough people. What we have seen is nothing short of an explosion of innovation that has already driven US shale-oil production costs down by 15-25% over the last 12 months.
Even more 'no strings attached' easy financing has poured into the US oil and gas sector over the last few months, from hedge funds, pension funds and private equity players. The logic behind these investments is that oil prices will soon rally, resulting in a recovery in the 'undervalued' shares of US oil and gas companies.
http://www.icis.com/blogs/asian-chemica ... ss-credit/
So did fracking kill the RE-Revolution?
Did RE never have a chance to be self sustaining?
Will money flow to RE when fracking gives up the ghost?
(PDF with lots of RE charts)