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We can`t afford to rely on fossil fuels

But can we afford to pay $20,000bn to advance alternative energy sources? According to the International Energy Agency this is exactly the amount needed to supply the world with sustainable energy. Founded 30 years ago as a response to the first oil shocks in the seventies, the Paris based IEA, recently released its World Energy Outlook 2006 in cooperation with its 26 member states. The World Energy Outlook is designed to be a road map to creating sustainable alternative solutions to the energy crisis that is waiting for us a few decades around the corner.

The agency warned strongly that energy consumption levels would rise rapidly with the growing energy demands of developing countries, mainly India and China. But the more energy we need globally, the more we become dependent on the oil producing OECD countries, often unstable governments that use their commercial power for political purposes. As a possible solution to the dilemma the IEA embraced nuclear power for the first time in its 30 year history. It also made a strong case for promoting fuel efficient vehicles and a better use of bio fuels.

All in all, the agency suggests a whopping 1400 different measures that, if all realized, would reduce global energy demand by a good 10 percent. Finding a long-term solution to the unstable, dirty, harmful and expensive energy resources that we rely on right now is our challenge of the present time. And after eradicating polio, raising 80 percent of the world out of extreme poverty and many other great achievement of the global community, we should be able to do just that. All it takes is $20,000bns.