The topic of global warming has reached its goal, says Radu Crăciun, president and general manager of BCR Pensii, in a post published on his personal blog. “It has led to a fundamental change in the way we look at the use of energy resources in the future. It has led to substantial tranlation of financial resources and intelligence to scientific research in the field of non-polluting industries. In the end, it led to unavoidable changes”, explains the author, one of the most famous Romanian macroeconomists, a careful observer of global trends with national effect.
Oil falls for second day as concern grows over supply
“If you still have doubts about this irreversibility, look at the indicator which never lies: the oil prices. It reflects the producers’ panic in the prospect of remaining with unused oil reserves under the ground; this is why cuts in extraction quotas are made harder and harder, especially after US has emerged as a notable producer.
Against this background, the fact that Saudi Arabia made public in the middle of last year its National Transformation Plan 2020, which aims to detail the strategy for canceling the oil dependence of its economy in the next four years, shows that even the big oil producers do not believe anymore in the future of these energy sources. And why would they do it, as long as within 10 years the price of solar panels has fallen by over 60% and estimates show that the decline will continue. This is why the Saudi Energy minister has recently announced that under the auspices of the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), he intends to invest in 9.5 GW renewable energy capacities (equivalent to 9 Porţile de Fier 1) and to attract funding of 30 to 50 billion dollars by 2030.
Because, after all, the whole discussion is about how we want to be the air we breathe in our cities, our countries, our continents, and, ultimately, on the planet we live in. From this point of view, I think the answer has already been given in an irrevocable way. Because today’s technology offers more attractive, though more expensive solutions. Entire industries are about to reform or to be born for providing clean energy sources and nothing is likely to stop them. Producers of solar panels, wind turbines, automobiles – they are all engaged in the struggle of creating high-tech products with ever-lower costs. And the opposition of some political leaders anchored in the past will certainly not stay in the way. Because even American companies, despite the immense national market they have, realize that the loss of this technology opportunity will put them out of the 21st century landscape.”