As we enter a new decade it is a time to look forward, but if we continue to consume carbon-based fuels at our currently rate, how much of a future can we really look forward to? Regardless of the untold damage these fuel sources are doing to the environment and planet in general, what the hell are we going to do when they run out!

Coal: There is currently a world reserve of approximately 850 billion tonnes of coal which, if we continue to consume it at our current level, would last, give or take, another 150 years. Unfortunately, our consumption of coal has risen by 5% year on year for almost a decade – giving us just over 40 years left.

Gas: Most current estimates put natural gas reserves at roughly 6,000 trillion cubic feet which sounds like a lot but will actually only last us, at our current rate of use, for another 65 years. As with coal however, the emerging economies of India and China may reduce that figure dramatically. The up side is that we may not yet have discovered all the planet’s natural gas fields, although transporting the stuff is very difficult, so who knows at what price we’ll be able to enjoy these new finds.

Oil: It is estimated that there are about 44 years of oil reserves left at current usage levels but again, emerging nations are likely to reduce that. The good news is that there is still a lot of oil around but the cost of extracting it from tar pits and the like may at some point make it the most expensive commodity on Earth.

It’s not just the fossil fuels that we’re using up too fast for our own good though; other significant problems include the world’s fish stocks. According to the World Fish Centre, many popular fish like tuna and cod will be scarcer and therefore much more expensive within the next 2 decades and if current levels of over-fishing remain, they warn that there will be no edible fish left in the oceans within 50 years!

These are very worrying statistics and now that we’re in this new decade, the 2050s and 2060s when all these are due to run out suddenly don’t seem so far away…

So what is being done about it? Well, the world’s political leaders have organised and attended lots and lots of conferences to discuss the problems. They’ve pushed through several agendas, protocols and commitment bills like the Kyoto Accord but these solutions all fall far short of really tackling the issues. The commitments countries sign are full of vague terminology about “reducing their reliance on carbon-based fuels” and although targets are agreed, they are either set far too far off in the future or are never achieved because missing them goes unpunished. It also doesn’t help when major nations like the USA refuse to sign. This is not unlike agreeing how many lifeboats should be built whilst the Titanic is already sinking!

This spineless attitude by government leads to the corporate sector not stepping up to the plate either. Despite the fact that carbon reduction makes financial sense (if you reduce your carbon footprint, you are reducing your energy use and therefore costs reduce!!), it seems most companies have become so used to wasting resources that they have forgotten that running a sustainable business has nothing to do with tree-hugging and everything to do with basic business principles.

In the meantime, alternative energy generation schemes are being supported by billions of Euros of EU grant money but very little of it is actually seeing the light of day. Backing for these schemes is so noticeable by its absence that we saw the likes of Vestas’ UK wind turbine factory have to close its doors through lack of support only recently. Technology exists to generate the power we need from wind, water, solar, hydrogen (and many other renewable) sources and replace fossil-fuels for good but the politicians are ambivalent and the corporate sector won’t pay because the return on investment is too long!

Are we really going to have to wait until the lights go out before some significant changes are made? Just make sure you shout your corner and make your opinions heard; that’s the only way to get our politicians to listen.

The global economy and our cultural lifestyle are disproportionately reliant on oil, gas and coal and although the issue of climate change in now fully in the public consciousness, actual change is still only happening very slowly. With the world’s fossil fuel reserves running out around the 2050s, surely at the end of this new decade in 2020 some real progress will have to have been made? Entering the 2010s could be the impetus we need to reinvigorate and give new impetus to the struggle to get the human race sustainable and perhaps this decade can be remembered as the years when we turned it all around?

When we have reduced our reliance on carbon based fuels and created a culture of sustainable and ethical business and living, then we can party until it’s 2099!

Peter Wognum & Matt Whittle
Illustrations by Gemma Randall