The Future of Energy

At a recent forum on energy, approximately 900 people participated in a conversation on energy conservation and alternative resources. The keynote speaker was Kateri Callahan, President of the Alliance to Save Energy, who discussed Georgia’s promising position in the production of future energy supplies.

Energy supply is and always has been one of the most critical issues for humanity.  Heat, light, mobility, communication – they all depend on an energy supply of some kind.  You might even say that along with water and the atmosphere, energy is one of the primary building blocks of life on this planet. 

But, there are elaborate and complicated economic, environmental, social and infrastructural systems behind every bulb that lights our houses, every piece of food we consume, every trip we make and every email we send.

Over the coming decades, global supply of and demand for energy will have very large impacts on the way we live and conduct business. We will have to make critical decisions concerning the sources of the energy we consume, who owns those resources, the continued viability of the infrastructure used to deliver them and the impacts of the energy system on the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the Atlanta region – the entire planet, in fact.

Here is how:

  • Economy
    The world’s economy is driven by the availability of energy. If demand continues to outpace supply, traditional economic growth is threatened.  The limited capacity of energy companies to harvest fossil fuels, not to mention the finite supply of the fuel sources themselves, is cause for concern.
  • Environment
    From extraction to combustion, fossil fuels present serious environmental challenges.  The largest and most global concern is the belief of the scientific community that emissions resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels are contributing to climate change on a planetary scale.
  • Society
    In addition to energy supplies powering the world’s economy, they have also driven social progress.  The availability of reasonably-priced energy supplies has increased productive capacity and educational opportunities, as well as improved quality life, at least in the First World.  If the availability of energy is threatened, so are these social advances.

Hopefully, by starting the conversation now, our metro area will be better prepared to address these critical questions about future energy needs before it’s too late.