A portfolio of new energy technologies has emerged in the first decade of the 21st Century, and many of them could be used for re-structuring the energy sector towards Sustainable Development. A key subject in this quest is the future of automobile, with possibilities on powering ranging from biofuels to Hydrogen Cars (HC), to Electric Vehicles (EV). In turn, the latter is closely connected with the need to deploy Renewable Energies (RE) for electricity generation. Within such new situation, countries and governments are aware that there are new tools for fighting Global Warming (GW), and new policies could be established for winning this battle against CO2. All these initiatives will affect the future of energy corporations, notably hydrocarbon companies; and it should be noted that it will be difficult for the companies to define long-term strategies if energy policies convey upheavals, sudden changes in promoting alternatives and interruptions on activities. Hence, it is very important to adopt energy policies allowing a smooth evolution of the companies’ activities to the new energy model. After analyzing the alternatives with a forecasting-backcasting methodology, an “eclectic approach” is proposed, with the Plug-in Hybrid car with Flexible Fuel (PiHFF) as the central paradigm in the coming promoting policies.
Emerging energy technologies and market evolution of some energy products, particularly natural gas, can converge to produce a new global scenario closer to the objectives of Sustainable Development, with a smooth transition that would avoid social and economic upheavals and could open a new cycle of growth and wealth. The first steps of unconventional gas production have induced stabilization in the gas spot price that should be continued to guarantee stable prices in the long term. Another line of development that should start a second phase of consolidation and cost reduction is the field of Renewable Energies. Besides research and technology advancements, a new financial deal could substitute for subsidies and feed-in tariffs. Last but not least, electric vehicles and other emerging technologies from the demand side will also have a main role in this quest to re-structure the Energy sector, where a new hierarchy of energy goods and energy applications will appear, and a better integral use of energy will take place. A main consequence of that will be a significant reduction of CO 2 emissions, and a cheaper cost of energy, although fiscal policies could swallow this advantage. In this transition, which would likely last thirty years or so, energy corporations will have to face challenges and opportunities to consolidate their working and value-adding status.
An analysis is presented on a set of enabling technologies which are opening new routes for energy conversion and consumption. This portfolio of innovations is complemented by a new framework in hydrocarbon production. This integration yields an optimization of energy uses that can result in lower greenhouse gases emissions and expand the lifecycle of current available resources. These options are confronted with the need for higher quantities of energy, at affordable costs in order to maintain the economic development. The conclusion is that there are no contradictions among the general objectives in global energy policy and the goals of corporations. Companies can take advantage of their previous expertise to remain competitive, but have to further develop new skills to operate in a new energy sector that is likely to be highly interlinked; evolving for the previous model that had markets segmented by specialty. New goods, such as the electric vehicles or the advanced high temperature high power fuel cells for generating electricity, should pave the way for a more synergetic and efficient energy sector.
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