Fossil fuels

Governing is anticipating, also for energy
Energy is important in our society. This is again shown by the recent reactions on price increases, the discussions on environmental effects and the topical concerns about exhausting supplies.
The viWTA (Vlaams instituut for wetenschappelijk en technologisch aspectenonderzoek) has ordered a study on the probability that fossil energy and uranium will remain available during the next decades. In the study the attention was focussed on the upstream part of the energy market. That is the route from the localising of the energy carriers in the soil up to the moment of extraction. Little was known about this part of the energy chain.
Obviously, the processes going on there are related to what happens in the following processes. When in this statements are made on the future availability of oil, coal, gas and uranium the driving forces from the total chain are taken into consideration. On top of that also the sustainability of the energy supply system is considered.

There is much to recover
The proven reserves of coal, oil, gas and uranium in the world are still substantial. These are sufficient for many decades. Besides, voluminous additional resources exist, of which the recoverability has been assessed with less certainty so far.
Nevertheless, the recoverability does not automatically imply that adequate energy will be available in Flanders in the next decades, since there are several problems. One of those lies in the extent of the extraction and processing capacity. Another lies in the political relations between the energy consuming countries and the countries where the extraction takes place.
Extra complicating is the fact that the extracting of energy carriers has negative consequences for the environment and for the people that live around the extraction sites. As the users of energy we have the responsibility for those harmful consequences.