One of the major challenges before leading economies of the world is based upon supply of fossil fuels. There has been a variety of perspectives over the status of fossil fuel all over the world as well as its impact on the economic condition of various countries. The common perspective on this matter is that the dependency on fossil fuel needs to be reduced as its reserves are limited.
The people who are in favor of doing away with the dependency on fossil fuel have argued that use of fossil fuel is environmentally harmful and fossil fuels have also been cited as the major reason behind global warming. Global warming is one of the major threats faced by earth and it has caused several significant climatic and environmental changes all over the world. It has also been argued by some experts that a couple of experts that shortage in fossil fuels may also lead to wars and downfall of economies in future.
However, there is another stream of thought that has come up with a different opinion. As per the proponents of this thought usage of fossil fuels could help in the construction and maintenance of a fuel system that would be sustainable and environment-friendly. One of the major supporters of this theory is Dr. Mark Jaccard, who is a professor of environmental economics. He teaches at the School of Resource and Environmental Management in Simon Fraser University that is located at Vancouver, Canada. In his book “Sustainable Fossil Fuels” that fossil fuels can be used in an environment-friendly way as there are enough technologies at present that help to reduce the harmful emissions.
Jaccard is of the opinion that unconventional materials like coal may be used for the purposes of producing electricity, hydrogen along with cleaner burning fuels. He states that this would help in reducing the dependence on fossil fuels in areas that are not politically stable. He also states that fossil fuels could play an important role in the development of countries that are economically backward.
Dr. Jaccard also states that usage of the existing fossil fuel resources would provide countries with the time to develop renewable energy technologies, which would assist in increasing the levels of energy efficiency. The nuclear power resources can also be improved from the point of view of environmental safety.