Fundamentals of Business

Sources of energy

There are two main types of sources of energy, that is:
Renewable utilizes natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished. Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, and hydroelectricity to biomass and biofuels for transportation.

Non Non Renewable is a blanket term for sources of energy that rely on consumable materials. Non-renewable energy sources come out of the ground as solids, liquids, and gases, they are non renewable because they cannot be replenished back once extracted.

Energy sources that are almost always classified as non renewable:
Fossil fuels, Coal, Petroleum, Natural gas.

Energy crisis is any great bottleneck (or price rise) in the supply of energy resources to an economy. It usually refers to the shortage of oil and additionally to electricity or other natural resources. The crisis often has effects on the rest of the economy, with many recessions being caused by an energy crisis in some form. In particular, the production costs of electricity rise, which raises manufacturing costs. For the consumer, the price of gasoline (petrol) and diesel for cars and other vehicles rises, leading to reduced consumer confidence and spending, higher transportation costs and general price rises.

Example
Extract from Bloomberg
Australia's Economy Will Slow on Rates, Fuel, Central Bank Says By Jacob Greber
July 1, 2008 (Bloomberg) - Australia's economic growth rate will slow as the highest borrowing costs in 12 years and record gasoline prices force households to cut spending, central bank Governor Glenn Stevens said. The nation's currency fell. The Reserve Bank left its benchmark interest rate at 7.25 percent for a fourth month as slumping stock markets, surging fuel prices and a drop in employment erode consumer confidence.

Peak oil

Is the point or timeframe at which the maximum global petroleum production rate is reached, after which the rate of production enters its terminal decline. If global consumption is not mitigated before the peak, the availability of conventional oil will drop and prices will rise, perhaps dramatically. M. King Hubert first used the theory in 1956 to accurately predict that United States oil production would peak between 1965 and 1970.

His model, now called Hubert peak theory, has since been used to predict the peak petroleum production of many other countries, and has also proved useful in other limited resource productiondomains. According to the Hubert model, the production rate of a limited resource will follow a roughly symmetrical bell shaped curve based on the limits of exploitability and mark market pressures.