Renewable energies: present situation and prospects

The consumption of energy is continually increasing as a result of demographic growth and the strong economic development of some emerging countries. This growth is most important in the case of electricity consumption. In a parallel manner, and constantly, a growth is taking place in energy's contribution to the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Fossil energy sources have a limited lifespan, which in the case of oil could be 30 years, given the current trends in growth in consumption. The system is unsustainable, and in the short term could produce problems, mainly in terms of the oil supply and rising energy prices.

Our world requires an increasingly large supply of energy to sustain economic growth, but energy resources are scarce and the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the use we make of the energy are beginning to alter our climate.

What options do we have to change to a more efficient, cleaner energy future? What costs will this change involve? What policies do we need to institute? Recent studies show that it is still possible to achieve a more sustainable energy future, and that the key lies in technology. The most important aspects in this respect are: increasing energy efficiency, capturing and storing CO2, renewable energies and nuclear energy. If we aim to develop the potential of the existing technologies and the emerging ones and to reduce our current dependence on fossil fuels, we should start doing so right now. The presentation will be based on renewable energies, and will describe the present situation for these energies and prospects for growth over the medium and long-term.