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Firms 'own unburnable fossil fuels'
http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=18738		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:19 am ]
Post subject:  Firms 'own unburnable fossil fuels'
Firms 'own unburnable fossil fuels'

Quote:
Some 60% to 80% of fossil fuel reserves owned by listed firms could be classed unburnable if politicians stick to CO2 emission limits, a report warns.

The research by the London School of Economics and NGO Carbon Tracker says firms spend billions of pounds of shareholders' money on exploration.

It says 200 listed firms spent £440bn in 2012 chasing more coal, oil and gas.

It says if this continues for a decade - and if CO2 limits are achieved - they would waste over £4tn.

The research says the listed companies analysed own 762 billion tonnes of CO2 in the form of coal, oil and gas.

Many of the firms are listed in the City of London - the world's fossil fuel investment capital.

To stick to the current agreed global limit on emissions - which is sure to be breached - the firms would probably be able to emit no more than about 125-275 billion tonnes of CO2 - about a quarter of their assets.
Author:  cloaked_wolf [ Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Firms 'own unburnable fossil fuels'
Surely a limited burn time means the fuels last longer? Particularly if it means reliance on renewable sources of energy to make up for any shortfall?
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Fri Apr 19, 2013 2:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Firms 'own unburnable fossil fuels'
cloaked_wolf wrote:
Surely a limited burn time means the fuels last longer? Particularly if it means reliance on renewable sources of energy to make up for any shortfall?

Only if there is no more release of greenhouse gases. There are already concerns that the temperature rises are already high enough to cause the release of all the methane currently stored in the Tundra. That will be a substantial release and could suddenly mean that fossil fuels could end up being taxes so much that they become uneconomic overnight. The report basically concludes that we may have to keep it in the ground because we cannot bring it up to burn, so it's value as a fuel will be zero. That could devastate the way energy companies are valued, because they are valued as being known reserves x price. If that price becomes zero because of carbon tax then it means that energy companies could become worthless overnight.

Not just that but countries that have already made a big switch to renewables or nuclear will probably fair a lot better than us. The rush to renewables might mean that energy prices will be very high, which will make renewables instantly the cheapest deal overnight.


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