[OKC] Lloyds Insurance & Chatham House on Peak Oil, Climate Change, Resource Depletion … a historic publication

[Shauna Lawyer Struby]

Excellent info for businesses and really all of us in Rob Hopkins’ latest blog entry found at www.transitionculture.org, where he highlights a newly released report from Lloyds Insurance and Chatham House.

 

Hopkins notes the report states “ … any business seeking to be successful in the future will need to be prepared for ‘dramatic changes in the energy sector’, and that energy dependency will become a key vulnerability.” He goes on to highlight seven key findings. Here are four. Read the whole post on the blog.

1. Energy security is now inseparable from the transition to a low-carbon economy and businesses plans should prepare for this new reality. Security of supply and emissions reduction objectives should be addressed equally, as prioritising one over the other will increase the risk of stranded investments or requirements for expensive retro-fitting.

2. Traditional fossil fuel resources face serious supply constraints and an oil supply crunch is likely in the short-to-medium term with profound consequences for the way in which business functions today. Businesses would benefit from taking note of the impacts of the oil price spikes and shocks in 2008 and implementing the appropriate mitigation actions. A scenario planning approach may also help assess potential future outcomes and help inform strategic business decisions.

3. A ‘third industrial revolution’ in the energy sector presents huge opportunities but also brings new risks. Of particular importance for new technologies is the risk of constraints on raw materials such as rare earth metals, as scarcity may drive up costs. The rapid and  widespread diffusion of some new technologies may also incur negative environmental implications.

4. Energy infrastructure will be increasingly vulnerable to unanticipated severe weather events caused by changing climate patterns leading to a greater frequency of brownouts and supply disruptions for business. This throws out a critical challenge to energy providers, investors and planners in terms of choosing the location of new infrastructure and fortifying existing plants and networks.  Those businesses for which uninterrupted access to energy is of fundamental importance should actively consider investing in alternative energy supply systems.

Shauna, OKC

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