Global oil supplies ‘will run out long before substitutes roll out’

WASHINGTON - A new study based on stock market expectations by the University of California, Davis, has suggested that global oil will run out 90 years before replacement technologies are ready considering at the current pace of research and development.

It is based on the theory that long-term investors are good predictors of whether and when new energy technologies will become commonplace.

“Our results suggest it will take a long time before renewable replacement fuels can be self-sustaining, at least from a market perspective,” said study author Debbie Niemeier.

Niemeier and co-author Nataliya Malyshkina set out to create a new tool that would help policymakers set realistic targets for environmental sustainability and evaluate the progress made toward those goals.

Two key elements of the new theory are market capitalizations (based on stock share prices) and dividends of publicly owned oil companies and alternative-energy companies.

Niemeier said the new study’s findings are a warning that current renewable-fuel targets are not ambitious enough to prevent harm to society, economic development and natural ecosystems.

The forecast was published online Monday (Nov. in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. (ANI)