Daniel Yergin: On Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World (10/13/11)

Published: Oct. 18, 2011, 10:40 p.m.

b'On Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World Daniel Yergin, Executive Vice President and Chairman, IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates; CNBC Global Energy Expert; Author, The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World Bullish on technology\\u2019s ability to tap previously unreachable oil and gas, energy analyst Daniel Yergin tells this Climate One audience to expect the age of fossil fuels to continue well into this century. Yergin is author of The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the oil age The Prize. A pivotal year for Yergin is 2004 when, he says, the world woke up to the surge in energy demand in emerging markets, notably China. After Yergin\\u2019s opening remarks, Climate One\\u2019s Greg Dalton reads a 2010 statement from International Energy Agency Chief Economist Fatih Birol expressing concern over rising global oil demand and urging a transition from oil. Yes, the statement was reasonable, Yergin says, we will run out of oil someday. But \\u201cwe\\u2019ve run out of oil \\u2013 and I don\\u2019t say this facetiously \\u2013 five times.\\u201d Referring to the oil shocks of the 1970s, Yergin says, \\u201cThere are people in this room who know very well that we were going to fall off the oil mountain \\u2013 and production is now up 30%. We haven\\u2019t used up half the world\\u2019s oil; we\\u2019ve maybe used up 20% of the world\\u2019s oil.\\u201d Keeping up with demand isn\\u2019t just about making new discoveries, Yergin says. Also important are extensions and additions to existing oil fields, prolonging the life of oil plays thought to be exhausted. \\u201cIt\\u2019s technology,\\u201d he says. \\u201cThere\\u2019s a tendency to think that technology stagnates, that where you are is where you are going to be. But, in fact, the industry is basically run by scientists and engineers who are trying to push the technology along.\\u201d During the audience Q&A, Yergin is asked if he agrees fossil fuel subsidies needed to be reduced to level the playing field for renewables entering the market. \\u201cThe subsidies question is very complex, and it really depends upon definition,\\u201d he says. Jobs are being created in the renewable industry, he says, \\u201cbut I think the thing we\\u2019ll probably see in the next month or so is the fact that in the last three or four years \\u2013 and this seems counterintuitive \\u2013 a lot more jobs have actually been created in the conventional energy industry than in the green industry. That doesn\\u2019t mean that\\u2019s going to be the case five years or 10 years from now when those industries are much more mature.\\u201d This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on October 13, 2011\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'