Energy Crisis Underway

People keep talking about the effects of global warming all over the world, the changes of nature’s pattern, and its international impact of so-called “domino effect.”

One thing that we are missing in the picture, the energy crisis that has been continuously posing a threat all over the world and alternative ways are being developed by first and second world countries.

An energy crisis is any great bottleneck (or price rise) in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place. Energy runs machinery in factories, lights our cities and powers our vehicles. There has been an enormous increase in the demand for energy as a result of industrial development and population growth. Supply of energy is, therefore, far less than the actual demand (source: Wikipedia).

When monopoly of manipulation of markets occurs, market failure is possible. A crisis then can develop due to industrial actions like demonstrations and government embargoes. The cause may be excessive usage, aging and obsolete infrastructures, choke point disruption or bottlenecks at oil refineries and port facilities that restrict fuel supply. This could lead to serious emergency problems.

Pipeline failures and other accidents may cause minor interruptions to energy supplies. A crisis could possibly emerge after infrastructure damage from severe weather. Attacks by terrorists to important infrastructures are possible problem for energy consumers, with a successful strike on a Middle East facility potentially causing global shortages.

Political events could also lead to this as it will create shortages and may disrupt oil importation and production. Energy crises are rampant all over the world especially on third world countries where everything is dependent on some other countries that produces oil and petroleum products.

There was also an incident where the 2008 Central Asia energy crisis caused by abnormally cold temperatures and low water levels in an area dependent on hydroelectric power which also demanded high prices for food and fuel.

The macroeconomic implications of a supply shocked-induced energy crisis are large, because energy is the resource used to exploit all other resources. When energy markets fail, an energy shortage develops. Electricity consumers may experience intentionally engineered rolling blackouts which are released during periods of insufficient supply or unexpected power outages, regardless of the cause (source: Wikipedia).

With the way things are going, the past histories of energy crises that has happened all over the world, the effects and causes of those to consumers, and its impact economically; energy crises continuously threatens each and everyone from different  industries.

First class nations are dependent on oil, and efforts to restrict the supply of oil would have an adverse effect on the economies of oil producers. Some experts including Howard Odum and David Holmgren have used the term energy descent to describe a post-peak oil period of transition (source: Wikipedia).With the trauma and different issues nations are addressing regarding climate to us, it is about time energy sources should be constructed, re-established, and maintained and research for more alternative ways.