From: LifeGen.de - Living facts for life sciences - November 11, 2008
> Renewable Energy Race 1.0: Barack Obama vs. Dmitry Medvedev | LifeGen.de
It’s time for change. So far, everyone – even outside the US – understood the message coming from Barack Obama. But facing rising oil-prices there is a question to be answered: what does this really mean? First of all, the new President will have to realize that the world’s fossil-fuel reserves decline rapidly. “The United States is perhaps the most vulnerable to the coming crisis having farther to fall after the boom years, which themselves were largely driven by foreign debt and inward investment”, wrote the Hubbert Center for Petroleum Supply Studies at the Colorado School Of Mines – seven years ago. The experts concluded in April 2001: “The growing shortfall in oil supply since its own peak of production was made good by soaring oil imports, now contributing more than half its needs, and a move to gas”. But the move to gas doesn’t mean that such a change secures the US energetic interests for the future. Although geologists forecast gas reserves to be available for a longer period then oil, there are concerns regarding climate change aspects, especially the emissions of CO2.
What should President Barack Obama do? He may turn the nations’ scientific power to more solar energy research. There are strong and innovative companies waiting for a change in Americas energy supply – first signs appear evident: Nanosolar, as an exemple, has been selected for a substantial funding award as part of the high-profile Solar America Initiative...
...But the rise of the renewables is global. Only a few weeks ago Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held a meeting on improving the environmental and energy efficiency of the Russian economy. According to the presidential press office, Medvedev pointed out the current lack of incentives to introduce environmental and resource-saving technologies. "As a result, Dmitry Medvedev stressed that obsolete technologies are still in place, which in the end affects Russia’s international competitiveness", writes the presidential press office. Medvedev called "for immediate measures for improving the energy efficiency of the economy and the environmental situation, including the preparation of a fully-fledged system of standards to determine a project’s impact on the environment, as well as differentiated systems of standards for the quality of water, air and soil for each territory".
The Russian President pointed out the need to change the requirements for energy efficient technologies, buildings, structures, and production generally, as well as improving the system of technical regulation. Medvedev noted that the 2009 federal budget and that of subsequent years will provide funding for projects related to the use of renewable energy and the introduction of environmentally-friendly and energy efficient technologies.
