The World's Energy Shortage

According to Government sources and documents, Ontario ( dare we say the rest of Canada and the whole world ) is about to face a significant energy shortage.

Consumption of energy is represented by the Green curve.  Interestingly, even though the US-only consumption is challenging enough, the rest of the world is expected to increase even more rapidly.

If nothing changes, the current petroleum consumption of petroleum in the US ( and even worse, the rest of the world )  will grow with  population and intercept the global production about 35 years from today ( or SOONER ).

Notice that the worldwide decrease in production starts NOW.

Sources: US EIA, US Census Bureau, (Patzek, 2007).

 The following information is from the Energy Conservation and Supply Task Force (ECSTF)  report "TOUGH CHOICES : Addressing Ontario's Power Needs" , January 2004, page 23 .  The information was reprinted and annotated in the International Energy Association report entitled " Projected costs of Generating Electricity".

As you can see, the official position is that by 2005, Ontario will be using more electricity than it will be generating, and while the demand is ever-increasing, the supply will constantly decrease as Ontario's generating stations age and are closed down.

In response, the Ontario Power Authority has announced the Standard Offer Program, one of the highest "feedin tariffs" in North America.