Fossil Fuels: Between the Pivotal Role of Energy Supply and the Impact of Developing Alternatives

Abstract

The world is experiencing ongoing conflicts and disputes, most of which involve energy, directly or indirectly. This is due to the importance of energy and its prominent role in achieving prosperity through supporting the development process. Whoever controls energy resources holds the upper hand in achieving development and prosperity. The world is witnessing tremendous developments in the energy sector, and the world has begun to move towards finding diverse energy alternatives that compete with fossil fuels, which currently hold the unrivaled position due to their advantages, whether oil, gas, or coal, particularly those related to production costs and the flexibility of production, transportation, and storage processes. However, the state of pollution and waste has greatly affected climate change and nature in general, which has been reflected in life and caused a natural imbalance that has led to diseases and a high death rate, in addition to global warming. This is in addition to the decline in the quantities of fossil energy reserves and the decrease in the quantities discovered, which has increased fears of the process of accelerated depletion. These reasons have prompted specialists in thinking to move towards other, less harmful energy alternatives, which has prompted research and scientific centers to focus efforts towards finding renewable and clean alternatives, i.e. environmentally friendly, which has led to the creation of competitive alternatives to fossil fuels, which play a pivotal and essential role in the global energy balance. This research discusses a crucial issue: competition between fossil fuels and various energy alternatives. Based on economic logic, which emphasizes the inverse relationship between fossil fuels in general and other energy alternatives, the more developments occur, the more they contribute to increased use of these alternatives. Production increases, costs decline, and subsequently prices decline, leading to a decline in demand and a decline in fossil fuel prices. The researcher reached a number of conclusions, including that all renewable energy alternatives cannot replace fossil fuels in the near or medium term, as they face technical and economic obstacles related to high costs and flexibility of use, storage, and transportation. In light of these conclusions, the research presented a set of appropriate proposals.