Climate notes: Down to the Last Drop

The technological progress that has been made in recent years in the field of green, or emission-free and/or sustainable biofuels is not sufficient to satisfy growing global energy requirements. Instead it is foreseeable that unconventional oil reserves will be increasingly used alongside coal. This “Climate notes” article offers an overview of trends in the worldwide production of conventional and unconventional oil; and the implications of these trends both for the climate and for the balance of power in the global oil market. The consequences for the climate are primarily due to the growing importance of unconventional oil which, in addition to polluting more than conventional oil, also leads to much higher emissions. Alongside climate implications, shifts in the balance of power in the worldwide oil market are to be reckoned with. The USA, for example, which should be able to increase its oil production significantly by 2035, may even overtake countries like Saudi Arabia in terms of oil production depending on the development scenario assumed.