I came across an article today reporting that Saudi Arabia is concerned about a reduction in oil usage that might come about as a result of international efforts to reduce carbon emissions – so concerned that they are asking for financial assistance from other countries.
The Houston Chronicle reports:
“Saudi Arabia has led a quiet campaign during these and other negotiations — demanding behind closed doors that oil-producing nations get special financial assistance if a new climate pact calls for substantial reductions in the use of fossil fuels . . .
“”The head of the Saudi delegation Mohammad S. Al Sabban dismissed the IEA figures as “biased” and said OPEC’s own calculations showed that Saudi Arabia would lose $19 billion a year starting in 2012 under a new climate pact. The region would lose much more, he said.
“We are among the economically vulnerable countries,” Al Sabban told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the talks ahead of negotiations in Copenhagen in December for a treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.”
I bring this up here because I see it as an example of the predicament that could face countries now dependent on revenues from the sales of fossil fuels if free sources of energy were readily available. There are a number of countries whose economy is based on the sale of oil. Take away these revenues, and their economies would be severely impacted.
Saudi Arabia is already anticipating negative consequences in the current climate — if Steorn’s Orbo techology pans out as promised, things will likely become more unstable for them and other major energy exporters.
Free energy, as predicted by Steorn, would transform economies worldwide and while its potential benefits are clear, could spark economic and political upheaval in the short term at least.
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