By Nuttall & Manz - Judge Business School, Cambridge Published: 08/12/2008

Moving to a New Energy Paradigm

Conventional energy security has been focused on the depletion of natural resources, particularly oil, natural gas and coal resources. More recently, the link between energy security and the military has been made, focused on the defence of international oil tanker chokepoints and the free flow of oil through these trade routes. In the paradigm outlined in this paper, the impacts of climate change have been realized far earlier than most experts expected. This has promoted a transition to cleaner energy technologies long before the
depletion of fossil fuel resources. In this scenario, the peak in demand for fossil fuels occurs before the peak in supply and some nations are strongly promoting the development and deployment of clean energy technologies. Some private companies that are well on their way to developing and deploying these technologies will benefit from sudden market expansion, fuelled largely by the world?s richest nations struggling to reduce their carbon footprint.