Guardian reports on recent comments of Prince Turki bin Faisal al Saud. They put his wish to run Saudi Arabia 100% with low carbon (including nuclear) energy in his lifetime in their headline.
But the most significant part was this:
“Oil is more precious for us underground than as a fuel source,” he said. “If we can get to the point where we can replace fossil fuels and use oil to produce other products that are useful, that would be very good for the world. I wish that may be in my lifetime, but I don’t think it will be.”
This is exactly what I am preaching all the time. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producer. If they understand that “oil is more precious if left underground”, they will be inclined to reduce production.
Which will of course increase prices.
That in turn will make their oil reserves even more valuable, and not less as Bill McKibben mistakenly thinks. He really needs to re-do his math.
And the earlier oil prices go up (they need to go up massively eventually anyway), the earlier renewable energy will beat oil as a energy source everywhere in the market place.
When will the climate protection movement finally realize that the owners of oil reserves are their natural allies, not their enemies?
The Prince already understands the situation
For more on this simple solution to global warming see my recent global warming science fiction novel “Great News”. I use it as the happy ending of the novel.