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A sharp rise in energy prices over the past two years has elevated international concerns about the long term availability of hydrocarbons as a source of energy and whether or not these sources are safe from political unrest.

The environmental impact of fossil fuel consumption is increasingly coming into focus, in particular global warming created by atmospheric emission of greenhouse gases.

Demand for energy will continue to grow in the coming decades and it is recognised by experts worldwide that the bulk of this energy will come from burning coal, oil and natural gas. Given the ever-increasing price of oil and the environmental impacts of burning coal, the use of natural gas is expected to grow most quickly.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the world to be using nearly 60% more energy by 2030. That would mean adding more than Japan's total 2003 energy use every two and a half years. Most of the growth in demand is expected to come in today's developing world, particularly in Asia, with China leading the way. In the last decade China has doubled its oil consumption and the size of its economy. Various global scenarios envision a similar range of demand growth to the IEA, driven by fast growing Asian markets.

The IEA has also forecasted that global CO₂ emissions will be 70% higher by 2030 than they were in 2000. Clearly, this will create significant environmental problems for the planet. There will be tremendous pressure on companies to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions.

Alternative supplies of energy such as biomass, wind, solar, geothermal and small-scale hydro will grow but currently supply only 1% of global energy demand. According to recent studies even if each of these sources of energy grew by 10% a year, which is only possible with significant support by government and the public, they will still not provide more than 10% of the world's energy needs by 2025. In addition, the unit of energy produced per person-hour in developing renewable energy is much less than for conventional fossil fuels. The energy industry is already facing a large shortage of skilled labour and it will become increasingly difficult to divert those resources to the development of renewable energy. Therefore, the world will continue to rely upon and exploit the remaining fossil fuels.

Cool Energy's CryoCell^® technology is being developed at the most opportune time in the history of the age of energy. It is a technology that provides a mechanism to exploit gas fields that were once overlooked due to their high CO₂ content and can do so while preserving the environment.

Cool Energy's CryoCell^® technology has truly global potential. The key markets which would benefit from this technology are illustrated below:

World Proven Gas Reserves
End of 2006

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2007

World Natural Gas Consumption
per Capita

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2007

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