Industry analysts warn that if the search for alternative fuels and energy is ignored, price hikes at the pump could reoccur even after the global economy stabilizes.
Peter Jackson, energy analyst with Cambridge Energy Research Associates, estimated that if the search for and development of new global fuel supplies is delayed that future stock could be reduced to four million bpd within five years.
According to estimates by research firm New Energy Finance, total spending on green energy projects dipped by 4% to $142 billion in 2008 from the previous year. Venture capitalists and private equity firms, though, continued to invest in emerging energy technologies which resulted in a rise in total investments to $14.2 billion this year from $9.8 billion in 2007.