Oil prices are on the rise again. Green Solar Technologies Founder, Nicki Zvik, comments on the topic.

Oil prices have a long history of volatility due to swings in supply and demand. The demand is driven by market forces, while the supply is affected by both natural and artificial means. Suppliers like OPEC, for example, routinely manipulate supply in order to artificially affect prices. The bottom line is that the cost of crude oil fluctuates wildly due to varied combinations of factors.

Now, oil prices are on the rise again. Since the start of 2019, oil prices have seen an increase of nearly 42 percent according to data from Macrotrends.

The most recent increase in oil costs came quickly as trade concerns arose following disruption in Libya. Crude oil prices rose 55 cents in only one day, bringing them to their highest since November. OPEC, through reductions in crude oil supplies, is hoping to return prices to $70 a barrel by late fall of this year. This has sparked worry in consumers across the globe, and leaders in the renewable energy discussion are speaking up.

Nicki Zvik, Founder of Green Solar Technologies and long-time renewable energy advocate, states, "It's unfortunate that we continue to see issues with high oil costs when we have access to an energy source whose cost is steadily reduced over time. The energy from the sun and from other renewable sources is limitless, and the technology we use to absorb and generate power from this energy becomes more and more affordable everyday."

In contrast with oil prices, Zvik also notes that solar energy prices alone have dropped approximately 99 percent in the past four decades and continue to drop rapidly.

In stark contrast to the continuing drop in solar energy prices, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that, by 2025, the average price of a barrel of Brent crude oil (the benchmark for global oil prices) will rise to $81.73/b, and by 2030, world demand will drive oil to $92.98/b. By 2040 the EIA predicts that prices will be $105.16/b, and by then the cheap sources of oil will have been exhausted, making oil extraction more expensive.

By 2050, oil prices will be $107.94/b, according to Table 1 of the EIA's Annual Energy Outlook. The necessity for switching from fossil fuels to renewables has never been more obvious or more urgent.

"Growing global awareness of the existential need for renewable energy production is spurring research and development efforts into new technologies," continues Nicki Zvik, "We continue to push for advances in renewable technology in order to break free from the constraints of fossil fuels like oil, which are finite and will only continue to become more expensive as their scarcity increases."
Finite fossil fuel resources are a ticking time bomb whose continued use will result in global-wide financial chaos and disastrous environmental impact.

Zvik continues, "Too many of us continue to act as though we are forced to depend on fossil fuels as sources of energy. This is simply not true. Renewables are the viable alternative. If we continue to use resources like oil and coal those sources will rapidly diminish, energy costs will inevitably rise, and we will ultimately inflict irreversible damage on the environment. It's well within our means to avoid such a scenario by firmly committing to renewable energy sources like solar."