COLUMN-Malthus and Brunel stalk energy outlook: John Kemp

-- John Kemp is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own --

By John Kemp

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The alarmism and defeatism pervading previous editions of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) World Energy Outlook (WEO) have been partly replaced this year with an optimistic emphasis on new sources and technologies.

If previous editions owed their inspiration to Thomas Malthus ("we're all doomed"), this year's is an implied tribute to the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel ("yes, we can").

WEO2008 examined the challenges of finding and developing enough new oilfields to meet growing demand and replace output lost from the aging super-giants [ID:nLK174997].

WEO2009 takes an in-depth look at the transformative impact of the huge new gas resources being opened up and how to square growing energy consumption with restricting the build up of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere [ID:nLA264678].

In line with the rest of the industry, recession has helped banish fears about physical scarcity (peak oil supply) in favour of a recognition conventional oil consumption is peaking in the developed world. There is instead an emphasis on how to meet continued growth in both oil and energy demand in developing economies in a sustainable way.

TECHNOLOGY SHIFT ALTERS DEBATE