Resources and Reserves of Fossil and Nuclear Fuels

The drastic price hike for petroleum — ca. 1500% since 1960 — has made it clear to everyone that there are limits to the availability of this source of energy. Therefore, efforts have been increased in the search for and utilization of other sources of energy. It has been, and still is, necessary to develop new processes to guarantee the supply of energy, the basis of economic stability and growth, for the medium- and long-term future. Starting points of such considerations are the following questions: What quantities of non-renewable raw materials exist? How long will they last? For this reason global surveys of reserves and resources of energy raw materials have been made. The number of such surveys has increased during the past several years. The results of these surveys may differ in details, but the overall picture is of the same order of magnitude. The limits are visible and thus the limits of growth as well. Nevertheless, these limits are not menacingly near, and they can be pushed even further into the future, if the necessary efforts are made.