Interesting. I had a chance to talk with some other financial professionals last week, and of the 5 of us, 2 disagreed with me that fossil fuels are a bad long term investment, and 2 did not state any opinion.
I feel very strongly about this, and it would not be a surprise to me if this chart ends up grossly underestimating the pace and extent of the change. From ThinkProgress:
So if you are an investor, it is estimated that coal usage will grow by maybe 20% over the next 25 years. That’s less than 0.7% per year. Oil goes backwards (although, to be fair, this is not a large use of oil even now). Gas increases by quite a lot, but not enough to salvage the sector.
Remember, the energy sector, by definition, comprises ONLY fossil fuel industries – coal, oil, and gas exploration, production, and refining.
Buy oil now? I’m not a trader, so I don’t know how to play the market for the next year or two. As an investor, no thanks.