2011.10.06

Deferring Cost

Similarities between Finance and Energy Supply.

The actual multinational debt crisis illustrates the concequences of past decisions. Continued unbalance of revenues and expenditures leads to increasing debts. The situation tends to be catastrophal when new credits are required just to service interest and repayment of existing obligations: Cost of investments and consumption in the past will be deferred to the future.

Actual political measures ("debt brake") do not focus on a decrease of debts but just to decrease new indebtedness. Trend reversal including repayment of today's accrued and henceforth added obligations will be feasable on long-term time scales, only. Future generations have to carry this burden, their financial scope is already today more and more narrowed.

Concerning energy supply their exists an anlogous situation: Accompanying today's reputed cheap energy supply, direct environmental impact and subtle climate change appear as visible results. Even at a momentary stopp of all emissions, climate change will not reflect this before decades. Again cost will be a burden to future generations - like the depts from general governments.

More subtle appears the issue of longevity concerning technologies which require safely isolate and control of hazardous wastes - like from nuclear power stations or carbon capture and storage (css) from coal fired power stations. The argument of cheap electricity production in the present is confronted with unforeseeable cost in the future. And this incalculablility relates to the amount of cost as well as the time scale of storage. By other words: payments of incalculable amount are deferred to the future.