Because there will likely be no major marketable breakthroughs in alternative energy technology, the oil industry will remain vital in energy production for at least the next decade, President and Director of Global Petroleum Service, Strategic Energy and Economic Research Michael Lynch said in a lecture titled “Oil and the Future of Energy.” The event was the first Jones Seminar on Science, Technology and Society of the academic year and took place in a packed Spanos Auditorium on Friday afternoon.

The Jones Seminar lecture series, sponsored by the Thayer School of Engineering, began in the 1970s and was expanded in 1988 to incorporate a wider range of topics. Lynch’s subject matter is particularly timely given that the future of energy represents a major campaign issue this election year, Lynch said.

Despite his admitted bias toward oil, Lynch said that he is not anti-regulation.

While Lynch said his family operated a private well in West Virginia, he believes nations should tap into the natural reserves of shale gasoline in order to make available cheap, efficient technology across the globe.

A lack of cheap and efficient technology for alternative energy sources will ensure that the oil industry continues to survive and thrive, he said.

“Just being ‘green’ is not good enough,” he said. “People want to have something cheaper and cleaner. You can’t just make something that’s worse in every respect but one and expect people to buy it.”