What if the oil is running out ? A general agreement seems to be emerging that the 'Hubbert Peak Oil' moment was at some point around December 2006. That means that the world is, if the analysts are correct, now running out of oil, and that by 2012-25 our present lifestyles will have become unsustainable. The prophets of doom may become historians, or four things may intervene to save us--and I do mean us, because individuals no matter how rich will not be able to retreat to some Rousseauian wilderness. Our society is going to take a Hobbesian mickey-fit unless; 1) the theorists of peak oil are wrong, and the increase in oil prices merely means more efficient transport, and a return to trains, zeppelins and teleconferencing 2) oil is not a fossil fuel 3) we build a half tonne of nuclear power plants and supplement them with the hydrogen (and accompanying platinum technology, which is expensive) and ethanol machines. 4) we discover some new source of energy and way of living The...
This is a collection of personal and largely unedited observations covering the years from 2006 to now; I assert my copyright but am fine with links and footnotes. Some posts are obviously much more researched than others, and any errors are wholly mine except where I have innocently disseminated or linked to other bloggers or commentators.