The End of Oil

OUT OF GAS

I just finished reading 'The End Of Oil' by Paul Roberts, which is a great book I highly recommend. Even though it was written 4 years ago and his predictions about where the price of oil would be, was a little off, he was definitely right about how dangerously close we are getting to, in terms of hitting peak oil.

With oil prices pushing to historic highs of $150 a barrel, and with some forecasts having it go as high as $300 a barrel in the next couple of years, our global economy has entered a oil crisis as not enough new oil is being pumped to meet the rising demand from China, India, and the developing world.

Roberts also recently wrote a piece in 'National Geographic' that updated some of his analysis in the book as well. The lack of new oil discoveries in recent years has many geologists worried that there will soon not be enough oil to meet demands, which is of course pretty problematic for our civilization which is dependent on oil. And this could be happening as soon as the next 10 years, or even perhaps *cue dramatic music* RIGHT NOW!

So what do we do about it? Well, the author much like many environmentalists, scientists, and environmental scientists, says there is a heck of a lot we can do.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Renewable energy such as wind, solar, tidal, and biomass, can produce as much as 20% of electricity needs, and perhaps even more, if countries get serious about energy efficiency and conservation efforts.

Although, there is the possibility of uranium supplies peaking out this century, more nuclear power in the next couple of decades is a solution I support for family biased reasons (my Dad works in a nuclear power plant). Many point out that carbon emissions would be a lot higher than they presently are if nuclear power didn't replace some coal.

With abundant natural gas supplies in the world, a move from a transportation system powered on oil, to one on natural gas, is a good 'bridge fuel' that could sustain us for a few decades. The bridge fuel being towards a hydrogen fuel cell powered economy that was all the hype 7 or 8 years ago before, may still be possible in the future.

And even though coal is pretty much the main culprit that is leading to climate change from coal power in the United States and China, 'clean coal' is a possibility. And if its ever possible would be a good way to go since the two biggest economies in the world have supplies that will last them hundreds of years.

CAP AND TRADE, AUTO EMISSIONS, AND CARBON TAXES

Of course, we can't leave this all up to the market, since that will eventually lead to disaster. Governments have to lead the way in promoting these new technologies, and can implement a few policies along the way to change the market.One, is the creation of a 'Cap and Trade system' which is the way Europe is going, and a system that many countries are slowly lining up behind.

Another approach is putting a tax on carbon emissions through a carbon tax, which is generating a lot of debate in the Canadian homeland from what I read. Auto emissions regulations are also behind in America and a few countries, and could be brought up to speed.S

CIENCE SAVES US WITH MAGIC!Of course, science could always come along and save us through magical new inventions. GM is developing a car that runs on 'electricity'.

While Japanese scientists have apparently developed a car that runs on 'water'. So maybe scientists will save us with some futuristic invention, the movies of the 80's always predicted would happen. I have even read other cool stuff that could save us, but forget where I read it, one involved harvesting algae to produce hydrogen though.

THE RAMBLING END

Anyways, long story short, the book was really interesting and clarified why oil prices are so high, and why we need to lessen our dependence of oil very soon. Say, in the next 10-15 years. Or ASAP.

Although climate change is the thing that is causing problems now and in the long term, running out of fuel is a problem that could make our lives very uncomfortable quite soon.