Peak OIL Enters Mainstream Debate!...BBC

[niallmac]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4077802.stm

[wli]

1. wow! this is major!

Very cool.

[StrafingMoose]

2. Hehe

"Deborah White, senior energy analyst at Societe Generale in Paris, says that "we have heard these arguments about 'peak oil' since the idea of Hubert's curve came into being."

"We don't endorse the idea at all."


You know what? I don't 'endorse' the idea at all either. I don't 'endorse' a worldwide energy crisis, but let's face it -- things in the ground don't rot as quick as we pump it!

[Theduckno2]

3. I read both of Professor Richard Heinburg's books:

"The Party's Over" and "Power Down". Recommended, although there may be newer material out there. I appreciate the article covering the demand side of the equation which shows the collision of two economic trends: leveling off of petroleum supplies AND continued increase in world demand (consumption).
IMHO the BBC is typically much more aware of these issues than US MSM. George Bush appears to be in denial and that is not helping things.

[Bhaisahab]

4. self delete. dupe

[Bhaisahab]

5. now lets just hope people dont panic

people who were not paying attention so far may just panic and events could accelerate towards stressful times.

[screembloodymurder]

6. To anyone following the story, this is old news.

June 10, 2005.

[niallmac]

7. Can't hurt that some of the MSM find time for it though.

Oh well, time to hop on my bike and go to work.;)

[screembloodymurder]

13. I agree that Peak Oil should be in the news.

Hopefully, the energy bill will spark some interest and MSM will do some reading. In my opinion, this is the number one issue facing mankind and GWB is promoting the worst possible solutions.

[justinsb]

8. What people ought to be concerned about is

peak water. The warnings have been there on energy for decades and no one acted. As a result solving the energy problems will be an expensive and painful process and there will likely still not be as much as there is now (for example, I believe that the personal automobile will pretty much be a thing of the past).

But, there is still time to do something about water - and a world water crisis will be even more damaging than the energy crisis.

[Bassic]

9. I think cars will stay

Big oil companies have been buying most prototypes for electrical cars in order to prevent their production.... and to give themselves another avenue when oil runs out. When it gets bad enough, they'll sell the protoypes and start reorienting towards "recharge stations" in my opinion.

[Why Syzygy]

10. Ironic isn't it

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0508090175aug09,1,1326770.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

Oil and retail gasoline prices hit record highs again Monday, propelled by threats to the American Embassy in Saudi Arabia and problems at U.S. refineries.

But even as prices continue to rise, industry observers said they are seeing no change in consumer behavior.

People continue to drive to work despite higher prices at the pump, and the stock market has largely shaken off the effect of higher energy costs.
...
"A lot of people don't have that choice," said Michael Stavy, a Chicago energy consultant who noted that people who live in the suburbs or rural areas often have no choice but to drive long distance. "They can try to change their behavior, but not unless there are alternative ways to travel."
...

[rman]

12. Reality is people are changing jobs, getting more efficient cars,

changing driving habbits, in order to save on gas. (changing jobs to one closer to home). Just ask around on DU.

Gas conservation on commuting slows down demand growth, and yet OPEC feels it's necessary for them to increase oil production. In the mean time oil and gas prices continue to rise.


case in point:
There's a huge truckers strike going on at Vancouver harbor, which has been dragging on for about a month now. The reason for the strike is not mentioned in all the articles on the matter. Nonetheless the reason is the high cost of fuel.

http://www.laborradio.org/node/1108
http://ftn.fedex.com/cndbulletin/072505.htm

[Why Syzygy]

14. Cars are not the only concern .. flip on a light switch . fuel baby

Thanks for this thread. Here's the answer:

Hemp for Fuel
Biodiesel can be made from domestically produced, renewable oilseed crops such as hemp. With over 30 million successful U.S. road miles hemp boidiesel could be the answer to our cry for cheaper fuel. We have spent the last century polluting our beautiful country with our petroleum based fuels that could have easily been replaced with fuels derived from hemp. It would only take 6% of our U.S. land to produce enough hemp, for hemp fuel, to make us energy independent from the rest of the world. Help us teach America the truth. Make yourself a human billboard that speaks only of the truth because the only thing standing between hemp being illegally and legal is ignorance.
...

The Fuel of the Future
When Henry Ford told a New York Times reporter that ethyl alcohol was "the fuel of the future" in 1925, he was expressing an opinion that was widely shared in the automotive industry. "The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like that sumach out by the road, or from apples, weeds, sawdust -- almost anything," he said. "There is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented. There's enough alcohol in one year's yield of an acre of potatoes to drive the machinery necessary to cultivate the fields for a hundred years."
Ford recognized the utility of the hemp plant. He constructed a car of resin stiffened hemp fiber, and even ran the car on ethanol made from hemp. Ford knew that hemp could produce vast economic resources if widely cultivated.

...

http://www.artistictreasure.com/learnmorecleanair.html

more ..

http://www.hempdiesel.com/links.php

[rman]

16. Tell me about it. But alternatives are not going to work unless

we seriously increase efficiency and reduce wastefullness of energy use.

How much hemp or coliflour or whatever would we need to plant to produce the equivalent of 80 million barrels of oil? Where do we get the energy to process it?

[justinsb]

11. Well good luck with that

I don't see it as possible. None of the other energy souces are as efficient as oil. They are cleaner, and renewable, but harder and more expensive to produce. So, if, and it's a big if, there still are personal cars 20 years from now I'd expect to pay the equivelant of more like 20-30 dollars/gallon and I believe that anyone who drives a personal vehicle at all will be looked at in much the same way that SUV drivers are now.

[wli]

15. I better sell mine fast before the auto market collapses

It's getting bad fast.