Global oil production, past and predicted
There is lots of good stuff on the Net on Peak Oil, The Oil Drum being one and the Institute for the Study of Peak Oil another.
Here are some useful clips and links and comment I am collecting on the subject.
To the left is the peak oil graph, following the bell shaped production curve as observed in a great many individual oil wells. It was M King Hubbert, a Shell oil geologist who first made the prediction based on the the observation that all individual il fields follow this production curve, that the USA would peak in 1970/1, which indeed it did.
He was of course laughed out of town for his far out predictions, which of course turned out to be accurate. Global supply will most likely follow the same pattern. We are on the plateau right now, and face a world of ever decreasing energy availability. It is time to rethink a few basic things we take for granted.
Chris Martenson makes a very clear and informed explanation of Peak Oil theory.
Here is T Boon Pickens talking about it… he is the real JR Ewing… the original Texas oil magnate and some kind of trillionaire… and he reckons the global peak is at 85mb/day and has been reached.. and he has just built the USA’s biggest wind farm in Texas. He’s talking on the upside of last year’s price spike, so you have to remember people’s blood pressure was high as the prices of crude was soaring. Since the price crashed a lot of people have once again taken their eye off the ball, gone back to sleep about energy. So it has an interesting perspective in terms of time, exactly when it was recorded for CNBC in relation to the price of crude at the time.
Association for the study of Peak Oil
Here are a few recommended books on the subject to choose from… if you have not read any of these then Richard Heinberg’s the Party’s Over is a very informative book on this really important subject. I haven’t read Holmgren’s Future Scenarios yet, but it comes recommended by Chris Dixon, he talked about it on our October permaculture course in 09.
