Ah, Petrocollapse...onomojakuMay 25 2006, 16:08:51 UTC
Fun words! And Peak Oil! I didn't throw those phrases into this rant, nor did I discuss the whole 'conserve and reduce' motiff, since it was only a "stage one: the real problem" kind of rant.
Yes, we will have to conserve and reduce while we desparately scramble for alternatives and a real solution. Yes, that will force people to drastically alter their lives. But many of the so-called solutions are simply ludicrous. "Don't drive" rings right up there on the top of the list of stupids. American cities are generally built poorly from the point of conserving energy. I could not get to work without driving, not in any reasonable way. I would have to bike or walk about an hour to get to a bus stop, and then spend another 2 hours on public transit to make it to work. Three hours, just to get there. Same on the way home, oh, and whoa be unto me when I have to work late. Public transit stops running.
Most people must drive to work. Most people must drive to their friend's house. Frivilous trips can be cut down on, definately, but the economy of the situation is going to do that anyway. Gas is $3+ a gallon now, and will continue to climb. That will naturally check demand, as less people can afford it!
Peak Oil, for those who don't know, is the simple fact that we are now drilling and producing just about as much oil as it is possible to drill and produce. New sources of oil will only add fractionally to that - for all the cries of "tap Alaska" it doesn't have _that_ much oil to help out. So basically, we are producing about all the oil that can be. And demand for oil - the desire for gallons per day - is rising drastically as China and other countries come online. If supply (the amount that CAN be produced in this case) is outstripped by demand (the amount that the various countries of the world want and need), price goes up. Simple economics.
Petrocollapse, again for those unfamiliar with the term, is the basic idea that since most of our world's economic and industrial functions are based around the idea of easy and cheap oil (to provide power, to move materials, to move people, even to make plastic!), when the oil stops being cheap and readily available, the economy and industry will start grinding to a halt.
It could, if we do not make some SERIOUS adjustments in the near future in America at least, send the entire world into an economic depression the likes of which has never been seen before.
Scary stuff here. And this isn't tin-foil-hat-wearer stuff either, this is our world, the one we all live in.
Thanks for the insights. I may write a part II: the consequences of inertia or something next week. :)
Yes, we will have to conserve and reduce while we desparately scramble for alternatives and a real solution. Yes, that will force people to drastically alter their lives. But many of the so-called solutions are simply ludicrous. "Don't drive" rings right up there on the top of the list of stupids. American cities are generally built poorly from the point of conserving energy. I could not get to work without driving, not in any reasonable way. I would have to bike or walk about an hour to get to a bus stop, and then spend another 2 hours on public transit to make it to work. Three hours, just to get there. Same on the way home, oh, and whoa be unto me when I have to work late. Public transit stops running.
Most people must drive to work. Most people must drive to their friend's house. Frivilous trips can be cut down on, definately, but the economy of the situation is going to do that anyway. Gas is $3+ a gallon now, and will continue to climb. That will naturally check demand, as less people can afford it!
Peak Oil, for those who don't know, is the simple fact that we are now drilling and producing just about as much oil as it is possible to drill and produce. New sources of oil will only add fractionally to that - for all the cries of "tap Alaska" it doesn't have _that_ much oil to help out. So basically, we are producing about all the oil that can be. And demand for oil - the desire for gallons per day - is rising drastically as China and other countries come online. If supply (the amount that CAN be produced in this case) is outstripped by demand (the amount that the various countries of the world want and need), price goes up. Simple economics.
Petrocollapse, again for those unfamiliar with the term, is the basic idea that since most of our world's economic and industrial functions are based around the idea of easy and cheap oil (to provide power, to move materials, to move people, even to make plastic!), when the oil stops being cheap and readily available, the economy and industry will start grinding to a halt.
It could, if we do not make some SERIOUS adjustments in the near future in America at least, send the entire world into an economic depression the likes of which has never been seen before.
Scary stuff here. And this isn't tin-foil-hat-wearer stuff either, this is our world, the one we all live in.
Thanks for the insights. I may write a part II: the consequences of inertia or something next week. :)
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