Peak Oil
Posted: Sunday, June 05, 2011
by Rose-Marie Chaperon
Chaperon Consulting, LLC
Will we ever reach a point in time where maximum rate of global petroleum extraction will be reached? Or is that simply an idea from the proponents of the 'Peak Oil' theory? Some say that the world is expected to face severe oil shortages in the near future. Then, how can mankind meet its energy needs? Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. How will this be possible when other scientist have told us over and over again that we will never run out of oil?
Many others and I alone believe that peak oil production has been reached or will be soon. If our assumptions are true our standard of living will fall drastically unless alternatives are found to replace oil. I have heard this before about natural gas which according to the experts we should have run out of by now. Instead natural gas is production is near record levels. If we assume that we have reach peak oil production and the decline will be fairly rapid, what do we replace it with, and what can we do to stop future generation from suffering due to our past selfishness?
There are many ways we can replace oil with alternative energy sources. They are not easily obtainable; however it will require the collaboration of global leadership. To reach this goal it will require a mixture of sources - both central such as wind farms or the solar tower in Spain and distributed like a solar hot water heater and photovoltaic panels on our roof at home.
We can also use wind power even though is a fraction of what the world needs to survive one. Wind power Wind power is viable and used at present as a means of electricity generation. In part because it offers a balance in supply when other sources such as hydro and fossil fuel burning are subject to fluctuations from weather and fossil fuel prices. Wind tends to produce more when hydro is producing less, so that they are complimentary. Wind cannot be the dominant form of energy production (Duke University Office of Research Support, 2011). There should be more hydrogen and electric cars available at the same price of gasoline cars; if the price remains the same people will purchase them; as we already know neither electricity nor hydrogen is actually a source of fuel. Rather they both operate as a battery device for storing energy that is obtained from one source and later used to power a vehicle. However; this will reduce the use of billions of gallons of fuel on the highways.
The potential oil problem in the future should be addressed hopefully soon: -First devise ways to reduce energy consumption. There are lots of ways that would not interfere greatly with people's lives, and if some would cause a slight inconvenience, it would be offset by the knowledge that it saves energy. For instance the way we commute to work is incredibly wasteful of gas and energy and other resources to make the cars that transport us. There are lots of "what if's" to be asked and lots of solutions waiting to be found to reduce energy consumption.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Rose-Marie,
There is and there isn’t a sufficient supply of oil in the world. Let’s use Iraq as an example – IMHO, the primary reason we attacked Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with WMD’s, but was entirely due to the fact that in December of 2002 Saddam Hussein refused to allow renewals for American oil company contracts.
When and if, Iraq’s oil fields are ever fully developed the country of Iraq would have considerably more and better quality, oil than Saudi Arabia. The beauty of Iraq’s oil is it’s extremely cheap to produce.
The problem in Iraq’s future seems to be the fact they take one step forward with oil production and a step-and-a- half backwards. As a result oil production has not increased dramatically and probably never will. You cannot have fully functional oil fields as long as you continue to have attacks on the various oil facilities in Iraq and as long as you have differing factions in Iraq, you will have attacks. So the oil is there, but is not readily accessible – and the same is true in many foreign countries – they have oil but having it and producing it are two different things.
The United States has a tremendous amount of oil, but the cost of getting to the oil is so astronomical that it’s considerably cheaper for us to import, but that puts others in control of our energy supplies, which is not the place to be.
Yesterday the price of gas, per gallon, in my area was $3.95; today it is $4.17 – who knows what it will be tomorrow?
Our legislators have known for decades that U.S. dependency on oil was a serious problem facing the future of our country, yet very little has been done to eliminate our need for black gold and find alternative energy sources.
Thank you for your article.
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