What do you guys (and gals) think of this?
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I came across this a few weeks ago. http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net[^]. It's a little long but definitely worth reading. I don't quite know how to react to this. :( ----------------------- I pity the foo. -Mr. T
I'd panic, if I were you. Thirty-two years ago, when a few Arabs decided to corner the market and toss a scare into Western civilization by throttling petroleum production, fuel prices tripled overnight. The oil industry experts and the US government told us all that there exists, at most, a twenty year supply in the world. When the embargo ended, this lie was used to maintain the false market value of oil, generating enormous profits for the industry, and huge excise tax surpluses for the government. While I'm in complete agreement with the concept of conserving limited resources, I'm always suspicious of such scare stories. I've been lied to far too many times by corporations and the US government to take anything at face value. Instead I have to ask, "what's in it for the author, or those who paid for the research?" What's his axe, and for whom is he grinding it? It's debatable when the end of the free ride will come, but come it will. Renewable energy sources must be found someday, and I'm convinced that they can be made affordable. But after the embargo ended, all incentives offerred by the government to develop them expired, and there seems to be little support for reinstating them. I agree with the author, though, in that it doesn't require a complete depletion of reserves to cause an economic meltdown; only a marginal collapse is required to totally disrupt world markets. Invest in solar, or wind, or methane cogeneration if you're in a place where it's practical. When the lights go out on our civilization, I'll be looking for your porchlight... I'll bring the beer.;) "If it's Snowbird season, why can't we shoot them?" - Overheard in a bar in Bullhead City
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I'd panic, if I were you. Thirty-two years ago, when a few Arabs decided to corner the market and toss a scare into Western civilization by throttling petroleum production, fuel prices tripled overnight. The oil industry experts and the US government told us all that there exists, at most, a twenty year supply in the world. When the embargo ended, this lie was used to maintain the false market value of oil, generating enormous profits for the industry, and huge excise tax surpluses for the government. While I'm in complete agreement with the concept of conserving limited resources, I'm always suspicious of such scare stories. I've been lied to far too many times by corporations and the US government to take anything at face value. Instead I have to ask, "what's in it for the author, or those who paid for the research?" What's his axe, and for whom is he grinding it? It's debatable when the end of the free ride will come, but come it will. Renewable energy sources must be found someday, and I'm convinced that they can be made affordable. But after the embargo ended, all incentives offerred by the government to develop them expired, and there seems to be little support for reinstating them. I agree with the author, though, in that it doesn't require a complete depletion of reserves to cause an economic meltdown; only a marginal collapse is required to totally disrupt world markets. Invest in solar, or wind, or methane cogeneration if you're in a place where it's practical. When the lights go out on our civilization, I'll be looking for your porchlight... I'll bring the beer.;) "If it's Snowbird season, why can't we shoot them?" - Overheard in a bar in Bullhead City
I think people might be quite surprised by how much oil corporations have invested in renewable energy IP. When (if?) the oil runs out, it won't be long before those same corporations magically (re)discover all sorts of affordable renewable energy technologies.
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I think people might be quite surprised by how much oil corporations have invested in renewable energy IP. When (if?) the oil runs out, it won't be long before those same corporations magically (re)discover all sorts of affordable renewable energy technologies.
Normally I don’t really buy into these big corporate conspiracy theories but I think this one has a bit of merit. I have this feeling that most of the oil / utility companies have a good line on secondary renewable energy sources and they are just waiting until they HAVE to use them before unleashing them. Reason #1 – To keep the price on the existing resources as high as they can until they are gone to first, make as much money as possible second, continue funding research into alternatives without biting into R&D budgets too much and third, simply because they can. Reason #2 – To make it simpler to bring these alternatives to market. Lets face it, if the world NEEDS them (I mean really needs them) then the governments involved will be more lenient in their regulations and actually help (read in here as pay) these companies (through grants) to speed their time to market thus having an even smaller impact on R&D and marketing budgets.
George Carlin wrote: "Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things." Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: If the physicists find a universal theory describing the laws of universe, I'm sure the asshole constant will be an integral part of that theory.
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