Raising "Peak Oil" Awareness, Envisioning Life After Fossil Fuels
Advocates working to raise public consciousness about the concept of "peak oil" -- and how vulnerable our society is in the face of it -- frequently receive blank stares or reactions of disbelief from those who have never encountered the topic. Part of the problem, I believe, is that the term is not a terribly useful frame of reference for most people, steeped as it is in notions of resource limits, oil flow rates, and demand-meets-supply-crunch calculations.
As an alternative, I think it's worth exploring the persuasive power of the concept of freedom, especially as it as it relates to community self-determination. With fossil fuel dependency, we're essentially beholden to the oil behemoths and far-off places to maintain our way of life. By redesigning our communities and infrastucture -- to require significantly less energy -- we can free ourselves to determine our own destinies, untethered by the leash of the oil-based global economy.
What are your thoughts about effective ways to explain this concept? And what are some compelling visions of a more vibrant and fulfilling way of life after this brief fossil fuel joyride comes to an end?
Comments
Freedom and Community Self-Determination
Very interesting point. I think humans have a basic tendency to want to participate in the most fundmanental aspects of their own lives rather than be bystanders who rely on a centralized bureaucracy, whether it is the state or a corporation.
A localized democratically controlled economy represents a "third way" that holds much promise on behalf of values shared by both the so-called left and right. The false dichotomy of socialism versus capitalism, which still tends to predominate in political/activist circles, is outdated and lacks the imagination needed to address peak oil, global warming, and other ecological challenges.
The world’s oil supplies
The world’s oil supplies are not unlimited. Unless the abiogenic theory of oil is correct, then reserves will one-day dwindle, and production will decline. New barrels cannot be “magic-ed” by some trick of economics. Extraction of any fossil fuel extraction is limited. Peak oil is inevitable. Of course, there is debate about when production hits its highs; it may have already happened, perhaps it will come in the next few years, and just possibly, it will be in 2020 or later. But make no mistake about it, we are not endowed with infinite amounts of the stuff.
Sceptics rightly point out that this bell has been rung before. In the mid 1980s, world oil reserves were forecast to last about 20 years; and yet here we are in 2007, with near record production levels. Historically, we have always found new sources of oil – in Alaska, in the North Sea, in the Gulf of Mexico, and off the coast of Africa – to satisfy our addiction. There are prospects in the future too: there may well be (very substantial) new discoveries in the Middle East, ultra-deepwater drilling holds promise, as does the development of new areas such as the South Atlantic, and increased enhanced oil recovery will certainly play a role. This misses the point: finding new oil reserves may push out peak production, but it does not invalidate the concept. Our planet does not contain an unlimited amount of oil.
Many – particularly on this site - argue that economics has little that is intelligent to say about peak oil. Yet the very definition of economics is the study of scarcity, and in particular, the study of the efficient allocation of scarce resources. What more relevant subject could there be for studying the effects of peak oil?
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