Understanding Peak Oil
Aug 28th, 2010 by staff entry
Many people believe that the oil reserves on our planet are virtually limitless. They claim that as technology gets more sophisticated we will be able to discover more oil reserves and extract a greater amount from existing ones.
In fact that is not exactly how things work. Much of the oil that exists has already been discovered and is being extracted or is so difficult to extract that it makes it economically unfeasible.
Are we at Peak Oil?
The concept of Peak Oil recognizes that the rate of oil extraction in any given oil field will increase until it reaches some maximum level then start to decrease as less and less oil is left in the ground.
Many scientists believe that we have reached that point for all oil that is available on the planet. Essentially we have passed the halfway point and the amount of oil we will be able to extract from the ground per day or year will start to decrease until there is no more oil left.
Here are two videos featuring Richard Heinberg, a recognized expert on Peak Oil, covering the topic of Peak Oil and what it can mean for our future.
Peak Oil Interview - Richard Heinberg (part 1)
Peak Oil Interview - Richard Heinberg (part 2)
Peak Oil - How Will You Ride the Slide?
Here’s a short (less than 2 minutes) animation showing the history of our oil use and what may possibly lie ahead.