A week or so ago I posted a link to a site covering the peak oil production situation, how we were likely to hit it in the next couple of years, and the consequences of the ‘post peak’ energy economy. The site was thought provoking but its almost hysterical prognosis seemed like it came right out of Mad Max. If you had a hard time sorting out what might be true from the ‘the apocalypse is coming’ rhetoric on that site, you might find it easier to review this article from the economist for a more sober but no less chilling account of where we’re at with oil reserves and what might come after we pass peak production. I don’t know what to conclude from all this. On the one hand I’m an optimist and history is replete with examples of market forces and our ingenuity overcoming adversity. On the other hand oil is so profoundly linked with modern civilization and the rise of the industrial age that it’s hard to imagine how we’ll get past this. It’s not simply a matter of generating our electricity using alternative means (nuclear, solar, whatever)..oil is touching every aspect of our world, from the materials that make up the keyboard I’m typing on to the fertilizers that feed the almond trees to the fuel that powers the distribution network that brings them to me.

I’m going to continue to ruminate on this one. If you run across any interesting links covering the issue I’d like to see them. It’s funny, in my late teens I became obsessed with these issues – when I was in my early 20’s I had already run across some of the materials suggesting an end to the oil age. Somehow over time my concerns faded. I’m glad the issue has filtered back onto my radar though.