Centurion

In the news Richard Branson has thrown himself behind warnings that peak oil is upon us.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8508323.stm
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bu...k-1895952.html

So here we are. Within the next five years you and I will see prices driven up for every aspect of our lives from petrol to food. Economies will fail and some will never recover from the global recession.

I'll be honest and say that this scares me more than global warming.

Wol

The grinning furry teethman scares me most af all...........

emelems

yep - time to find the old ways my friend... food is the biggest worry I would think.. a new era may well be upon us

Em x

Em x

odyssey

I am going to live on 4 mangoes, 3 lychees, avocados, mulberries, olives, limes,oranges, lemons and lettuces.

Although I may well plant some potatoes or something soon

emelems

You, as my special friend, can come live with me and my food hoard! You won't starve!

Em x

MartinLuther

I think I'd better expand my veggie patch.

asprilla

Well, I used to think likewise but I have since spoken to several gentlemen who are in the energy industry.

Generally, people are confident that alternative energy sources will start to pick up the slack as oil runs dry... and that there is enough lead time to generate new fuel sources ie nuclear, if need be.

LNG will take over from oil. After that, who knows where we will head, there are many alternatives currently being explored.

But the key point is this - it is unlikely that there will be a sudden catastrophic shortage of oil, because supply and demand will force the market into exploiting other energy sources (regardless of whether or not they are more expensive that oil).

asprilla

Just read the bbc article featuring Richard Branson's comments. I think we need to realise that the guy has an agenda.

Consider the motor industry. We can already purchase cars set up for LNG and refuel them at limited places. We can also buy hybrid cars. The motor industry is diversifying. The aeronautical industry - well, I don't really know to be honest, perhaps new fuels are being developed, but I suspect that the answer is "no". Nothing has been done because the investment is too big. So now Richard Branson is asking for a bit of help on the investment side of things....

Deutschmaster

I heard ages ago that Branson was looking into using biofuels to power aircraft. I'm sure one of his did actually fly with one of the engines powered using the stuff.

I've always been under the impression that 'peak oil' is more of a problem with not enough investment into energy production and the current reserves running out rather than the planet going dry. It's good to know that when all the cars in Victoria turn electric we'll have enough coal to produce the electricity

Amazulu

Yep, agree and here's why:
LNG
Shale Oil
Shale Gas
Seam Gas
Biodiesel
Ethanol
Conventional oil (it ain't gonna run out in 5 years)
Coal
Coal to liquid fuel
Gas to liquid fuel
Nuclear
Wind
Wave
Solar
Geo-Thermal
Hydro-Electric
Clean Coal
Hydrogen
Hybrid vehicles (current vehicles like the Prius are useless, but in 5 years....)
Electric vehicles
Diesel engines
Improved fuel efficiency
Etc

Deutschmaster

I've always liked the sound of hydrogen myself. Renewables can be used to generate the electricity required to electrolyze water. The hydrogen can then be stored or pumped into cars.

Centurion

I don't see a sudden catastrophic shortage of oil. However, what I do see are many economies teetering on the point of collapse already. The UK is one of them. The point of the peak oil crisis isn't that we actually don't have enough oil, merely that we reach the peak of production which demand outstrips. From there market forces will dictate the fate of nations.

Amazulu

UK is in a mess but it isn't on the point of collapse - far from it. They will go through much pain (worst is yet to come) but they'll sort themselves out.

Budawang

The problem with Peak Oil is it's likely to occur at a time of rapid increase in demand for oil. The Chinese and Indians are getting rich much more quickly than the rest of us and they want oil and lots of it. As oil production stagnates and then falls, this is a recipe for a rapidly increasing oil price over the next decade or so.

I don't think the UK will be harder hit than most advanced economies. Australia will have problems as our mining, agriculture and international tourism sectors are all oil intensive industries.

MartinLuther

I thought we ran out of oil in the 80s (as predicted in the 70s).