The long farewell to oil

Petroleum is still the most important raw material used in the production of electricity, heat and fuel. But it is a finite resource. That is compelling us to consider alternatives. Biodiesel or fuel cells-which fuel and which technology can replace oil? And above all, when?

..Although the oil price has again fallen slightly since its all-time high of 70 dollars a barrel at the end of August 2005, oil remains more than twice as expensive as it was only two years ago. And a price recovery is nowhere in sight. “The years of permanently cheap oil are over,” warn all the experts. At the same time, a growing number of geologists believe that worldwide oil extraction will soon “inexorably fall”, as the Englishman Colin Campbell forecasts.

The New Nation