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Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are we?

General discussions of the systemic, societal and civilisational effects of depletion.

How are the TPTB reacting to peak oil?

TPTB think “peak oil” is years away, thus not a priority
24
No votes
TPTB have some readily scalable “new oil energy source” up their sleeve.
5
No votes
TPTB are engaging in, and preparing for resource wars.
129
No votes
TPTB don't know what to do.
50
No votes
TPTB have some other plan.
21
No votes
 
Total votes : 229

Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby ReserveGrowthRulz » Mon 29 May 2006, 13:16:46

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'Y')eah. He is a geologist working in the petroleum industry. Big hoo haa. :razz: People are interested in facts and are capable of reading them and making informed judgements. I have. It is important to start.


Calling a petroleum engineer a geologist is an insult. And I don't work in the industry anymore, I'm a research scientist nowadays. Got an award which calls me one to prove it.

But please...feel free to prove the truth of my prior statement about Doomers ignoring everything of a factual nature pointed out to them in an effort to not have to admit that the future may not quite be as bad as they WANT it to be.
So....heading into our 3rd year post peak and I'm still getting caught in traffic jams!! DieOff already!
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby Jack » Mon 29 May 2006, 14:30:46

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReserveGrowthRulz', 'I')'m a research scientist nowadays. Got an award which calls me one to prove it.


How nice for you. I've got a piece of paper that calls me a Reverend. Got a certificate (with an embossed gold seal) to prove it.

You may call me "Father". :lol:
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby MonteQuest » Mon 29 May 2006, 14:52:29

I find it extremely tedious to see people prefer to stir up rancor rather than honest debate.

The whole "doomer" PO Mythology rant is so unprofessional as to be childish and petty.

Get off this rant RGR, it is off-topic.
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby ReserveGrowthRulz » Mon 29 May 2006, 15:48:34

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'o')h and I have yet to see how we are going to pump 120 million barrels of oil/day in 2020 much less 90 million in a few years.

yeah pick apart my numbers. who gives a shit. you know just what I mean.


For starters, I never said we can or will produce 120mbpd...it sounds like another one of those silly ass forecasts which Doomers use to set up a strawman arguement. I've explained the basics of this before and won't do so again now.
So....heading into our 3rd year post peak and I'm still getting caught in traffic jams!! DieOff already!
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby smiley » Mon 29 May 2006, 16:20:35

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nd I've already mentioned who is going to solve this particular problem, and it sure isn't the whiners of the world.


A quick scan through Shells yearly statements shows that Shell spends a whopping 0.362% of their earnings (or 0324% of their turnover) to renewables (solar, wind, geothermal and hydrogen).

That's a token effort in my book.

And that for a company which boasts to be one of the most involved companies in the world. Or like its chairman, Jeroen van der Veer said:

"I genuinely believe the world can meet the challenge with the right combination of technology, investment, partnerships and effective policies from governments."


So the boasters of the world aren't going to solve it either.
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby JPL » Mon 29 May 2006, 17:48:18

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReserveGrowthRulz', '
')But please...feel free to prove the truth of my prior statement about Doomers ignoring everything of a factual nature pointed out to them in an effort to not have to admit that the future may not quite be as bad as they WANT it to be.


Hi RGR,

OK, here's your factual analysis. When I was at college I studied hard-rock mining (UK degree level). We covered the economics of resource depletion pretty well.

So when I learned about Peak Oil I dug out my old college notes & my particular focus was Hubbard's math. Even though I am a committed 'peaker' I still have problems with Hubbard. It is IMHO a bit of a period-piece from the days whan reductionist equasions could 'model everything'. Now we (of course) know better...

What I mean is, if you are a commodity dealer and you can forecast the supply 2 weeks in advance, they call you a bloody genius and make you head of the company. If you claim 3 weeks they call you Nick Leason and stick you in jail.

Hubbard, on the other hand, claimed he could forecast a commodity 30 years in advance! But this was in the days before chaos theory, before computers, before everything we know about how complex systems work and how to model them. Hubbard, in this context is a dinosaur and also a clueless optomist.

And yet, the old boy still seems to have modelled things bang-on. To any scientist, this is now a wake-up call. Scientific doctrine says, we cannot bend facts to keep them fitting a fashionable theory, not when a better fit (Hubbard) is available.

So if Hubbard was right (or at least right-er than other, more fashionable models) then we should IMHO work with him for now (or until a better fit comes along).

QED (Sorry I must stop saying that...)

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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby Petro » Sat 03 Jun 2006, 07:45:12

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')eserveGrowthRulz wrote:
More support for my statement that once Doomers have their minds set, they don't pay attention to obvious facts. When someone points out Brazil as a self sufficient energy economy, all you can spout off is something about "sugar slaves" as though slavery exists in Brazil, which it doesn't, and can't even contradict the obvious point, which is they did it, therefore others can as well. Don't want to talk about that of course...and again..it proves my main point. Doomers want Doom....not solutions.


I wouldn't consider myself an expert on the Brazil/Ethenol situation, I of course was curious and did watch a documentary, and did some reading. What I gleaned from this casual study, and, something I don't see talked about in much detail is that they (Brazillians's et al), are able to produce effective amounts of ethanol (from the sugar cane waste products), because it is subsidised by the of the primary product...Sugar. An analogy could be the use of oranges from Florida after the juice is squeezed to make ethanol...while this is great in all respects it is a rather flimsy replacement. What happens [locally] when a frost hits and cripples hundreds of thousands of acres? Blight? Brazil will succeed as long as their world market for sugar is maintained, which is the mechanism of subsidising the production of ethanol...if that fails for whatever reason...it's anybody's guess if ethanol production will remain economical or even practical. Additionally, is it truely sustainable? What about soil depletion, etc.?
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby Golgo13 » Mon 26 Jun 2006, 15:24:43

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MonteQuest', '
')So, I’m left with but a few conclusions:

1. TPTB think “peak oil” is way down the road, thus not a priority.
2. TPTB have some readily scalable “new oil energy source” up their sleeve.
3. TPTB see peak oil as imminent and are acting, having duly considered all the options available.

I think #3 is the only real candidate for reality.

But what are they doing, you ask?

Engaging in, and preparing to fight over the remaining fossil fuel reserves of the world...


Exactly.

I mean, we even had movies back from the 70's telling us that the era of resource wars was gonna be going down and why. So is it any wonder that we're playing our cards now that the time is at hand?
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby MC2 » Mon 26 Jun 2006, 16:34:32

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dissimulo', 'I') think it is actually a combination of #1 and #3. People in government are just like everyone else. Congress runs the same gamut of wacky ideas held by the rest of the population. I'm sure this is little different the world over. So, those with the most knowledge are preparing to fight for the scraps, while those with less knowledge figure we have many more years of oil to burn.

Remember, it is considered wisdom to scoff at anyone who claims that our way of life could come to an end. Predicting the end of the world is an annual crackpot event. People who built bomb shelters during the cold war were fools - all that worry and nothing happened! Ah - the arrogance to think that you were born during the time that such major events would occur. Etc, etc, etc...


Bingo! First really great answer I read (haven't read the 7 pages yet) so I'll quote and comment:

If anything, people in government are even less adept at sorting through the complexity of this issue than those of us who are drawn to sites like this. They rely on input from advisors and staff to form most of the technical basis for the positions they take. Or, they are specialists who focus on one thing or another, but don't see the big picture all that well. I don't see a particular conspiracy afoot - I chose answer 1, but I do acknowledge that there is surely a perception that we must "position ourselves" for strategic conflict a la door number 3.
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby MonteQuest » Tue 04 Jul 2006, 00:52:59

Like I have been saying...

Preemptive Energy Security: An Aggressive Approach to Meeting America's Requirements

This Strategic Research Project analyzes the need to change the National Security Strategy to advocate the use of military force to guarantee access to foreign oil sources...A precipitive use of the military could easily trigger an escalation in hostilities, generate a tremendous amount of anti-American sentiment, lead to United Nations’ sanctions, and fracture friendships and alliances. But compared to the economic effects of an oil shortage, such risks are acceptable.

Thus we invaded Iraq. A real eye opener this one is.

http://www.energybulletin.net/17811.html
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby zensui-org » Mon 30 Oct 2006, 23:02:43

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '.')..and 911 kicked off the whole Iraqi/Central Asia invasion

I sort of suspect that some population reduction measures are being talked about in priviliged circles.

If you think about the Earth's human population in purely dispassionate terms, then in the case of acute energy shortages, the population will clearly need to be pruned back in order to allow the civilization to continue.

It's that simple.

I think somewhere out there, people are hard at work creating laboratory viruses...


AIDS that can be transmitted from person to person life flu? or maybe Voluntary Human Extinction?

...homo "sapiens" is depleting an Earth energy legacy too fast and causing mass extinctions and climate change at the same time. Don't you think that what deserves to survive will be nature instead of humanity? Wars are homo "sapiens" killing each other in mass... and that's a "history constant".

The PO aware know that one of the most dangerous variable in PO (in fact the only one that is causing this mess in the first place) is homo "sapiens". Do civilization even deserve survival?

Maybe we as a species deserve extinction, and that's pathetical and depressing.
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby kokoda » Wed 01 Nov 2006, 08:51:38

I made a point of emailing the prime minister's office (Im an Aussie) to see if they were aware of peak oil and its implications.

What I got back was a form letter (naturally) outlining a number of initiatives that were being undertaken by the government to look at alternative energy sources.

The PO word was never mentioned with greater emphasis being given to combating greenhouse gas emissions.

None of the initiatives they mentioned seemed to be likely to do much to mitigate the problems of PO or global warming.

They were talking in terms of replacing maybe 5% of our fossil fuels consumption with biofuels by 2010. Hooking up a few renewable energy powerstations to the nations power grid ... and ... well not much more then that really.

The fact is that the Australian government is ill prepared to deal with the looming global oil crisis. They are aware of it ... but just aren't quite sure what they should do about it.
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby ReserveGrowthRulz » Wed 01 Nov 2006, 11:07:29

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JPL', '
')
Hubbard, on the other hand, claimed he could forecast a commodity 30 years in advance! But this was in the days before chaos theory, before computers, before everything we know about how complex systems work and how to model them. Hubbard, in this context is a dinosaur and also a clueless optomist.

And yet, the old boy still seems to have modelled things bang-on. To any scientist, this is now a wake-up call. Scientific doctrine says, we cannot bend facts to keep them fitting a fashionable theory, not when a better fit (Hubbard) is available.

So if Hubbard was right (or at least right-er than other, more fashionable models) then we should IMHO work with him for now (or until a better fit comes along).


Hubbert forecast several things...he forecast a peak rate at a place in time. He did this for more than one SCENARIO. ONE of his scenario's was right in time and wrong on rate. He missed everything else. Hubberts accuracy post peak on the single time he hit on was pretty bad as well.

The beauty of what Hubbert did is in his IDEA, not the accuracy or ability of a simple logistics curve to forecast.

So please...Hubbert wasn't "bang on" at all. But its his idea that carries on. The modelling capability of his method has been discredited pretty well, I've provided references before, it would be nice if people would actually go READ them sometimes before they start off on this "Hubbert was a bang on modeller" routine.

Hubbert wasn't a dionosar, he was an excellent scientist and he had and expressed an excellent idea. But it helps to know how well it works in reality, and how well it HASN'T worked, and why.
So....heading into our 3rd year post peak and I'm still getting caught in traffic jams!! DieOff already!
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby JPL » Wed 01 Nov 2006, 18:22:46

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReserveGrowthRulz', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JPL', '
')
Hubbard, on the other hand, claimed he could forecast a commodity 30 years in advance! But this was in the days before chaos theory, before computers, before everything we know about how complex systems work and how to model them. Hubbard, in this context is a dinosaur and also a clueless optomist.

And yet, the old boy still seems to have modelled things bang-on. To any scientist, this is now a wake-up call. Scientific doctrine says, we cannot bend facts to keep them fitting a fashionable theory, not when a better fit (Hubbard) is available.

So if Hubbard was right (or at least right-er than other, more fashionable models) then we should IMHO work with him for now (or until a better fit comes along).


Hubbert forecast several things...he forecast a peak rate at a place in time. He did this for more than one SCENARIO. ONE of his scenario's was right in time and wrong on rate. He missed everything else. Hubberts accuracy post peak on the single time he hit on was pretty bad as well.

The beauty of what Hubbert did is in his IDEA, not the accuracy or ability of a simple logistics curve to forecast.

So please...Hubbert wasn't "bang on" at all. But its his idea that carries on. The modelling capability of his method has been discredited pretty well, I've provided references before, it would be nice if people would actually go READ them sometimes before they start off on this "Hubbert was a bang on modeller" routine.

Hubbert wasn't a dionosar, he was an excellent scientist and he had and expressed an excellent idea. But it helps to know how well it works in reality, and how well it HASN'T worked, and why.


Hi RGR

Thanks for the reply. My criticism IS with Hubbards' idea - the math is 'dated' and although I haven't read your references (newcomer - pls re-quote if you have a sec) I know enough about predictive modelling to consign his work to my mental 'dusty top shelf'.

Problem is, when looking at 'Peak Oil' I still keep mentally reaching for Hubbard. Like the porn mags in the garage that your wife doesn't know about. Compulsive.

Now if we had another depletion model, THAT would be different. Something bang up-to-date. Hopefully takes a zillion tetraflops of computer power to run & then gives us a real-decent model. And THAT would be something worth arguing about...

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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby ReserveGrowthRulz » Wed 01 Nov 2006, 20:48:34

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JPL', '
')
Hi RGR

Thanks for the reply. My criticism IS with Hubbards' idea - the math is 'dated' and although I haven't read your references (newcomer - pls re-quote if you have a sec) I know enough about predictive modelling to consign his work to my mental 'dusty top shelf'.

Problem is, when looking at 'Peak Oil' I still keep mentally reaching for Hubbard. Like the porn mags in the garage that your wife doesn't know about. Compulsive.

Now if we had another depletion model, THAT would be different. Something bang up-to-date. Hopefully takes a zillion tetraflops of computer power to run & then gives us a real-decent model. And THAT would be something worth arguing about...

JPL


While Hubberts paper itself might be old, and the math somewhat on the simple side, the concept is quite reasonable, but the prognosticating ability quite poor. The reference is Cavello(?), Natural Resources Research, March 2005 perhaps? He calculated all the statistical goodness of fit meaures for multiple Hubbert curves and various URR scenarios, and none were any better than any other. Expressed another way, you can get a URR of 2 trillion barrels just as easily and with no difference in accuracy of the prediction as with 3 trillion barrels.

As for other depletion models, there are plenty around, some even right here at PO. I could probably crank out a probabilistic one just as a warmup for something else, but even if I did as an experiment I couldn't talk about it afterwards unless I wanted to officially publish it, which is a pain for just an experiment.
So....heading into our 3rd year post peak and I'm still getting caught in traffic jams!! DieOff already!
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby MonteQuest » Thu 02 Nov 2006, 20:45:44

RGR....

Heed my warning. You are off-topic.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Montequest', 'I') find it extremely tedious to see people prefer to stir up rancor rather than honest debate.

The whole "doomer" PO Mythology rant is so unprofessional as to be childish and petty.

Get off this rant RGR, it is off-topic.


The topic of this thread is:

Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are we?
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Re: Peak Oil is on the Horizon; Why aren’t we acting? Or are

Postby NEOPO » Thu 02 Nov 2006, 20:58:05

Iraq via WMD via 911 via PO makes sense to me most days ;-)
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