by Aaron » Sun 03 Oct 2004, 07:56:15
If any of these primary energy sources existed in some vacuum of isolation I would agree that declining oil supplies would have little impact on future electric grid prospects.
However, this is not the case.
It's not that falling stocks of oil directly impact our ability to produce and distribute electricity, but rather as a secondary impact. Not just the oil-powered machines which build and maintain these facilities, but the way they are interconnected to one another through the economies of the world.
Even if we suppose that agriculture required NO oil based energy to continue production, it's a mistake to assume this means that food prices remain stable.
It's the sum of all oil subsidized goods & services that has the impact.
It is somewhat daunting to begin adding up oil dependent processes which represent the overhead of just about every industry including agriculture. (& electricity production)
The direct oil subsidy in agriculture is obvious and massive of course... From planting to fertilizing and pest control, to harvesting, processing, and moving these products to market, oil energy is involved at every step.
Less obvious are the indirect oil dependencies.
Imagine a list of all the things and activities we all use to accomplish what we do each day. Right down to the toilet paper you use to wipe away the last remnants of yesterdays agriculture, almost everything you can name, has been subsidized by oil energy.
This is the central, and often overlooked, problem with post peak oil supplies.
We tend to forget that everything made from oil, everything powered by oil, everything transported by oil, must become more expensive as oil becomes more expensive.
So fine... we can produce electricity from coal or nuclear, or solar, or the energy fairy for that matter.
But the toothbrush you use before going to work at the power plant required oil energy to create, distribute and sell. Oh yes... and it's made of oil BTW.
This is true of just about everything in our modern world.
Oil has made almost everything relatively cheap...
The problem is, of course, that not only is economics bankrupt, but it has always been nothing more than politics in disguise... economics is a form of brain damage.
Hazel Henderson
