Peak Oil Civilization After Oil Runs Out

8 Comments on "Peak Oil Civilization After Oil Runs Out"

hculliton on Sun, 17th Aug 2014 6:03 pm 



The premise is not very useful, because we don’t face the Tap of God being turned off. We face the problems associated with oil peaking and then declining – far more complex.

Makati1 on Sun, 17th Aug 2014 8:45 pm 



Another ‘feel good’ video about tech saving the world or at least allowing a new world of “renewable” energy to come into existence, but not the true renewables of plants and muscle power, just variations of oil energy. I watched this a long time ago and was not impressed then. I didn’t have to watch it again to know it is more feel good propaganda for the unthinking.

Rob on Sun, 17th Aug 2014 9:08 pm 



We’ll burn everything. The oil, the natural gas, coal, peat, wood, furniture, plastic waste, whale oil…you name it…to keep business as usual going as long as possible. I have no idea how long this all takes to play out, but it will. Solar and wind will just slow the collapse.

rockman on Sun, 17th Aug 2014 9:10 pm 



I always find some common threads in such pieces. They invariably ignore the fact that for many millions TODAY oil has “already run out”. IOW they can afford very little of the energy many of us consume in our comfortable lives. So if all this miraculous tech is going to save us from such a future why isn’t it saving the energy poor today? So maybe it’s because they can’t afford to use the current tech. So not only will the energy lucky amongst us need this yet to be developed future tech to save us it has to be affordable. Which is exactly what hasn’t been achieved for hundreds of millions today.

Perk Earl on Sun, 17th Aug 2014 11:00 pm 



The premise; ‘it’s going to run out’ is wrong. There will be plenty of oil but the knock on effects of dropping EROEI will play out to sustain fewer and fewer people until there are riots in the streets. I even wonder if what is happening in Ferguson is as much a message of racial tension is it is of people being pressured into lower standards of living. Sure, many of the protestors are on food stamps, etc., but even those programs are being squeezed and food prices are rising fast.

I really wonder how long it will before we see what is happening in Ferguson happening spontaneously in numerous cities, but without any excuse like a shooting, so they can loot and get a little more stuff to compensate for a dropping standard of living.

baptised on Mon, 18th Aug 2014 12:06 am 



I have been thinking like Perk Earl for a while. Except the beginning like in Ferguson is the solder\cops wanting to “Get it on”. Policemen all over USA know what’s coming. There view right or wrong is, only low lifes are having lot’s of babies, so where does that leave the future?.

Norm on Mon, 18th Aug 2014 4:35 am 



when i clikced on the video link, it said ‘the account has been terminated’. i guess in the future they have these terminator robots…

Davy on Mon, 18th Aug 2014 6:24 am 



My birth place was St Louis so I have good insight. St Louis is a prosperous city and has a good position in a collapsing world being surrounded by agriculture plentiful water, and a population not yet severely in overshoot. St Louis does have a segregated black population mainly in north city and some north suburbs. St Louis has great examples of mixed racial areas that coexist very well. My girlfriend lives in one of these area in the city of St Louis. She has black neighbors with few problems. There are many immigrant populations in these mixed areas coexisting well. Blacks seem to do better in mixed racial and ethnic areas. The blacks that are middle class with jobs and stability are not a problem in these areas. The problem is the significant portion of the failed socially adapted black population of young black men who are unemployable and in and out of prison. Many of these blacks are gang bangers. They are educated in our prison systems. They are educated in broken homes of poor single moms that struggle to raise children in poor circumstances. They drop out of failed local schools into an environment of drugs, violence, and gangs. Lucky for St. Louis this is a somewhat isolated and smallish phenomenon compared to many of the mega cities in the US and globally. What is new for St. Louis is this riot happened in what is a descent black dominated suburb. The worst areas are north St. Louis city where the real slums are. The north city is where the gangs, drugs, and murders are. This area is a 10 by 10 city block area more or less, which is no LA size slum for example. Ferguson is an example of the collapsing growth and opportunity in the suburbs. It is a bad omen of what is ahead. It is an example of the end of migration away from collapsing areas because migrations are over with the end of growth. People in St Louis once upon a time migrated out of the city to the prosperity of the suburbs. Recently the city has been revitalized so there is some hope in some areas but with the deterioration in the suburbs now we see the end of kicking the can down the road of limits of growth. The whole suburban arrangement is cracking and will only deteriorate. This is not an isolated case it is happening throughout the world as limits of growth with diminishing returns is creating population stress.