Peak Oil: The Eventual End of the Oil Age

The Industrial Revolution changed the fundamental organization of human societies. Agrarian communities became eclipsed by modern industrial cities. Transportation, industry, agriculture, communications, leisure, services, and nearly every facet of daily life have been revolutionized by the harnessing of fossil fuels. Currently, living a typical modern lifestyle is more dependent upon the combustion of hydrocarbons in fossil fuels than at any point in human history.

One fossil fuel of particular importance to modern society is oil. Humanity

These are difficult questions without easy answers. However, the implications of such questions for the organization of modern society are profound and deserve to be addressed in a manner that is easily conveyed to a wide audience. The analysis that follows will attempt to answer these questions by reviewing the phenomenon known as peak oil, when oil production peaks and then irreversibly declines. There are varying estimates as to when a global peak in oil production is likely to occur and these differing estimates will be discussed. Methodology will include Hubbert