When the oil runs out

Have you heard of “peak oil”? If you are appalled at $4-a-gallon gasoline, you ain’t seen nothing yet……

For Pittsburgh, the peak-oil crisis is likely to have a profound impact upon the “ed-med” economy (higher education and medical institutions) that this region is betting on.


This comes from Dan Bednarz, Pittsburgh’s Paul Revere on the subject. Mr. Bednarz, an energy consultant, has been busy explaining peak oil and its ramifications through books, articles and seminar presentations since 2005.

“Peak oil” refers to the point at which a nation — or the world — has pumped more than half of its potential oil. Mr. Bednarz amplifies: “The world supply of oil is peaking, meaning we are running short of supply as rising economies like China and India are increasing consumption.” Oil production peaked in the United States in 1970, in Europe’s North Sea in 1999 and in Mexico in 2004.

Oil soon may peak even in Russia, Mr. Bednarz believes, with uncertainties about future production in the voluminous fields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette