Editore"s Note
Tilting at Windmills

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April 9, 2005
By: Kevin Drum

PEAK OIL....Majikthise directs our attention today to The Oil Drum, a blog dedicated to the subject of peak oil. If you're interested in the subject, Land of Black Gold is another blog worth checking out.

"Peak oil" refers to the notion that even though there's still lots of oil in the ground, we're reaching the peak of our capacity to pump it out of the ground. Current demand for oil is about 82 million barrels/day, and peak oil theorists believe that our absolute maximum global pumping capacity is 85-100 million barrels/day, a figure we'll reach within a few years. When that peak occurs and demand keeps rising the result is likely to be fairly catastrophic on a whole bunch of different dimensions.

A short primer on peak oil is here. A broader primer on both peak oil and energy use in general is here. One word of caution, though: I happen to believe the peak oil theorists are right, but the case is more complex than some of them let on. Try to keep away from the conspiracy theory types, and if you're genuinely interested in the subject google around enough to get the other side of the story too.

There are several books available on the subject, and one that I'm eager to get my hands on is Twilight in the Desert, by Matt Simmons. It ships in about six weeks.

Kevin Drum 7:50 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (0)
 
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