Back To The Post Oil Future  

Richard Heinberg has a new article out - nothing new here for those who've read "The Party's Over" or "Powerdown", but a good summary nevertheless.

The imminent demise of the global petroleum industry will necessarily entail a complete redesign of industrial societies.

Oil has been the cheapest and most convenient energy resource ever discovered by humans. During the past two centuries people in industrial nations accustomed themselves to a regime in which more fossil-fuel energy was available each year. The global population grew quickly to take advantage of this energy windfall. Industrial nations also came to rely on an economic system built on the assumption that growth is normal and necessary, and that it can go on for ever. When global oil production peaks, as it will in the next few years, that assumption will come crashing down.