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Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

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  • Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

    IMHO, this is probably the main issue facing the world today.
    Why is it not a national priority to develop alternate fuels?

    Via the Queensland Courier mail -

    FUEL rationing may be one in a series of shocks facing drivers and commuters in Queensland.

    Looming oil shortages would produce the biggest change in society since the industrial revolution, Sustainability Minister Andrew McNamara warned yesterday.

    A report by Mr McNamara for state Cabinet on the impact of the fuel crisis is expected to include recommendations on rationing, the future of public and private transport and sustainable population issues.

    Drivers face fuel ration shock | The Courier-Mail

  • #2
    Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

    Dave if you really think that's the way it will work then you're in for a big shock.

    And anyway Australia is one of the highest per capita users of oil and all other fossil fuels, so if you apply that logic then we would be amongst the first to get rationed.
    Sean

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    • #3
      Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

      Originally posted by Dave Jones View Post
      Oz has 22 M people and the US has 304M. oz uses 1% of the worlds oil, the septics use 25% which is roughly twice the amount we use per persons.
      Who do you think should be rationed?
      Who should be rationed and who will get rationed are different stories.

      I can buy more food than I can (or should) eat, however in some parts of the world there is not enough food. The rationing is done by money, unfortunatley its not done fairly or evenly.
      cheers<BR>Chris.<BR>1990 landcruiser 80, 1HD-T two tank, copper pipe HE+ 20 plate FPHE, toyota solenoids and filters. 1978 300D, elsbett one tank system.<BR>

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      • #4
        Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

        I dont know what to make off this ABC report I thought the lessons of the 1970s U.S. oil well peak oil production predictions being roughly correct had some relevance to the rest of the world ?

        via - Peak oil a myth, claims geoscientist - 23/07/2008

        Peak oil a myth, claims geoscientist

        Predictions that oil production will peak in a few years' time and then taper off have been dismissed by a leading geoscientist.

        Dr Peter McCabe, from the CSIRO, says predictions of a peak oil phenomenon date back to the 1920s but are no more relevant today than they were then.

        Dr Peter McCabe Resume - Dr Peter McCabe: future oil and gas resources for Australia (Resume)
        Last edited by CHEVY; 24 July 2008, 05:35 PM.

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        • #5
          Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

          "We have produced about 35 per cent of the world's conventional oil, and we are producing about one per cent of that oil per year, so we have about 65 years left of producing at the current level of world production."
          Well I don't know where he got those figures from, but not even the oil companies are that optimistic!

          I don't think he understands peak oil. His sums are very simplistic. Peak Oil does not mean we will suddenly run out, it just means the point at which the world can no longer increase production, and it goes in to a gradual decline.

          The other thing that always gets me is the phrase "at the current level of world production." The trouble is, demand does not stay the same, it increases all the time so production has to try to keep up. If there is a gap between supply and demand we get the high prices we are seeing at the moment and if production cannot increase to meet the demand we are in effect already at Peak Oil.
          Sean

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          • #6
            Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

            It is clear that there are a lot of companies that stand to lose money depending on how people's opinions sit on carbon trading, peak oil and even climate change. Hence there is a lot of money being poured into various media streams aimed at fuelling the doubts of people that these things are real and happening.

            Exxon has recently admitted that it was one such organisation, but they have now stopped funding such items. Still a while to go for some others...

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            • #7
              Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

              the thing we do have is the realisation that oil is a finite resorce
              there are lots of things we and the gov. should do but wont,,,
              bit like wars
              however we know its going to get tough,so i know my 4bee is on borrowed time
              however,at the moment i am toying with the idea of fitting a small diesel into my morry sitting in the shed
              it might not be the answer for me, but i feel its time to start prepareing for fuel shortages and not wait to be caught
              life need not be dismal at all,it will simply be different,i would just hang off buying that BIG new car for the moment. Unless you buy a horse at the same time to pull it around.

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              • #8
                Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

                Originally posted by pangit View Post
                Dave if you really think that's the way it will work then you're in for a big shock.

                And anyway Australia is one of the highest per capita users of oil and all other fossil fuels, so if you apply that logic then we would be amongst the first to get rationed.
                Is per capita really a suitable way to look at things like this? It's the same deal for things like emissions. We produce a disproportional amount of the worlds raw materials (with respect to population), which is why we always factor so highly in these kinds of statistics. We also have a disproportionate amount of land per capita. Take a country that is predominantly business or finance based, and it won't be anywhere near as high. Look at emissions per km2, or per tonne of iron ore produced and I bet we are a lot lower on the list.

                Granted we benefit from the sale of these products, and should (and do) look for cleaner ways to produce them, but I don't feel we should be penalised, nor criticised, on the basis of such nonsense statistics.
                Please click below for info on how you can help the victims of spinal injury, or just spread the word.

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                • #9
                  Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

                  im happily married to an american, but we both agree with everything said here about yanks, her even more than me
                  some of the worlds largest oil fields are under alaska.
                  Off limits at the moment,,,,,,presstine wilderness etc.
                  so cunningly america imports oil from wherever it can, and uses that first with no concern for the rest of the world
                  now some time in the future the protection of presstine wilderness may convieniently seem not so important to america as it is now

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                  • #10
                    Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

                    Originally posted by Dave Jones View Post
                    I have never been to the US ( and am fast loosing the desire to go there) but I was unaware that the average american is 7Ft tall and that is why they NEED such large vehicles and things like toyotas which are built on a global platform are too small for them to drive.
                    Actually the interior of yank tanks is usually surprisingly tight. They are no more spacious inside than much smaller Japanese/European cars, as they are really badly designed. Brute force engineering!

                    Originally posted by dagwill
                    now some time in the future the protection of presstine wilderness may convieniently seem not so important to america as it is now
                    If McCain gets in (which is thankfully looking increasingly unlikely) it will probably be sooner rather than later, with that lunatic Sarah Palin who is stronly pro-drilling for oil in the wilderness. Anyway even if they do it will make bugger all difference, it will just postpone the peak a few months/years.
                    Sean

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                    • #11
                      Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

                      Gday,Now a barrel of crude is around $40 and i wonder what has happened to peak oil? Please correct me if you think i am wrong in this line of thinking.Six months ago when oil was at record highs i was assuming oil was getting harder to get and supply problems.I now wonder if the price was driven by those masters of the universe in front of a computer screen.regards westwinds

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                      • #12
                        Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

                        Peak Oil hasn't just gone away - we are going to run out of oil (or more accurately demand will exceed supply) at some point, but the current economic situation has merely postponed or masked that.

                        As an example (purely hypothetical figures here): say production is declining by 3% per year but the economic situation has reduced demand by 6% then we will be oversupplied, hence the drop in price. However when the economy recovers and demand goes up, supply cannot increase to the same level as before, creating another massive price rise.

                        Another effect of the current low prices is that the oil companies' reduced revenues discourages futher investments in exploration, and they are cancelling a lot of these projects as they are unviable.

                        Originally posted by The Guardian
                        Global oil production will peak much earlier than expected amid a collapse in petroleum investment due to the credit crunch, one of the world's foremost experts has revealed.

                        Fatih Birol, chief economist to the International Energy Agency, told the Guardian that conventional crude output could plateau in 2020, a development that was "not good news" for a world still heavily dependent on petroleum.

                        The prediction came as oil companies from Saudi Arabia to Canada cut their capital expenditure on new projects in response to a fall in oil prices, moves that will further reduce supply in future.
                        Full article here.
                        Sean

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                        • #13
                          Re: Peak Oil in the news (rarely)

                          Originally posted by Dave Jones View Post
                          Of course all this will have to be paid for
                          Exactly... and I don't think it will just be in dollars that the people will be paying. Someone I know says that 'green' is the new fascist colour!

                          Originally posted by Dave Jones View Post
                          Of course at some time after this revolution takes place, someone will discover this exact same technology was lodged with the patent office in 1907 by some poor farmer from wherethefukarewe, never never land.
                          Of course he never could get the thing to work quite right so he sold the patent to an oil corporation shelf company for $5.

                          They will subsequently discover that the poor illiterate farmer had 99% of the invention right, he had just connected up the steam engine driving it the wrong way round and when that was fixed, hey presto, the most efficient, cleanest energy source in the world!.... That somehow became forgotten about for 150 years till all the oil really did run out and the oil corporation re-discovered it by " accident"!
                          And of course spent 100 Billion figuring out they had to reverse the steam pipes around!
                          OR - he was made "an offer he couldn't refuse." And if he'd been talking about it to friends, a search through the news archives a few years after the patent filing will probably reveal that he died in a freak accident in which he somehow fell under the wheels of his tractor...
                          1987 Mercedes W124 300D
                          1997 Ssangyong Musso Wagon

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