Most analysts agree that once we pass the half-way point in the world’s oil reserves, production will begin to drop off as the remaining reserves are more difficult to extract. Some believe that point will come in the next 12 months, others think we have 10 years or more left. But either way, we need to prepare now by reducing our dependency on this finite resource.Oil and gas supply 85% of the energy used in the UK. By comparison, nuclear supplies 4% and renewables 1%. Can nuclear be expanded by a factor of 20, or renewables by a factor of 85? Will coal fill the gap, and at what cost to global warming? Do we have enough coal left to expand its use 12 times over?
We rely on energy to produce, process and transport food. As energy becomes more expensive, will our food system revert to local production and organic methods? Can the world continue to feed 7 billion people at all without cheap energy? What steps should we be taking right now to avert future hunger?
Does the end of cheap oil herald the end of globalisation? Is the notion of continual economic growth consistent with a shrinking energy supply? Some observers predict a recession of 1930s proportions, but lasting much longer. Others believe the economic system could be reinvented along sustainable lines.
The article below is just one news story out of many that illustrate the scramble already taking place to secure the dwindling supplies of oil...
We rely on energy to produce, process and transport food. As energy becomes more expensive, will our food system revert to local production and organic methods? Can the world continue to feed 7 billion people at all without cheap energy? What steps should we be taking right now to avert future hunger?
Does the end of cheap oil herald the end of globalisation? Is the notion of continual economic growth consistent with a shrinking energy supply? Some observers predict a recession of 1930s proportions, but lasting much longer. Others believe the economic system could be reinvented along sustainable lines.
The article below is just one news story out of many that illustrate the scramble already taking place to secure the dwindling supplies of oil...
[Note: A grassroot biased conference on the implication of peak oil will take place at the rampART social centre in London during february. If you are interested in attending or helping to organise the vent, please email rampartATmutualaid.org]
OIL SANDS ATTRACT NEW INTEREST AS WORLD OIL SUPPLIES CONTRACT
Japan has no oil of it's own and gets 90 percent of its inputs from the Middle East. With it's economy totally dependent on oil (like just about every other economy on the planet) it has started to look into the feasibility of importing oil sands, or heavy oil, from Canada to diversify its sources of energy supplies.
In May, China Petrochemical Corp. took stakes in a Canadian oil sands project by investing C$105 million. Cnooc Ltd., China's third-largest oil producer, also holds stakes in a Calgary-based company, which has interests in oil-sand properties.
Officials from Japan's trade ministry, refineries and trading companies will begin a visit to Canada tomorrow, Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai told reporters in Tokyo today.
Japan, the world's third-biggest oil user, wants to reduce its dependence on a single region for its energy supplies after growing demand from China and India pushed oil prices to record last year. (see other stories on how China and India have made a pact to work together on securing oil reserves).
Importing oil sands ``can contribute to raising Japan's energy security,'' Nikai said. Canada's oil sands are said to hold the second-biggest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia although how anyone could know that since the Saudi figures are grossly inflated is difficult to guess.
The oil sands can produce a heavy oil called bitumen, which can be processed into refinery-ready crude and made into gasoline, diesel and other fuels. The trouble is that huge amounts of energy are required to extract and process this poor quality oils and so they may prove to be uneconomical until rising fuel prices have already crippled the worlds economy.
OIL SANDS ATTRACT NEW INTEREST AS WORLD OIL SUPPLIES CONTRACT
Japan has no oil of it's own and gets 90 percent of its inputs from the Middle East. With it's economy totally dependent on oil (like just about every other economy on the planet) it has started to look into the feasibility of importing oil sands, or heavy oil, from Canada to diversify its sources of energy supplies.
In May, China Petrochemical Corp. took stakes in a Canadian oil sands project by investing C$105 million. Cnooc Ltd., China's third-largest oil producer, also holds stakes in a Calgary-based company, which has interests in oil-sand properties.
Officials from Japan's trade ministry, refineries and trading companies will begin a visit to Canada tomorrow, Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai told reporters in Tokyo today.
Japan, the world's third-biggest oil user, wants to reduce its dependence on a single region for its energy supplies after growing demand from China and India pushed oil prices to record last year. (see other stories on how China and India have made a pact to work together on securing oil reserves).
Importing oil sands ``can contribute to raising Japan's energy security,'' Nikai said. Canada's oil sands are said to hold the second-biggest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia although how anyone could know that since the Saudi figures are grossly inflated is difficult to guess.
The oil sands can produce a heavy oil called bitumen, which can be processed into refinery-ready crude and made into gasoline, diesel and other fuels. The trouble is that huge amounts of energy are required to extract and process this poor quality oils and so they may prove to be uneconomical until rising fuel prices have already crippled the worlds economy.
