Leaked Study on Peak Oil Warns of Severe Global Energy Crisis

[4dsc]

Source: R-Squared Blog

This week a study on peak oil by a German military think tank was leaked on the Internet. The document shows that the German government is closely studying the issue of peak oil, and is aware of the potential for serious consequences as oil production declines. The study is reminiscent of the Hirsch Report, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy, that warned of the risks posed by peak oil.

Europe's continued reliance on Russian oil and gas supplies may not be secure in the long term, according to the study.

The document warns of the potential for regional shortages, market failures, and a shift in political power toward those capable of exporting oil. This report describes potential outcomes that require planning and preparation.



Read more: http://www.consumerenergyreport.com/2010/09/02/leaked-study-peak-oil-warns-severe-global-energy-crisis/

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Just another government report that tells us we are headed for a major adjustment is our lifestyles in the coming decades.

[JDPriestly]

1. This was predicted in the early 1970s at the latest.

While new oil deposits have been found, demand has risen to make the development of alternative energy sources more urgent than ever.

Why aren't Democrats screaming this from the rooftops?

[sea four]

2. Oil company $$

Just a guess...

[Terry in Austin]

3. Peak oil is the elephant in the room for the industrialized world

Democrats, Republicans, capitalists and everyone else with any policy-making power are all equally invested in the current arrangement.

Scarce oil knocks the props out from under it, and the very suggestion sends them running from the room, ears covered.

After 150 years, we're looking at a whole new ballgame. Abundant oil makes possible everything we know and like about modern industrial civilization, starting with the expectation (and necessity) of an ever-growing economy.

It's way more serious than just finding something else to put in the gas tank or run the microwave. "Alternative," when it comes to energy, is not the same thing as "replacement." As it turns out, no combination of alternative energy sources can even come close to providing the amount of energy we get from oil.

And we wonder why nobody wants to talk about it? Try this: mention "peak oil" in a crowded room and see if it takes more than sixty seconds to have the place to yourself!

BTW, the peak is already behind us: global crude production has been flat since 2005 and is starting to trend downward.

[izquierdista]

4. Nukes can

But safely using that technology may be too much for politicians and cost-cutting capitalists to do. We've already seen how successful Communists were adapting it to meet their goals.

[Terry in Austin]

5. Sadly, no

Nukes are included in the alternative sources that can't replace the amount of energy we get from oil.

The necessary number of reactors would be staggeringly expensive to build, and would take decades, even with a full fossil-energy base -- and that base dwindling.

Nukes have other problems as well, chief among them a broad enough political consensus on their safety and acceptability.

[TalkingDog]

9. How about going on a diet?

People are shocked when they learn what our power bill on average over the course of a year.

Of course I'm sitting here in a dark house with no stereo/TV/outdoor lighting.... when need a light I turn it on, leave the room turn it off.
The strips that aren't being used for plugging in appliances in use are all cut off.


3 story house, 2 full baths, 2 TVs, Stereo, 2 PCs 3 laptops, no AC but we do use fans.

60 dollars a month.

[Terry in Austin]

10. Bingo

Energy dieters will have plenty of company after the gas lines have come and gone, and the only cars visible will be those of the rich and nervous.

Start now and avoid the rush! Sounds like you're living proof...

B-)

[northernlights]

12. $25-35 month here in spring,summer an d fall

only in the dead of winter do I reach $70/month ($150 if I heat the sunroom...which I do now because it's actually more efficient to do that and leave the rest of the house at 55 degrees).

[Knight Hawk]

13. $56.00 a month

That is what I paid for the last 2 months.I live in central Florida,2800 square foot house,no Ac,watch everything.My dtr pays $550.00 month in a smaller house keeps air running full time .Its time to tighten up folks.

[TalkingDog]

18. Yeah, 3 to 6 hundred per month is what I hear from folks in similar houses

That is stunning to me.


Welcome to DU, Knight Hawk

[ProudDad]

16. Solar on the roof -- Average $7.40 per month except

for Monsoon when we have to run the A/C instead of the cooler for less than two months at $100 per...

total about 300-400 per year...

[Javaman]

22. There was a government study, I think by the GAO, that stated...

we could cut our energy use by up to 1/3 and not notice a difference.

but do we do it? naaaa, that would be completely un-american.

Most people slow down when the see an obstacle, then try to figure out an alternative route, not us! hell be damned! Floor it!

[ProudDad]

15. Nukes also depend on a depleting resource (n/t)

[4dsc]

26. People are in denial over peak oil

and that is the main reason no one wants to talk about it. They think it could never happen here but sadly it will. Like another poster claimed, its going to be a much different world in about 10 years.

Or as I fond of saying, if you are under the age of 30 you will witness the end of the age of oil as we know it today.

[Swede Atlanta]

7. Because no one listens to facts....

Let's face it...both Republicans and Democrats respond to emotions......

Republicans respond to arrogance, exclusivity and domination

Democrats respond to a sense of the common good, helping their fellow man...etc.

But neither of them respond to facts which are that peak oil has passed. We MUST invest in renewable energy, shove people into buses, etc. in order to save our economic future. But the sheeple continue to buy SUVs and think they not a care in the world.

[Yeahyeah]

6. Did they build that German military think tank on top of an old German military think tank?

[Terry in Austin]

11. Apparently, they built it on top of the American DOE

Aka, the Hirsch Report.

Oh yeah, and like 'cuz they're nazis, they're lying, right? Real subtle...

[fascisthunter]

8. and Big Oil knows it too

the fools are out there now parroting anti-global warming rhetoric, and don't even realize what repercussions their efforts on going to have on themselves. It can happen, and has happened, thank whatever I'm not one.

[northernlights]

14. great. so 'graph 3.1 says planned, peaceful stepdown transition

and 3.2 says all hell breaks loose.

Sad to say, but my money says sooner or later 3.2 is the likely scenario.

[ProudDad]

17. But join us if you'd prefer working on 3.1

www.transitionus.org

[TalkingDog]

19. Thanks for the site!

My Spousal Unit works for the local county govt. Initially he was code wonking and reviewing plans for code compliance.

But they've realized he's an asset and have gotten him into working on grants and greening.

Of course he can't call it that, because we're quite red. All the county commissioners are Republicans. But the SU is very good with language and game theory, which makes him excellent at "politics".

I'll pass this along to him. He may not be able to use it, but he likes to keep this stuff on hand to give to citizens who are looking for frameworks for what they are doing.

Thanks again.

[Javaman]

23. there are various oil peak trackers...

that say we are speeding toward a brick wall, others say we are more like Wile E. Coyote after he runs off a cliff and pauses a moment before falling.

either way, 10 years from now, the world will be a very different place.

[Swamp Rat]

20. Good thing I have already learned to live with hardships

[Hannah Bell]

21. lol. "leaked"

[Javaman]

24. Last night, I watched the old cold war movie, "on the beach"...

Early in the movie they talk about "petrol shortages" and it is made apparent via the lack of cars and the abundance of bicycles, buggies and people walking.

Oddly, it didn't seem all that bad. LOL

[robertpaulsen]

25. Kicked recommended and bookmarked. Thanks 4dsc!

:kick: