Peak Oil Essays

Words: 988
Pages: 4
Open Document
According to the proponents of the 'Peak Oil' theory, the world is expected to face severe oil shortages in the near future. Then, how can mankind meet its energy needs?

Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. The concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, and the combined production rate of a field of related oil wells. The aggregate production rate from an oil field over time usually grows exponentially until the rate peaks and then declines—sometimes rapidly—until the field is depleted. This concept is derived from the Hubbert curve, and has been shown to be applicable to the sum of a …show more content…
Also, everything is transported by oil (gas/diesel) and will go up in price because of the increase in shipping costs. Many of our homes are heated by heating oil and natural gas. Most electricity is produced from natural gas (propane is liquefied natural gas or LNG) or coal which requires oil (gasoline and diesel fuel) for mining and shipping. Fertilizers and pesticides require oil and/or natural gas for manufacture. Giant agricultural corporations can not feed the world without tractors, fertilizers and pesticides. Industries will not be able to produce our consumer products without oil. Nations will begin fighting (have begun fighting) for oil and natural gas to save their economies. As people are unable to pay higher prices for manufactured products, employers will begin layoffs and unemployment will increase. The unemployed will not be able to buy, and businesses will close creating more layoffs and homelessness. Protests, riots, and crime will increase and the response will be martial law, a police state, and government seizure of weapons, foods, and medicines for emergency relief and control could happen. All of the efforts to control and protect remaining resources will ultimately fail. This spiral of war, failing businesses, and social decay will get worse in all nations as oil and natural gas resources are depleted. Because of easy access to fossil fuel energy there is significantly more population
Show More

Related Documents: Peak Oil Essays

Peak Oil Essay

Peak Oil The Hubbert Peak Theory says that at some point oil production will peak, after which the amount of oil that is being produced will decline. Once the decline has started it will become a loss in oil production and will never again reach the levels they were at during its peak. When this takes place there are going to be serious consequences to the world’s economy that relies on oil. Proponents of this controversial idea say global oil production is now at or near its zenith. Once the flow…

Words 313 - Pages 2

Peak Oil Research Paper

Will Peak Oil force Green Energy upon us? Globally, we consume 85 million barrels of oil in a day, more than what we produced. Marion King Hubbert, a geologist, came up with a theory concerning oil extraction rates. Hubbert’s theory states that eventually, oil extraction rates will reach a maximum and begin to decline. After a seemingly endless debate about the Peak Oil theory, the question is no longer whether the theory is accurate, but rather, when it will happen. The first question on everybody’s…

Words 1304 - Pages 6

How Does Peak Oil Affect The Economy

However, the main reason that peak oil will affect economies negatively is because of its effects on industries. America is the world’s largest producer of oil and the world’s second largest manufacturer. 128 of the world’s major companies are located in the US and as of 2013, America exported $2.272 trillion which means that exports accounted for 9.3% of America’s GDP. These industries all operate on oil and with peak oil, their production rates will decline and therefore, the rate of exporting…

Words 219 - Pages 1

Peak Oil and Natural Gas Essay

World, 81% is Hydrocarbon, 13% Renewables, and 6% Nuclear. World consumption of oil is about 90 million barrels per day or about 30 billion barrels of oil per year. World consumption of natural gas is about 300 billion cubic feet per day or about 100 trillion cubic feet per year. FRACKING – involves applying high pressure water to break rocks, in order to extract shale gas, which is a natural gas that could replace oil. Challenge is horizontally drilling, since it is very deep. Shale is a sedimentary…

Words 5023 - Pages 21

Energy: Peak Oil and Energy Insecurity Essay

their exhaustion (they are finite), e.g. oil and gas. Examiner’s tip: remember that two of the main primary energy sources are coal and natural gas, but they also produce secondary energy (electricity). Coal Produced by deep or open cast mining. Releases greenhouse gases. Heavy and bulky to transport. Typical mistake: many candidates think that oil is still a major fuel in the generation of electricity, but in fact it has been superseded by gas. Oil and natural gas Fields are often in environmental…

Words 5511 - Pages 23

Energy: Peak Oil and Roamano de Sant Essay

Letter to the Dead “each generation, full of itself / continues to think / that it lives at the summit of history.”(lines 43-45) for the generations to come there will be no summit, fall is closer to the correct word. The United States reached its oil peak of 11 million barrels a day in 1970 and since then has dropped below 5 million barrels a day. Yet we consume roughly 20 million barrels a day (Kunstler 535). If you are a thinker you will ask “how does this work?” and the answer, well it doesn’t…

Words 781 - Pages 4

Essay on The Environment

consequences might be devastating. Already there are animal species extinct (frogs and mountain-dwellers)(The Associated Press) or at the brink of extinct (penguins and polar bears). Besides species dying we have a major worry of our major energy source – peak oil. If this is not enough for people to think twice about their actions then we really are in serious trouble. Global warming is the effect of the greenhouse effect. As UNEP puts it then the greenhouse effect is the consequence of ‘atmospheric greenhouse…

Words 1012 - Pages 5

Teamwork: Supply and Demand and Crude Oil Essay

------------------------------------------------- Explain the major factors causing the large oil price changes Economics Coursework 1 Qiujing,WANG 7/11/2011 GROUP B Crude oil, as a scarce resource, plays an important role in modern society. It is refined and separated into a large number of consumer products. For example, crude oil is used primarily in the form of petrol and diesel to power vehicles, and which is the main fuel for transport. In addition, plastic is also made from oil, which is used widely in our daily life, from car…

Words 1959 - Pages 8

Essay on Post Lab Report Exp

(%) Distillation BP (°C) Cumin 4.43 0.456 100 Table 2. IR Spectral Data Chemical Structure and Name Exp. Peaks (cm-1) Lit. Peaks (cm-1) Intensity Functional Group/Bonding Cuminaldehyde ~3400 2900-3000 1715 ~1500 ~3400 2900-3000 1703 1462-1576 M S S S Sp Hybridization str. Sp3 Str, and aldehyde doublet C=O Str. Aromatic ring Str. Sample Calculations Percent Recovery of Essential Oil Discussion The purpose of this laboratory experiment was to steam distill a specific spice (cumin…

Words 1020 - Pages 5

Will The Worlds Oil Ever Run Essay

Will the world’s oil ever run out? Introduction In this project, I want to produce a varied presentation the question in hand and discuss the myths commonly associated with oil running out. Oil has been running our world for several hundred years, we use it every day in our cars, to run our houses through the use of electricity and it is in common objects like plastic. It is one of the most commonly known and used resource in this modern era. Unfortunately it is not a renewable resource and therefore…

Words 1763 - Pages 8