Peak Oil - An Ugly Concept
Wind power, solar energy, hydroelectricity...
All of these terms that have grown so familiar to us address one common issue: alternative energy.
What the general public knows about alternative energy typically comes from the media.
Pictures of tall, majestic wind turbines spinning lazily in front of an orange-red sunset, article after article of the benefits of these zero-emission masterpieces...
I confess, seeing those types of things makes me think that maybe there is hope in humanity after all.
I mean, all of these marvelous inventions combating global warming created for the sole purpose of creating a better future for the coming generations give me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
What many people don't realize, however, is that the media shows us an incredibly biased viewpoint on the reasons as to why so much research is being put into alternative energy.
In fact, the primary reason behind this research is far from altruistic, but rather an ugly, well-concealed secret: peak oil.
Peak oil is the idea that there will a point of time when oil extraction and production, currently at 85 million barrels a day, will reach its highest point before going into terminal decline.
There is much debate as to the moment that this peak is reached, but much evidence has led me to believe that the decline has already begun.
Imagine being an innovator and seeing a barrel of oil during the industrial revolution and the endless possibilities that it presented.
At the time, the idea of so much energy contained within a liquid was unprecedented and, understandably, the source of much excitement amongst those who understood its power.
This was the beginning of what many like to call the "Oil Age," an era that we continue to live in to this day.
Periods in time are definite, however-so how will we determine the end of the oil age? Ahmed Zaki Yamani recognized this problem, and in response he said, "The Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil.
" At the beginning of the industrial revolution, when oil deposits were plentiful, it took one barrel of oil to extract twenty.
Now, as the deposits are dwindling and oil becomes a scarce resource, the ratio has grown to become one to three.
Will it still be worth it when this ratio gets even greater, potentially even one to one, in the near future? This moment is soon approaching, and it is the fear that so many people experience at the prospect of a future without fossil fuels that is propelling the research behind alternative energy sources.
I am willing to believe that if oil were a renewable, indefinite resource, that few and far between would put in the effort to invoke environmental change towards a sustainable future.
So where do we go from here? The sad truth is that it will always be easier to obtain energy from non-renewable sources.
As the Oil Age comes to a close, we embark upon another incredibly slippery slope: nuclear energy.
Is it ethical to continue as did before, switching from one non-renewable resource to another, creating even more pollution for coming generations? After all of the hardships and calamities that we have witnessed caused by this hunger for oil, it should be evident that the future of our energy lies with the sun, the wind, and the water; elements that have kept us alive and healthy since the dawn of time.
All of these terms that have grown so familiar to us address one common issue: alternative energy.
What the general public knows about alternative energy typically comes from the media.
Pictures of tall, majestic wind turbines spinning lazily in front of an orange-red sunset, article after article of the benefits of these zero-emission masterpieces...
I confess, seeing those types of things makes me think that maybe there is hope in humanity after all.
I mean, all of these marvelous inventions combating global warming created for the sole purpose of creating a better future for the coming generations give me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
What many people don't realize, however, is that the media shows us an incredibly biased viewpoint on the reasons as to why so much research is being put into alternative energy.
In fact, the primary reason behind this research is far from altruistic, but rather an ugly, well-concealed secret: peak oil.
Peak oil is the idea that there will a point of time when oil extraction and production, currently at 85 million barrels a day, will reach its highest point before going into terminal decline.
There is much debate as to the moment that this peak is reached, but much evidence has led me to believe that the decline has already begun.
Imagine being an innovator and seeing a barrel of oil during the industrial revolution and the endless possibilities that it presented.
At the time, the idea of so much energy contained within a liquid was unprecedented and, understandably, the source of much excitement amongst those who understood its power.
This was the beginning of what many like to call the "Oil Age," an era that we continue to live in to this day.
Periods in time are definite, however-so how will we determine the end of the oil age? Ahmed Zaki Yamani recognized this problem, and in response he said, "The Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil.
" At the beginning of the industrial revolution, when oil deposits were plentiful, it took one barrel of oil to extract twenty.
Now, as the deposits are dwindling and oil becomes a scarce resource, the ratio has grown to become one to three.
Will it still be worth it when this ratio gets even greater, potentially even one to one, in the near future? This moment is soon approaching, and it is the fear that so many people experience at the prospect of a future without fossil fuels that is propelling the research behind alternative energy sources.
I am willing to believe that if oil were a renewable, indefinite resource, that few and far between would put in the effort to invoke environmental change towards a sustainable future.
So where do we go from here? The sad truth is that it will always be easier to obtain energy from non-renewable sources.
As the Oil Age comes to a close, we embark upon another incredibly slippery slope: nuclear energy.
Is it ethical to continue as did before, switching from one non-renewable resource to another, creating even more pollution for coming generations? After all of the hardships and calamities that we have witnessed caused by this hunger for oil, it should be evident that the future of our energy lies with the sun, the wind, and the water; elements that have kept us alive and healthy since the dawn of time.
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