One of the most worrying things about peak oil is that you very rarely hear any suggesting conservation as part of a solution to peak oil. Does anyone else feel that Americans using more oil per person then people from any other nation slightly disturbing? Is our way of life more fulfilling then say the average European, who uses half the oil that we do?
The explanation of our higher energy prices simple comes down to supply and demand. Supply has been level for about two years now, and it doesn't look like any new capacity is coming on line. Solutions such as oil shale, CTL, and biomass are years away. Demand however is steadily increasing, mostly from nations such as India and China. Higher prices will have the effect of reducing demand to some degree, however, demand for energy is highly inelastic. While you could reduce your demand for gasoline some, I'll willing to bet that most of the trips made by car in this country will happen no matter if fuel is $3, $4, or $5 per a gallon.
The solution to our energy problems will come from some sort of combination of nuclear, solar, wind, CTL, GTL, biomass, oil shale, tar sands, and maybe something else I haven't left out. However, the way we live is going to have to change also. Our SUVs, 3500sq ft homes, and unsustainable communities are going to go away or change as energy becomes costly and limited in availability.
Unfortunately, our current government, including both Democrats and Republicans have been completely ineffective in education the American public on the possibility the oil will be scarce in the near future. In fact, it is almost repulsive how politicians from both sides of the Ilse pander to the public by trying to blame oil companies for high prices, instead of suggesting that the problem might be more related to the inelastic demand for oil and the supply problems caused by fueling H2s. However, the American public is to blame also, surveys show that for every one American that believes higher gas prices are related to supply and demand issues, three believe that price increases are caused by unethical behavior.
So here is my suggestion, no matter if you believe in the near term peaking of oil or not, conservation is both the ethical and economically sensible action to take in the near term. Simple things such as replacing light-bulbs with CFLs, turn the air conditioning up a few degrees, and combining errands into one trip will save you money and help make a easier transition for everyone when energy prices really do start to rise. In the long term we need to develop more sustainable communities, public transit, high-speed rail links, and some way of transporting freight other then our interstate highway system.
The explanation of our higher energy prices simple comes down to supply and demand. Supply has been level for about two years now, and it doesn't look like any new capacity is coming on line. Solutions such as oil shale, CTL, and biomass are years away. Demand however is steadily increasing, mostly from nations such as India and China. Higher prices will have the effect of reducing demand to some degree, however, demand for energy is highly inelastic. While you could reduce your demand for gasoline some, I'll willing to bet that most of the trips made by car in this country will happen no matter if fuel is $3, $4, or $5 per a gallon.
The solution to our energy problems will come from some sort of combination of nuclear, solar, wind, CTL, GTL, biomass, oil shale, tar sands, and maybe something else I haven't left out. However, the way we live is going to have to change also. Our SUVs, 3500sq ft homes, and unsustainable communities are going to go away or change as energy becomes costly and limited in availability.
Unfortunately, our current government, including both Democrats and Republicans have been completely ineffective in education the American public on the possibility the oil will be scarce in the near future. In fact, it is almost repulsive how politicians from both sides of the Ilse pander to the public by trying to blame oil companies for high prices, instead of suggesting that the problem might be more related to the inelastic demand for oil and the supply problems caused by fueling H2s. However, the American public is to blame also, surveys show that for every one American that believes higher gas prices are related to supply and demand issues, three believe that price increases are caused by unethical behavior.
So here is my suggestion, no matter if you believe in the near term peaking of oil or not, conservation is both the ethical and economically sensible action to take in the near term. Simple things such as replacing light-bulbs with CFLs, turn the air conditioning up a few degrees, and combining errands into one trip will save you money and help make a easier transition for everyone when energy prices really do start to rise. In the long term we need to develop more sustainable communities, public transit, high-speed rail links, and some way of transporting freight other then our interstate highway system.
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