The party is nearing its end. The petroleum party that is. For 150 years, we have had oil, and it may only last for another 25, 30, or 40 years. Today, crude oil prices hit about U.S. $55 per barrel. (see this article for more information). The answer always seems to be "OPEC will increase production". They can increase production as much as they want, but eventually the oil in the ground will be pumped out and increasing production will require more oil wells and deeper ones, in places that are quite forbidding.

I think about the fact that if for some reason the oil supply were to be abruptly shut off. If this happened, I can not even really explain what the scene would be like. ALMOST EVERYTHING requires the use of a petroleum product. The production and distribution of food relies on oil. Almost all transportation - cars, planes, buses, ships, trains, and trucks - runs on oil. Even some of our electricity is generated in oil-fired power plants. Some countries get almost all of their electricity from imported oil. Plastics are made from oil. Countless chemicals used in thousands of products are made from oil.

Without oil, the entire industrialized world would come to a standstill. I guess they could modify engines to run on wood gasifiers, but how do we get wood? We use gasoline-powered chainsaws and logging equipment!

Suddenly, without oil, anaerobic digestion, waste-to-energy, ethanol production, and wind power are not considered "impractical" anymore! Well, business people, politicians, and even consumers of the world who are having throuble seeing the future through all of the green, you are in for a rude awakening! The key is not to increase oil production, it is to reduce dependence on it. Renewable energy is not an option...it is a requirement.