Peak Oil- what it is and how it will impact your life

And here we are with an oil glut as fracking technology spreads around the world and alternative energy sources finally take off. What were you'all saying about peak what what?

 

When peak oil went bad, it went bad in a big way didn't it? Going back through the thread, it sure looks like those who claimed it was a crock in the first place were far better armed in the "understanding oil" department than those who thought it was a good rapture trigger.

 

It's funny to me that the cost of the basics food, electricity, etc keeps going up even though oil has not increased. we have inflation that is not oil driven. I find the very interesting

 

Checking in. Sure looks like the peak oil folks have become extinct in the last 6 years since I dropped by. More oil and their ill-informed ideas on what peak oil even means, let alone how it happens and when, seems to have taken a toll on their chest beating on the topic.

Oh, and now I own 2 EVs and to be honest, usually don't notice much what fuel prices are for the antique 4 wheelers.

 

I can tell someone's ass sucks buttermilk already

 

Technology has increased oil reserves, just as technology increased food reserves and now there are 8 BILLION people on this rock that we call home. BUT someday we are gonna reach into our bag of tricks and there isn't gonna be any more rabbits! With our interconnected infrastructure and industry, we are just ONE peak (name any resource) away from disaster! JohnnyOnTheFarm has 2 EVs, but what happens when there are not enough rare-earth metals to make the batteries required? About 250 years ago we faced a peak and again about 100 years later! What was the peak resource that threatened to collapse society? WOOD! Yes, wood! In the first instance it was peak firewood that threatened the 13 Colonies/United States and in the latter case it was a shortage of wood for railroads and telegraph poles that threatened the growth of the United States! In both cases the threat was prevented by technology, Ben Franklin invented the Franklin Stove and greatly reduced the amount of firewood required and the development of cresol protected wood from rot and decay. Technology saved those days, and made today possible, but someday science is gonna let us down...if it doesn't kill us outright first!

 

Don't forget about all the wood that was squirreled underground to shore up the walls and roofs of numerous mines that were built to chase after minerals. There are numerous pictures of a barren landscape with the hoist house towering over the landscape and not a single tree of any size for miles and miles.

 

Some of us were around for the inflation of the 1970's as well. Some of that was oil driven, but everything related to the transport of goods has an oil price component in there somewhere, even nowadays. Macro-economics can be a bitch.

 

Wood is a renewable resource...the trick is to replenish what is taken by implementing reforestation strategies...which resource exploiters are loath to do as it is an avoidable cost that contributes but an undesirable drag on investors' capital and dividend revenue...let the following generations deal with the lunar landscape on their dime.

Am not criticising you VT, just criticising aspects of extractive industries' exploitation of finite resources.

 

At the time we thought that we were NEVER gonna run out of trees! Actually, the problem was that there were too many trees...trees from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and from the Rockies to the Pacific. Huge old growth trees. Imagin being a settler confronted by a forest right where your farm is gonna be, and all you got is an axe and a saw! It's a wonder that they didn't give up and go back to England, or wherever!

 

Fair question. With an answer probably as opaque as that of peak oil 15-20 years ago. The good news being, we know who NOT to listen to whenever they recycle their next favorite "let me pretend my faith based ideas are why the world ends tomorrow" routine.

 

That is why I prepare for ALL possible contingencies, including the possibility that nothing happens, and things just keep on keeping on! It's not all that difficult or expensive, since there is a lot of over-lap, and many of the preps and skills can be used in my everyday life. When I say, "I got a plan for that!", believe me! Y2K and Peak Oil might have gotten many of us involved in Prepping, however real preppers know that there is no ONE emergency to prepare for but many! A wit once said, "If you're prepared for zombies, you're prepared for anything". In addition to zombies, one should be prepared for war, alien invasions, comets/asteroids, epidemics/pandemics, famine, environmental degradation/change, social/economic collapse, and plagues of locusts/frogs/flies!

 

The great plains actually have more trees now then they did back when they were first being settled.

 

And just like trees there are more deer today-- estimated at 30 million --a hundred times more that a century ago. Wild hogs number 6-9 million over 42 states, Texas alone has estimated 1.5 million -- those of us with guns will survive.

 

It was labeled "The Great American Desert" on early maps, in part because of the lack of trees, although there were some along the waterways. Originally, the Great Plains was looked upon as a barren waste to be crossed as fast as possible. Although the soils were deep and rich the plows of the early 1800s couldn't turn the heavy sod. It wasn't until John Deere invented the iron moldboard plow that the settlers could begin turning The Great American Desert into the Breadbasket of the World. One of the first things a homesteader did was to plant tree(s).

 

Thanks to deforestation (aka farms) and conservation laws. There are probably more deer than there were 400 years ago.

 

I completely agree. I found it unseemly though that peak oil needed to get involved in any honest prepping. No need to sell folks a pig in a poke or some discredited faith based belief system, there are always real things worthy of prepping for. But for some reason, that one suckered in those who couldn't be bothered to think first, and prep later.

 

Peak oil is still a concern, there is a finite supply of any and all resources, and technology is not always gonna save the day. Currently, we live or die depending upon the steady supply of oil and the fuels and products made from it! There is no guarantee that renewables (solar and wind) are gonna replace oil, they look promising but could crash and burn like fuel cells and hydrogen fuel did. It is possible that EVs could just fill a niche in our transportation needs in the future. Whatever happens I'm gonna remain prepped and flexible, cause this country boy will survive!