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Thread ID: 89218 2008-04-24 17:43:00 Hubbert Peak Curve Theory SurferJoe46 (51) PC World Chat
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662246 2008-04-24 17:43:00 . . and now for your breakfast barfing and day-ruining article . . . . . .


Oil?
Potatoes?
Sheep?
Gold?

<HINT: it's slimy, gooey and black>


Ultimately, the energy-intensive industrial age in which we live and breathe may be little more than a blip in the course of human history:


Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon .

<not my phrase or wording here . . . don't shoot the messenger
. . and the following is a QUOTE, again, not MY words!>

This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsday cult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracy theory society .

Rather, it is the scientific conclusion of the best paid, most widely-respected geologists, physicists, bankers, and investors in the world . These are rational, professional, conservative individuals who are absolutely terrified by a phenomenon known as global "Peak Oil . "

Peak Oil is also called "Hubbert's Peak" . . . named for the Shell geologist Dr . Marion King Hubbert . In 1956, Hubbert accurately predicted that US domestic oil production would peak in 1970 . Source He also predicted global production would peak around the year 2000, which it would have had the politically created oil shocks of the 1970s not delayed the peak for about 5-to-10 years .


A mere 15% shortfall in oil production will push oil prices up by 550%


"Big deal . If gas prices get high, I’ll just drive less .
Why should I give a damn?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . because petrochemicals are key components to much more than just the gas in your car . As of the year 2002, approximately 10 calories of fossil fuels are required to produce every 1 calorie of food eaten in the US . Source The size of this ratio stems from the fact that every step of modern food production is fossil fuel and petrochemical powered .



Etc . . etc . . . etc . . .


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I didn't realize that this article was so-o-o-o-o long and I clipped it off here . . but I invite youse guys to read and then comment (I am very sure there will be a plethora of comments) on the subject .

Here's the link: WIKI ( . wikipedia . org/wiki/Hubbert_peak_theory" target="_blank">en . wikipedia . org) ANOTHER LINK ( . lifeaftertheoilcrash . net/) <sorry for the spam-like site here> and another WIKI LINK (http://en . wikipedia . org/wiki/Peak_oil" target="_blank">www . lifeaftertheoilcrash . net/) <sorry for the spam-like site here> and another WIKI LINK (http:) here .

OK . . . I gotta include this last part:


"What about the Bakken Oil Shale? I heard it's absolutely huge . "


The Bakken oil shale field was discovered in 1953 . In spring of 2008, a series of breathless reports regarding the Bakken shale began circulating the internet . Even if the reports are true, the 4 . 3 billion barrels supposedly contained within it will push the global peak back by only 2 . 15 billion barrels . That amounts to about one month's worth of at current levels of global demand .

The reality is the Bakken "oil find" is not even actual oil, it is shale rock buried 9,000 feet underground that has a tiny amount of oil in it that might someday be extracted with extraordinary cost .

An article in the Toronto Star explains:

"Assuming all 4 . 3 billion barrels could be retrieved, it would represent nine months of oil consumption in the United States" .

Now, let's consider the nature of the Bakken oil . It doesn't sit in big underground pools where you can just pop in a metal straw and suck it out . This oil is trapped in layers of shale – a sedimentary rock – up to 3,000 metres deep .

It will cost dearly to go after Bakken oil, just as Chevron will have to pay a bundle if it hopes to extract the 3 to 15 billion barrels it has discovered in the Gulf of Mexico, kilometres under the water at its "Jack" wells .

The technology exists to get it – at least some of it . We can also have a manned mission to Mars if we truly wanted to pay for it .

If everything breaks just right, the Bakken oil shale might produce a maximum of a few hundred thousand barrels per day albeit at great cost . Oil industry analyst Dave Cohen explains further:

" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . if other parts of the Middle Bakken are as productive as the drilled parts of Elm Coulee, and constant large investment in drilling activity in the western Williston Basin continues, we might see peak production somewhere in excess of 100,000 barrels per day" .

This is an educated guess, but this estimate is not off by an order of magnitude, i . e . we are talking about peak production rates in the very low hundreds of thousands, not millions, of barrels of oil per day .


Now is the time to invest in micro-solar equipment: happy nightmares . :banana
SurferJoe46 (51)
1