January 13, 2004

After the Oil Climax

Posted by tomo at 02:05 AM in politics . | 3 Comments

One more eschatological scenario to fear: the coming Oil Crash, when we surpass peak oil production and further oil production rapidly escalates in cost. As everything in our lives depends on oil (from growing food far away to buying it at the local supermarket), increase in the cost of oil affects the cost of everything. We may already have passed the peak. Nevertheless it's expected to happen sometime before 2010, which is unfortunately too soon to have colonies on Mars.

What we can expect: An invasion of Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran. World War III against China. An attack or invasion of France and some form of retaliation from Russia. Meanwhile, Japan will be fighting an invasion of 17 alien Angels.

What we can do to soften the blow: Stop having kids. Stop having pets. Stop eating beef. Buy locally grown produce (urban farming!) and bike instead of drive and fly.

DOOM! At least it will stave off nanocancer since we'll be hurtled several centuries into the past technologically, although perhaps this is how Allah plans to induce his version of our end times. Time to move purchase some light arms and move off the grid. Who's with me?

 

Comments

You know, I think they dismiss nuclear energy too quickly. Especially fusion. The first paragraph of the article says the waste is not as nasty as fission and you can't make nukes out of the waste.

Posted by: polamex at January 13, 2004 5:56 PM

All I could hear in my head as I read this post was this.

Posted by: ryan at January 13, 2004 7:35 PM

I also think that nucular power got the shaft and I don't think it's being abandoned everywhere. The hopes for alternative sources were purposefully portrayed pessimistically. While some alternatives like wind power may have a very low contribution globally, they comprise a much higher percentage of certain countries' power supply, which are probably the countries that are alluded to survive. Solar power could be much more useful if more buildings in a city were designed to use it to heat their water. The design of cities themselves may play a bigger role in using energy more efficiently. Also, fusion gets dismissed as a failure and waste of our research dollars, which may turn out to be the case, but may also be something that magically saves our asses. Not something to count on, in any case.

Posted by: agent1073 at January 13, 2004 11:52 PM