Peak Oil? We’ll Never Burn Our Last Drop Of Oil

Long before we get to the very last drop of oil, we;ll have identified another form of fuel for our society.  It may be another form of fossil fuel, it may be solar or it may be wave.  In any event, the idea that the work will run out of oil and the implication that our society will wither and fade away is ridiculous.

As people who make money on oil begin to realize that were close to running out of oil, they’ll raise the price of said oil.  And when THAT happens, that new fuel will be found.

Fortunately, we may already have taken a step in that direction:

Sanford, N.C. — Geologists have wrapped up research on natural gas deposits in central North Carolina and are awaiting an assessment from the U.S. Geological Survey in July.

North Carolina Geological Survey chief Kenneth Taylor says his assessment shows that Lee, Chatham and Moore counties could produce enough natural gas to power the whole state for 40 years.

40 years.

Of power.

No oil.

What could prevent this awesome resource from being utilized?

Government:

But state law would have to change to allow horizontal drilling and a process known as fracturing that uses chemicals and water to force natural gas from shale.

Figures.

12 responses to “Peak Oil? We’ll Never Burn Our Last Drop Of Oil

  1. On top of all that I would like to add this. How many great discoveries have been made by Government and how many have been made by the free market competitive entrepreneurial spirit? I say get government out of the way and let the market solve the problem. By out of the way I mean subsidizing politically correct potential alternatives that flop.

    • By out of the way I mean subsidizing politically correct potential alternatives that flop.

      I couldn’t agree more.

      When the government intervenes in the fuel market, we get global food price shock.

  2. Of course gov’t can get in the way – and it can innovate as well. It can create entire new industries possible (NASA? the internet?) and step back to let the private market make the money. Happens all the time. Most scientific research is on government grants. It does good. It does bad. And so does the market.

    pino – I agree entirely that the laws will change in a heartbeat when it becomes clear that gas will be cheaper. The ones most likiely to try to stop that by the way are the oil companies!

    • It can create entire new industries possible (NASA? the internet?)

      NASA isn’t looking so hot these days.

      The ones most likiely to try to stop that by the way are the oil companies!

      And when they try to leverage government for their benefit, I’ll object.

      • NASA did pretty good for half a century and launched hundreds of innovate products. Not everything lasts forever. And the internet of course is still going strong. When haven’t oil companies leveraged govt’ for their benefi as in the billions of subsidies over last 100 years, which is why our gas is still cheap compared to the rest of the developed world.

        By the way, read yestereday that Chrysler has paid us back – with interest.

      • That’s ‘billions OF DOLLARS in subsidies’ . . . .

      • NASA did pretty good for half a century and launched hundreds of innovate products.

        But like all government projects, the “product” was an expense. An expense that had to be minimized. And now we need to fly on the Russian craft if we wanna go into space.

        When haven’t oil companies leveraged govt’ for their benefi as in the billions of subsidies over last 100 years

        I agree that where oil companies lobby for special benefits that are for their industry only, it’s inappropriate. Any and all energy companies should receive equal treatment. Either direct funding or tax relief.

        By the way, read yestereday that Chrysler has paid us back – with interest.

        I’ll have to check that out, hadn’t heard. But remember, we saw the same thing from GM too…..

      • From Detroit News today:
        http://detnews.com/article/20110524/AUTO01/105240403/Chrysler-repays-government-loans

        So they’re still in business, the jobs were saved and we get our money back. Can’t find a downside there.

      • So they’re still in business, the jobs were saved and we get our money back. Can’t find a downside there.

        We’re discussing here:

        http://www.poisonyourmind.com/2011/05/precience/

        We didn’t get all our money back; we’re down 1.9 billion.

        And the jobs? Meh. The company belongs to Fiat now, hard to say that Fiat wouldn’t have bought them either way.

    • Just saw the update that I missed earlier – the $1.9 bil we won’t be getting.

  3. Remember Easter Island….

    The denizens of said island stripped their resources as their population increased and thus disappeared into oblivion.

    The free market works great in many cases, but not always, especially on big problems. Americans now spend about ten cents of every dollar they make on fuel. This is a massive drag on GDP, yet no one has “solved” the problem yet.

    I hope the free market finds a solution soon. However, if it does not, we will need another Manhattan Project to get us out of our addiction to fossil fuels.

    • When pollution was the hot topic 30 years ago, I was wishing we’d launch a NASA sized program to develop turnkey solutions – technology and equipment and expertise – and we could sell it and hire ourselves out to the world’s ‘superfund’ sites. Lots of money and losts of jobs here and innovation that would no doubt have turned toward energy solutions too.

      But . . . . we just don’t think big anymore.

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