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Making the step from raw farm products to cans in a consumer’s pantry is not trivial. It takes more than access to equipment, it also takes business and marketing sense, relationships with area stores and restaurateurs and compliance with state regulations, to name a few.
We are now inhabiting a ‘post-peak’ world. That is the implication of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) new report, World Energy Outlook 2010. There is no time for denial. Governments and communities need to start adapting now.
“The energy world faces unprecedented uncertainty”, so begins the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook, released on Tuesday. The annual report from the energy watchdog guides the energy policies of OECD member countries including Britain.
Many people seem to believe that it is possible to have a rapid transition to a “low carbon economy,” based on a totally different pattern of production of energy carriers (using different primary energy sources) and a totally different pattern of consumption of energy carriers, while still guaranteeing the same set of end uses.
Economic growth as we have known it is over and done with.
The IEA’s position is summarized in the graph – conventional crude oil production has already peaked in 2006! Suddenly, the subject of impending peak has gone from not worthy of discussion to in the past already!
The WEO 2010 report just released by the International Energy Agency makes quite a number of assumptions that seem wrong, and omits important ideas. Here are a few that Oil Drum staff members have mentioned.
A mid-week roundup of peak oil news, including
-Developments this week
– Steve LeVine: How to read today’s big report on the future of energy
– National Georgraphic: Has the World Already Passed “Peak Oil”?
– Online Executive Summary of the report
– Energy inaction will cost us trillions
– IEA: “peak oil is an inevitability”
The International Energy Agency issued its annual energy forecast today for 2010. At this point, we can only point to a few of the summary findings. One clear concern is that demand will be rising–especially from China and India. Another is that prices (in inflation-adjusted terms) will be rising. A third concern is that conventional oil production will no longer be able to rise.
– Why Is Obama Cuddling Up to Karl Rove and His Gas Drilling Friends?
– A Taxpayer-Funded Sucker Play for the 21st Century
– UC Davis study: Stock market expectations suggest that oil will run dry before substitutes roll out
It’s been a long time coming, but the uber-significant Peak Oil issue has finally started to infiltrate the corridors of power. What they’ll do with this information remains to be seen…
