Oil

Implications of “peak oil” for atmospheric CO2 and climate

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Peaking of global oil production may have a large effect on future atmospheric CO2 amount and climate change, depending upon choices made for subsequent energy sources.

We suggest that, if estimates of oil and gas reserves by the Energy Information Administration are realistic, it is feasible to keep atmospheric CO2 from exceeding approximately 450 ppm, provided that future exploitation of the vast reservoirs of coal and unconventional fossil fuels incorporates carbon capture and sequestration. [Excerpts]

The looming oil crisis could arrive uncomfortably soon

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Forecasts of peak oil production have ranged from Thanksgiving weekend 2005 to somewhere beyond 2050. But at the annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) in Long Beach, California, early this month, the latest answer emerged: World oil production could stop growing as early as 2020–too soon to avoid a crisis–or it could hold off until 2040.