In the first official acknowledgment of ‘peak oil’, the Department of Energy has released its yearly International Energy Outlook, and it does not look good. Simply put, peak oil is the term that describes the point past which we have used more oil than remains in the Earth. Some have argued that the current extreme price fluctuation are caused by the onset of peak oil, and are a glimpse at a volatile future.
Well, according to the new data, that date might be closer than the DoE first thought. The 2007 report showed a peak prodcution of 107.2 million barrels per day in 2030. That number has been dropped to 93.1 million – a 7.6% change. The implication is that extreme price increases will be caused by reduced supply and greater competition for remaining resources. Read a great article about the subject here. With the return $5+/ gallon gas: what are people in Miami going to do without mass transit? ‘
[...] Department of Energy: Peak Oil Closer Than We Thought | Transit Miami [...]
Great article but I think they are being a bit disingenuous. The price fluctuations we have been seeing are a direct result of the govt monetizing debt aka printing money. This devalues the dollar and in turn drives prices in foreign goods priced in dollars up.
The subsequent drop in prices is a result of deleverging. Where people are demanding more dollars to pay off their debts as a result of the present financial crisis. Now that deleverging is coming to a end and Obama and Geitner have the printing presses at full steam the dollar is being devalued again.
This is not to say we have not hit or about to hit peak oil though. But once peak oil is truly factored into the price along with the dollar devaluation, I think a lot more people are going to be begging for mass transit.
This is great news! As soon as oil becomes more expensive we will start using less of it. Politicians will also start realizing the need for smart growth strategies geared towards transit oriented developments. Increase in oil prices=More sustainable living.