Thursday, April 21, 2005

The end of the oil age

For all the talk about taxes, immigration and terrorism, there is one issue that will never be deemed important enough to make it onto an election agenda. Next year could well see the peak in World oil production.

According to Colin Campbell, founder of the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, the danger is not the time when oil actually runs out, but the steady decline in production that will change our planet forever.

Once oil production peaks in the next year or so, we can then expect a decline of about 2-3% every year. The result? Our lives will never be the same again. We rely on oil for everything, from the clothes we wear to the computers we stare at 8 hours a day.

The IEA claims that the peak won't come for another 10-20 years, and state that there is a guaranteed supply for another 40 years. Even if this is true, does it take into account the fact that oil production and demand is increasing at an alarming rate every year? And, even if it does, 40 years is not a long time. Plans need to be made to take this World forward.

Rising oil prices are only the beginning. Without proper leadership and real investment in alternative solutions, all the tax cuts, pensions and public services in the World won't make the slightest difference.

Unfortunately, politicians only plan for their next election. 40 years from now, is someone else's problem.

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