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? ‘
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