Day | Journey destination | Length of return journey/km | Estimated volume of petrol consumed/litres |
---|---|---|---|
Sunday | cinema | 30 | 1.8 |
Monday | office | 40 | 2.4 |
Tuesday | train station | 30 | 1.8 |
Wednesday | office | 40 | 2.4 |
Thursday | office | 40 | 2.4 |
Friday | office | 40 | 2.4 |
Saturday | supermarket | 5 | 0.3 |
TOTAL | 225 | 13.2 |
We usually find oil in new places with old ideas. Sometimes, also, we find oil in an old place with a new idea, but we seldom find oil in an old place with an old idea. Several times in the past we thought we were running out of oil whereas we were only running out of ideas. Parke A. Dickey, petroleum geologist, 1958
We are now entering the second half of the Oil Age, and face the relentless decline of production, imposed by nature. Colin Campbell, petroleum geologist, 2006
Pollutants | Chemical formula | Toxic? | Contributes to anthropogenic global warming? | Contributes to formation of severe acid rain? | Causes smog formation? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
carbon dioxide | no | yes | no | no | |
carbon monoxide | no | no | |||
nitrogen oxides | NOx | ||||
particulates | not applicable | unclear | no | ||
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) | not applicable | no | |||
tropospheric ozone | no |
Pollutants | Chemical formula | Toxic? | Contributes to anthropogenic global warming? | Contributes to formation of severe acid rain? | Causes smog formation? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
carbon dioxide | CO2 | no | yes | no | no |
carbon monoxide | CO | yes | no | no | yes |
nitrogen oxides | NOx | yes | yes | yes | yes |
particulates | not applicable | yes | unclear | no | yes |
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) | not applicable | yes | yes | no | yes |
tropospheric ozone | O3 | yes | yes | no | yes |
Supplies of conventional oil are likely to peak in the near future, but if we are prepared to invest in expensive technologies to extract unconventional oil like shale oil, we will be able to keep supplies going for a very long time. This will mean that the prices of oil products are likely to remain high. The extraction of unconventional oil is likely to have environmental consequences, for example the extraction of shale oil is a very dirty process. The question of whether or not oil supplies will peak is not relevant when we consider the issue of anthropogenic global warming - we need to find ways to supply our energy needs without burning fossil fuels. For this reason the question of if we can live without oil and other fossil fuels is important, whether or not supplies are about to decline.