Features Richard Heinberg, Matthew Simmons, Roscoe Bartlett & David Goodstein
Oil is the primary fuel of the global economy. 98% of cars and trucks, 100% of farm equipment, 99% of trains, and 100% of airplanes run on oil. Oil provides 50% of all energy in the USA. It is used for plastics, cosmetics, packaging, etc.
Shell oil geologist M. King Hubbert predicted that U.S. oil production would peak around 1970, which it did.
Now, the USA consumes more than twice as much as it produces.
The GAO states that world oil production is expected to peak any time now but the federal government doesn’t have a plan.
Oil will continue to become more and more expensive as peak oil is passed and prices rise.
Duration : 0:4:24
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The approximately 145 operating petroleum refineries in the United States account for significant releases of pollution into the environment and many threats to worker health and safety. The petroleum industry began with the successful drilling of the first commercial oil well in 1859, and the opening of the first refinery two years later to process the crude into kerosene. The original requirement was to produce kerosene as a cheaper and better source of light than whale oil. The development of the internal combustion engine led to the production of gasoline and diesel fuels. The evolution of the airplane created a need first for high-octane aviation gasoline and then for jet fuel, a sophisticated form of the original product, kerosene. Present-day refineries produce a variety of products including many required as feedstock for the petrochemical industry. The evolution of petroleum refining from simple distillation to today’s sophisticated processes has created a need for health and safety management procedures and safe work practices. To those unfamiliar with the industry, petroleum refineries may appear to be complex and confusing places. Refining is the processing of one complex mixture of hydrocarbons into a number of other complex mixtures of hydrocarbons. The safe and orderly processing of crude oil into flammable gases and liquids at high temperatures and pressures using vessels, equipment, and piping subjected to stress and corrosion requires considerable knowledge, control, and expertise. For more on the workplace and environmental hazards at oil refineries, go to the OSHA website at http://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_iv/otm_iv_2.html#1 and the EPA at http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2004/20040622-2004-P-00021.pdf
This is clipped from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 1994 video Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Training Series, Highlights: Protecting the Environment from Oil Spills. The entire video is available at the Internet Archives.
Duration : 0:2:41
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Peak oil is coming, but how can you be sure that it is actually going to happen? It only takes one fact to prove it: petroleum (oil) is a non-renewable limited resource.
Peak oil is the point in time when global oil production reaches its all time maximum, after which it never again attains that same level, and continues decrease forever.
Teacher Aaron Wissner explains how we know that peak oil will happen based on the simple fact that oil is a non-renewable, limited resource.
For the past three years, oil production seems to have gotten “stuck” at 84.5 million barrels per day. This is probably the cause of rising oil prices, gas prices, food prices, the decline in the value of homes, the dollar, and the domestic auto industry.
We may very well be now living in the era of peak oil.
Duration : 0:3:20
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175-315 Billion barrels of oil are recoverable at $15 a barrel in the Oil Sands of Alberta, Canada. With a remaining potential of 1.7-2.5 Trillion barrels using advanced recovery techniques. Who knows what they’ll discover tomorrow, but we know today, that in Canada’s oil sands alone, the supplies will last over 100 years.
MYTH: The World Is Running Out of Oil (ABC News)
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1954572
Alberta’s Oil Sands: Facts and stats (Government of Alberta)
http://oilsands.alberta.ca/519.cfm
Analysis: Nuclear-powered oil sands (The Earth Times)
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/46143.html
Oil sands cleanup (Financial Post, Canada)
http://tinyurl.com/6z83dh
Despite Popular Belief, The World is Not Running Out of Oil, Scientist Says (University of Washington)
http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleid=27554
Its a myth that the worlds oil is running out (The Times, UK)
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article3823656.ece
Oil, Oil Everywhere… (The Wall Street Journal)
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006228
Oil Innovations Pump New Life Into Old Wells (The New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/business/05oil1.html
Oil: Never Cry Wolf—Why the Petroleum Age Is Far from over (Science)
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/sci;304/5674/1114
The World Has Plenty of Oil (The Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120459389654809159.html
Thermodynamics and Money (Peter Huber, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, MIT)
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2005/1031/122.html
The economic value of energy just doesn’t depend very strongly on raw energy content as conventionally measured in British thermal units. Instead it’s determined mainly by the distance between the BTUs and where you need them, and how densely the BTUs are packed into pounds of stuff you’ve got to move, and by the quality of the technology at hand to move, concentrate, refine and burn those BTUs, and by how your neighbors feel about carbon, uranium and windmills. In this entropic universe we occupy, the production of one unit of high-grade energy always requires more than one unit of low-grade energy at the outset. There are no exceptions. Put another way, Eroei–a sophomoric form of thermodynamic accounting–is always negative and always irrelevant. “Matter-energy” constraints count for nothing. The “monetary culture” still rules.
Additional U.S. Oil Reserves:
- 1.8 to 6 Trillion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Oil-Shale Reserves (DOE)
- 986 Billion barrels of oil are estimated using Coal-to-liquids (CTL) conversion of U.S. Coal Reserves (DOE)
- 100 Billion barrels of heavy oil are estimated in the U.S. (DOE)
- 90 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the Arctic (USGS)
- 89 Billion barrels of immobile oil are estimated recoverable using CO2 injection in the U.S. (DOE)
- 86 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (MMS)
- 60 to 80 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in U.S. Tar Sands (DOE)
- 32 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in ANWR, NPRA and the Central North Slope in Alaska (USGS)
- 4.3 Billion (167 Billion potential) barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana (USGS)
- 3.65 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Formation (USGS)
- 1.6 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Eastern Great Basin Province (USGS)
- 1.3 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Permian Basin Province (USGS)
- 1.1 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Powder River Basin Province (USGS)
- 990 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Portion of the Michigan Basin (USGS)
- 393 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. San Joaquin Basin Province of California (USGS)
- 214 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Illinois Basin (USGS)
- 172 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Yukon Flats of East-Central Alaska (USGS)
- 131 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Southwestern Wyoming Province (USGS)
- 109 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Montana Thrust Belt Province (USGS)
- 104 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Denver Basin Province (USGS)
- 98.5 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin Province (USGS)
- 94 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Hanna, Laramie, Shirley Basins Province (USGS)
Duration : 0:5:23
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175-315 Billion barrels of oil are recoverable at $15 a barrel in the Oil Sands of Alberta, Canada. With a remaining potential of 1.7-2.5 Trillion barrels using advanced recovery techniques. Who knows what they’ll discover tomorrow, but we know today, that in Canada’s oil sands alone, the supplies will last over 100 years.
MYTH: The World Is Running Out of Oil (ABC News)
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1954572
Alberta’s Oil Sands: Facts and stats (Government of Alberta)
http://oilsands.alberta.ca/519.cfm
Analysis: Nuclear-powered oil sands (The Earth Times)
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/46143.html
Oil sands cleanup (Financial Post, Canada)
http://tinyurl.com/6z83dh
Despite Popular Belief, The World is Not Running Out of Oil, Scientist Says (University of Washington)
http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleid=27554
Its a myth that the worlds oil is running out (The Times, UK)
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article3823656.ece
Oil, Oil Everywhere… (The Wall Street Journal)
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006228
Oil Innovations Pump New Life Into Old Wells (The New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/business/05oil1.html
Oil: Never Cry Wolf—Why the Petroleum Age Is Far from over (Science)
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/sci;304/5674/1114
The World Has Plenty of Oil (The Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120459389654809159.html
Thermodynamics and Money (Peter Huber, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, MIT)
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2005/1031/122.html
The economic value of energy just doesn’t depend very strongly on raw energy content as conventionally measured in British thermal units. Instead it’s determined mainly by the distance between the BTUs and where you need them, and how densely the BTUs are packed into pounds of stuff you’ve got to move, and by the quality of the technology at hand to move, concentrate, refine and burn those BTUs, and by how your neighbors feel about carbon, uranium and windmills. In this entropic universe we occupy, the production of one unit of high-grade energy always requires more than one unit of low-grade energy at the outset. There are no exceptions. Put another way, Eroei–a sophomoric form of thermodynamic accounting–is always negative and always irrelevant. “Matter-energy” constraints count for nothing. The “monetary culture” still rules.
Additional U.S. Oil Reserves:
- 1.8 to 6 Trillion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Oil-Shale Reserves (DOE)
- 986 Billion barrels of oil are estimated using Coal-to-liquids (CTL) conversion of U.S. Coal Reserves (DOE)
- 100 Billion barrels of heavy oil are estimated in the U.S. (DOE)
- 90 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the Arctic (USGS)
- 89 Billion barrels of immobile oil are estimated recoverable using CO2 injection in the U.S. (DOE)
- 86 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (MMS)
- 60 to 80 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in U.S. Tar Sands (DOE)
- 32 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in ANWR, NPRA and the Central North Slope in Alaska (USGS)
- 4.3 Billion (167 Billion potential) barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana (USGS)
- 3.65 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Formation (USGS)
- 1.6 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Eastern Great Basin Province (USGS)
- 1.3 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Permian Basin Province (USGS)
- 1.1 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Powder River Basin Province (USGS)
- 990 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Portion of the Michigan Basin (USGS)
- 393 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. San Joaquin Basin Province of California (USGS)
- 214 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Illinois Basin (USGS)
- 172 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Yukon Flats of East-Central Alaska (USGS)
- 131 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Southwestern Wyoming Province (USGS)
- 109 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Montana Thrust Belt Province (USGS)
- 104 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Denver Basin Province (USGS)
- 98.5 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin Province (USGS)
- 94 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Hanna, Laramie, Shirley Basins Province (USGS)
Duration : 0:5:23
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Plant Fueled: Grassroots Biofuel in Pittsburgh (2008). Short Documentary about Biofuels in Pittsburgh. Biofuel (if cultivated, then also called agrofuel or agrifuel) can be broadly defined as solid, liquid, or gas fuel consisting of, or derived from recently dead biological material, most commonly plants. This distinguishes it from fossil fuel, which is derived from long dead biological material. Biofuel can be theoretically produced from any (biological) carbon source. The most common by far is photosynthetic plants that capture solar energy. Many different plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacture. Biofuels are used globally and biofuel industries are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The most common use for biofuels is as liquid fuels for automotive transport. The use of renewable biofuels provides increased independence from petroleum and enhances energy security. There are various current issues with biofuel production and use, which are presently being discussed in the popular media and scientific journals. These include: the effect of moderating oil prices, the “food vs fuel” debate, carbon emissions levels, sustainable biofuel production, deforestation and soil erosion, impact on water resources, human rights issues, poverty reduction potential, biofuel prices, energy balance and efficiency, and centralised versus decentralised production models. One of the greatest technical challenges is to develop ways to convert biomass energy specifically to liquid fuels for transportation. To achieve this, the two most common strategies are: 1. To grow sugar crops (sugar cane, and sugar beet), or starch (corn/maize), and then use yeast fermentation to produce ethanol (ethyl alcohol). 2. To grow plants that (naturally) produce oils, such as oil palm, soybean, algae, or jatropha. When these oils are heated, their viscosity is reduced, and they can be burned directly in a diesel engine, or the oils can be chemically processed to produce fuels such as biodiesel. Wood and its byproducts can be converted into biofuels such as woodgas, methanol or ethanol fuel. Some researchers are working to improve these processes. Biomass is material derived from recently living organisms. This includes plants, animals and their by-products. For example, manure, garden waste and crop residues are all sources of biomass. It is a renewable energy source based on the carbon cycle, unlike other natural resources such as petroleum, coal, and nuclear fuels. Animal waste is a persistent and unavoidable pollutant produced primarily by the animals housed in industrial sized farms. Researchers from Washington University have figured out a way to turn manure into magic. In April 2008 with the help of imaging technology they noticed that vigorous mixing helps microorganisms turn farm waste into alternative energy. Providing farmers with a simple way to treat their waste and convert it into energy. There are also agricultural products specifically grown for biofuel production include corn, switchgrass, and soybeans, primarily in the United States; rapeseed, wheat and sugar beet primarily in Europe; sugar cane in Brazil; palm oil and miscanthus in South-East Asia; sorghum and cassava in China; and jatropha in India. Hemp has also been proven to work as a biofuel. Biodegradable outputs from industry, agriculture, forestry and households can be used for biofuel production, either using anaerobic digestion to produce biogas, or using second generation biofuels; examples include straw, timber, manure, rice husks, sewage, and food waste. The use of biomass fuels can therefore contribute to waste management as well as fuel security and help to prevent climate change, though alone they are not a comprehensive solution to these problems.
Producer: Rob Cullen and John Landis
Creative Commons license: Attribution 3.0 United States
Duration : 0:28:31
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We are entering the Peak Oil era. The growth of oil production is slowing, driving up oil and gasoline gas prices, firing inflation, driving unemployment, straining our global economy, and threatening to collapse our entire system. We are reaching Peak Oil and we are unprepared. Teacher Aaron Wissner, in a compact 10 minutes video summary, details Peak Oil, the evidence, the impacts, and the solutions. See the full one-hour video at LocalFuture.org. Also, at YouTube, see the conclusion, of that presentation, part 5 of 5, which highlights the impacts, underlying problem, and solutions to Peak Oil.
Duration : 0:10:0
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Clips featuring Colin Campbell, Richard Heinberg, Julian Darley, etc.
Oil is used for everything. When we reach maximum production, that is a very significant point.
Global oil production will peak, and everything will change.
Less and less oil fields are being discovered. New oil is found in smaller pockets.
4/5 of oil being consumed was found before 1970.
Norway, Britain UK, and Norway have all passed their nation’s peak.
The world consumes three times as much oil as we are finding.
53 countries are producing less oil now than in the past.
We expend about 10 Calories of fossil fuel energy for every Calorie of food energy produced. This is unsustainable.
Global hunger and famine could be a result of peak oil.
Economic contraction will most likely result from peak oil.
A perception of a contraction economy will itself cause a contraction.
This could cause the second great depression.
Duration : 0:7:5
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This animated map is an excerpt from a conference presentation by Randy Park. It shows the peaking of oil production (peak oil) for countries around the world. It also shows oil consumption.
Duration : 0:3:57
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