Hey guys,
I got in an arguement with one of my friends a few days ago over what would happen as the peak production of oil passes, and supply cannot rise as quickly as demand does.
My friend believed that basically the next great depression will happen.
My arguement on the other hand wasthat the laws of supply and demand would give the economy time to adjust. In other words, as oil prices rise, less peole will use oil, thus increasing the time we have to find a pontentially new oil resource.
Either way, I got home and looked it up and stumbled across this page :
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Index.html
Its basic premise is that oil is on a bell curve, once peak production is passed, demand will continue to rise, while supply cannot continue to increase at the same rate. Conventional oil sources are continueing to decline, and newer methods for extracting oil, ie the oil sands or sythetic oil from coal are not only dirty but cannot keep up with increasing demand.
It also mentions how oil driven our economy is, and how dependent we are( ie. plastics, fertilizes), and also explains why solar, wind, nuclear and even conservation will never work. It also mentions what it believes to be the reason for the iraqi war.
Ethr way its an interesting read, albeit long. The guy is a good writer and cites his sources almost relgiously as well as has been quoted in congress multiple times.
Anyway just wanted some opinions to weigh in. I think it would make an interesting discussion for the people who choose to read.