Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak
by Kenneth S. Deffeyes
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Description
With world oil production about to peak and inexorably head toward steep decline, what fuels are available to meet rising global energy demands? That question, once thought to address a fairly remote contingency, has become ever more urgent, as a spate of books has drawn increased public attention to the imminent exhaustion of the economically vital world oil reserves. Deffeyes, a geologist who was among the first to warn of the coming oil crisis, now takes the next logical step and turns show more his attention to the earth's supply of potential replacement fuels. In Beyond Oil, he traces out their likely production futures, with special reference to that of oil, utilizing the same analytic tools developed by his former colleague, the pioneering petroleum-supply authority M. King Hubbert. The book includes chapters on natural gas, coal, tar sands and heavy oils, oil shale, uranium, and (although not strictly an energy resource itself) hydrogen. A concluding chapter on the overall energy picture covers the likely mix of energy sources the world can rely on for the near-term future, and the special roles that will need to be played by conservation, high-mileage diesel automobiles, nuclear power plants, and wind-generated electricity. An acknowledged expert in the field, Deffeyes brings a deeply informed, yet optimistic approach to bear on the growing debate. His main concern is not our long-term adaptation to a world beyond oil but our immediate future: "Through our inattention, we have wasted the years that we might have used to prepare for lessened oil supplies. The next ten years are critical." show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Peak Oil book. Contains a chapter on each fuel, describing its history and prospects. The author is clearly not terribly concerned about global warming, and barely mentions the potential fallout of declining oil stock, but the fuel-by-fuel analysis is welcome. The chapter on uranium is particularly interesting, though it failed to mention that quality uranium is also a severely limited resource. Well written overall, with occasional first-person asides. The author seems to believe in a sort of "business as usual", but with different fuels, rather than advocating lifestyle changes.
(Review found in papers from circa 2007.)
(Review found in papers from circa 2007.)
This may be a bit technical for many people but is a good general introduction. The best part is his chapter 3, I believe, where he describes roughly the mathematics involved in Hubbert's original thesis. If it's too technical, read "The Party's Over" by Heinberg.
This is a fair picture of the overall situation. The author does a pretty good job laying out the situation and current efforts to diversify our energy sources. Although this book is not on many public library shelves, it is on nearly all university library shelves. It is not that technical and I believe most individuals could follow the book quite well.
Fun read. Enjoyable!
Given the BP spill this is now a "must have" book.
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Author Information
5+ Works 472 Members
Kenneth S. Deffeyes is Professor Emeritus at Princeton University.
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- Members
- 234
- Popularity
- 138,638
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.59)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
