Walker
The KLD / Downtown / Gay Street
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Has anyone read this book? Recommendations? Worth reading?
$20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better:
http://www.amazon.com/20-Per-Gallon-Inevitable-Gasoline/dp/0446549541
Just read a little about it over here:
http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/rightnow/2010/09/in-search-of-a-city-20-per-gallon/
jpizzow
Above the American Apparel building
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Yea, I read it and even used it as an example in one of my city planning courses. It's a good book, a little over the top sometimes but the guy makes some really good points. Some of his examples can be a little out there, but others, when you really think about it, make alot of sense. And then there are others that common sense tells you will happen as the price of oil rises. What really amazed me was how almost every material thing we use in society is made from some bi-product of oil. In the end (and this just comfirms how I've always felt) we, as a society, will be screwed when oil rises beyond affordability because we are currently not preparing our society for this inevitable disaster. We definately take oil for granted, that's for sure.
I bought mine from Amazon for about $10. It's an easy read too.
Rockmastermike
The Bacon District
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jpizzow wrote >> What really amazed me was how almost every material thing we use in society is made from some bi-product of oil.
An economic-geology/ore-minerals professor I know always liked to remind people:
No matter what it is... Everything we make was originally something that was either mined or grown.
And now, given now much of agriculture is dependent upon petro chemicals, the growing is rather dependent on mining too.
Thory
Asheville, NC
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From the Q/A on Amazon, the author says:
There is little to be scared of. The rising price of gas will unlock countless doors to innovation, opportunity and change.
While I agree with his second statement, the first sounds VERY optimistic. As gas prices go higher, I imagine there will be major internal upheaval and conflict. I wouldn't be surprised to see rioting, looting, some faltering in effective governance, and big problems in emergency service response... police, fire, and EMT services will be severely hampered if they can't afford to fill the tanks of their vehicles.
Am I crazy to think that? I'm not thinking anything like total collapse of the federal and state governments, just powerful upheaval and tumult...
pedex
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http://energybulletin.net/stories/2010-09-20/peak-oil-sept-19
http://energybulletin.net/stories/2010-09-17/eroi-insidious-feedbacks-and-end-economic-growth
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,715138,00.html
http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2010/JOE_2010_o.pdf
3 reports from the US, UK, and German govt's plus some other stuff
yes some world govt's are very concerned and they should be, it is a game changer that basically wipes out our ponzi economics we practice among other things
$20 per gallon for gas would actually be cheap considering how much energy is in 1 gallon of gasoline
gramarye
In Exile
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I think the fundamental issue is the price level at which gasoline alternatives become economically viable, and also whether the pace of technological progress can realistically be expected to bring more alternatives online before rising petroleum prices pinch other sectors of the economy too severely.
I share Steiner's optimism, but for different reasons: I believe that electric personal transportation will be well within reach for ordinary consumers within ten years, whereas I don't believe we'll see $20 or even $10 gasoline, or (more relevantly for the broader issues involving all petroleum products) $250/barrel crude within that time. I've posted a number of links on these boards in the past regarding research both into alternative sources of energy and renewable methods of obtaining hydrocarbons (e.g., from algae). I'll repost some of those links later, since I love talking about this kind of cutting-edge technology, but for the moment, I have to go meet someone smarter and better looking than all of you for dinner.
Rockmastermike
The Bacon District
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gramarye wrote >>
I think the fundamental issue is the price level at which gasoline alternatives become economically viable, and also whether the pace of technological progress can realistically be expected to bring more alternatives online before rising petroleum prices pinch other sectors of the economy too severely.
Well that really IS the big question. It's nice to be optimistic, but at the same time, adding up just how many vehicles, industrial, and agricultural processes world-wide (not just in industrial countries who can more-or-less painlessly adopt) would need to change is a simply mind-numbing calculus.
Yeah, the big question is not "will we adapt". One way or another adaptation will happen. The big question is "will adaptation happen fast enough to avoid some seriously uncomfortable problems".
dcd
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gramarye
In Exile
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KyleEzell wrote >>
I guess Ohioans had better wish for continued cheap gas sinceFamilies will begin to migrate southward as the price of heating northern homes in the winter is too pricey.(And he's a little late with "will begin to?")
And yet I've heard others say that people will begin migrating northward as global warming/climate change makes southern latitudes too hot and makes the Great Lakes region (in both the U.S. and Canada) milder.
Long story short: Life is like a bureaucracy. No matter what happens, someone will be able to blame someone else.
Senator Tankerbell
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You might also check out the documentary The End of Suburbia - which deals in large part with the issues of peak oil and the consequences of the coming global oil shortgae.
News
Columbus Underground
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How High Oil Prices Promote Sustainable Agriculture
November 13, 2012 at 3:00 AM
For the most part the news we hear about high oil prices is focused on how it’s hurting Americans’ wallets. But what if we take a moment and think about the ways that high oil prices have forced us to reconsider the status quo, particularly in agriculture. Some of the innovations coming out as a result of high oil prices may be the very things we need to create a more sustainable, more secure food system in America.
READ MORE: http://www.good.is/posts/how-high-oil-prices-promote-sustainable-agriculture/
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