How then, do we move backwards? How does a society, with most of the people having no clue of future events, move from being dependent on a vast and intertwined network of goods and services produced by the indigenous people of whereever, to a local resource and renewable energy based society, and do so in the timeframe available (20-30 years using the most liberal extimates, 10-20 with resonable estimates, 5-10 with worst case scenarios), all the while prices on everything increasing, world politics getting more militaristic, governments continuously reducing civil liberties, shortages of goods on the market and weather patterns resembling bad Hollywood movies?
Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 1078 Location: Bristol, UK
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:17 am Post subject: Sir David King’s View on Peak Oil
Professor Sir David King, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government since 2000 and former head of Cambridge University chemistry department has submitted a paper to the recently formed All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil (www.appgopo.org.uk).
In it he specifically addresses peak oil but disappointingly it shows no original thought, preferring to cite the IEA, the USGS and historically static reserves-to-production ratios. It also shows no appreciation for flow rates or declining production from fields already in production, explains lack of new discoveries by low levels of exploration in the Middle East and attempts to square the development of unconventional oil sources with "radical reductions" in greenhouse gas emissions. King ends by saying hydrogen and fuel cell technologies have the potential to replace oil for transport.
The paper is probably the best indication we have to government's official position on the matter.
Having said that however, I'm not convinced the "official position" necessarily reflects government's (or at least certain key individuals) understanding. At least I hope not!
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