How did you find out about peak oil?

FreakOil

I learned about Peak Oil from reading Byron King's articles in Whiskey & Gunpowder. Long live the King! I lurked on the site for a bit before jumping into the forums, and now I'm just trying to figure out what I'm going to do in a post cheap-oil world. Aaaaayaaaah!!! as the locals say in exasperation here in Guangdong, China.

idomar

Last year I was researching the American financial market collapse that has been widely prophesised for this year and came across an article on another website about peak oil, it kinda scared me.

I have been lurking for a while here and at the oil drum, although as an 'arts' student i find that site a bit heavy, although i have no option but to follow what they are saying and try to read more about the technical details that they provide.

I wholeheartedly believe that the end of cheap energy is upon us soon but i am still trying to get my head around the ramifications of it.

I am not so much worried about the finding and preparation of food, I have always been 'outdoorsy' (if that is a word) I am more worried about the angry, hungry, armed mobs of people that will have no idea what has happened.

The fallout from this issue is so huge that it is veryhard to comprehend, I have tried to say to some friends and family about it but i get the 'what are you talking about', 'dont be stupid' and 'you dont believe that crap, do you' response.

Good luck everyone

underdressed

I grew up during the 70's and my step-father was a power-doomer. He spoke about the end of cheap oil several times, but thought it would happen much sooner. He lost his worry in the 90's when "nothing happened."

I've spent most of my life preparing one way or the other: infantry training in the U. S. Marine Corps, avoiding antibiotics/improving natural immunity, learning how to be happy with less.

I use to think peak would happen around 2010-2020. Now, I'm cautiously accepting the possibility that we're already on the plateau. (Yet, I still live in Southern California. I guess I'll make my way through the desert when everyone else starts heading north.)

skyemoor

I did a paper on energy resource exhaustion in general in engineering school (specialty focus: power systems controls). This included nuclear and coal, and Hubbert was a prime reference.

Was strongly energy-efficient- and conservation-minded for a few years after school, until it drifted away from my mindset (after all, Reagan spoiled my plans to join SERI after I graduated in 1981). Began to take up interest again (strongly) in 1993, with participation on sci.energy and conservation lifestyle rediscovery.

Lived near a metro, grocery/pharmacy, stripmall, and drove energy efficient vehicles when I didn't bike.

Designed my own energy-efficient passive solar home with PV and bought a Honda Insight for when I didn't take mass transit/vanpool. Wife now has a Prius.

Joined this site a couple of years ago and just saw the US premiere of "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash".
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Frankieboy · Coal Joined: Apr 10, 2007 Posts: 16

Found out via a friend

Fredrik

Someone brought up PO on a completely different discussion forum, and he did it convincingly enough to make me check if he had any basis for his gloomy claims. I soon found out he did.

It kind of frightened me at first, but after studying the subject for awhile I think I've found some mitigating aspects.
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DavidFolks

How did I find out about Peak Oil? I came to the conclusion a decade or so ago that petrochemical/hydrocarbon energy was not a sustainable way to power the planet, so I guess I intuited the concept of peak oil and problems with resource depletion.

For the last few years, I've been researching alternatives for energy production, storage, alternative transportation and synergystic integrated systems. I'm trying to find ways to work within our north american economic system and develop products and systems that change the way we use energy, and what we use for energy sources. The idea is to develop one idea to finance the next, and so on...

On a google search of human powered vehicles, or velocipedes, or some such, I linked to the hpv thread on the peak oil site. Decided to look around while I was there, and joined to follow some threads, get up to speed on new technologies, and generally educate myself so I could avoid re-inventing the wheel.

I had hoped to find a community of people who were actively pursuing solutions to energy problems. I was a little disappointed to be confronted by a lot of doom, gloom, and general nit-picking over ideology.

I get that peak oil is going to be a huge problem. I get that there are no easy solutions. I get that we don't have a replacement strategy for liquid fuel as an energy store.

I don't subscribe to the doomer philosophy, but I'm not a cornucopian either.

I believe that we can use multiple approaches and co-dependant systems to solve our energy production and storage problems, and I believe we will.

I'll keep watching the forums, and when someone says something totally outrageous, and I just can't bite my tongue anymore, I'll open my mouth.

As for those who bash any attempt at solutions, or feel the need to point out how any single solution is not viable, I have the following to offer:

We're going to find solutions. You can lead, follow, or get out of the way.
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BrotherKalashnikov · Coal Joined: May 24, 2007 Posts: 12

it started off as just another Teotwawki scenario for me,and it is still the most plausible scenario in my book of Doom.
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Aaron

thuja

Katrina---

Actually I have a good friend who first got me interested in the concept. I had a vague sense that we would experience fossil fuel depletion issue in the future- I just didn;'t realize how fast.

Then I read some cornucopian books (Hydrogen economy), some moderate books (The end of OIl) before I arrived at the twin brain rearrangers, The Party's over and The Long Emergency. From there I got on line- found LATOC, PO. com, The Oil Drum, etc. The rest is history. But I've been obsessed man...completely obsessed.

I think it is very akin to being aboard the Titanic with the foreknowledge that your ship is going to hit that iceberg and it will go down. The only thing to do is brainstorm how you are going to get on a raft. Telling your shipmates won't do much good- unless you want to get them on the raft with you.

roccman

Few years ago Craig's list had a PO toggle...not there anymore.

Just looked at those two words PEAK OIL - just odd combination of words.

Well I hit the toggle and it

took me to dieoff.org

bullplug · Tar Sands Joined: May 25, 2007 Posts: 21

I work in an oil refinery and was trying to get information concerning the Arizona Clean Fuels project.

JHestand · Coal Joined: Jul 12, 2007 Posts: 2

I first read the phrase "peak oil" on a progressive weblog called DailyKos. I only saw the title of a journal entry which read something like "the future of peak oil" and figured that the author was writing about some obscure oil company called Peak.

I don't remember why I came back to the journal entry a few days later, but I did. Then I did a google search, perused a few websites and found myself here.

Leap · Coal Joined: Aug 05, 2007 Posts: 1

I found out about peak oil because I did a google search for "oil resources." After learning about oil/energy reserves from this site and many others, I was quite surprised to learn how much oil Canada has, and how much natural gas Russia has. Russia seems to be desiring more influence publicly, but Canada is quieter about the wealth of its Athabasca sands.

Yesterday a guy at the gas pump said "Wow, it's down to $2.69 a gallon. Isn't that great?"

I'm not so sure. It may only delay our adapting to the future. I hope to find a community that can coalesce around some concrete actions, like funding alternative energy.

RedStateGreen

I was doing research on racism (of all things) and in doing so found myself on a whole lot of liberal blogs and forums. One of them mentioned peak oil (which I had never heard of) and I began reading up about it. This was maybe four months or so ago. One of the sites had a link to here, I forget which one.