The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies

I learned about this book during the reading that I have been doing about the Peak Oil phenomenon. The book is very well written. It is full of facts that are worth knowing about the history of fossil fuel utilization, the writings of M. King Hubbert and his theories of oil depletion, the contemporary movement of scholars and retired oil industry experts who are warning of the approach of the world's Peak petroleum extraction capability and interesting details and energy profitability analysis for all of the potential alternative energy sources, such as coal, nuclear, renewable sources such as wind and solar power, tidal power and so forth. While the author clearly has a pro environmentalist viewpoint, he diligently explains and addresses the positions of the leading critics of energy depletion. The only parts of the book that I found to be unrealistically slanted were his critiques of the ultimate energy profitability of nuclear energy and his dismissal of increased usage of coal as a hedge against the inevitable coming decline of petroleum production. I would say that this book is definitely worth reading. It touches upon many of the subjects that we have discussed here in the forum.

Added: May 28th 2004
Reviewer: JLK
Score:
Related Link: Amazon Page
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Language: english