Research president discusses the economic threat of peak oil

I wonder how long it will be before this nation wakes up to peak oil and its ramifications??

http://energybulletin.net/31153.html

ALI MOORE: So you don't see or believe the argument that the greater the technology, the greater the technological development, the more likely that not only will we find more, but previously impossible wells will become viable?

DR ROGER BEZDEK: There's no doubt that technology will assist us and we'll find more and more oil. The problem is that the world is already consuming, producing about 87 million barrels a day of oil. Projections are the world will need, by 2030, 120 million barrels a day. The new giant fields simply aren't out there and most of the world's oil-producing regions have already peaked - are in decline, declining at the rate of 2 or 3 or 4 per cent a year. Right there it tells you you have to discover at least 2 or 3 million barrel a day every year, just to stay even. And we can't stay even, the world requires 2 or 3 per cent more oil per year. It's just an unsustainable trend.

ALI MOORE: So how do we mitigate this threat?

DR ROGER BEZDEK: The mitigation of peak oil is required on both the demand side and the supply side. On the demand side we have to make the world stock of vehicles much more fuel-efficient as soon as possible. We also have to introduce policies and incentives that will make the world's population less dependent upon driving vehicles and automobiles. Increased use of mass transit, rail system, smart growth, what have you. On the supply side, we have to pursue all of the supply options that are out there for liquid fuels, including oil shale, oil sands, colder liquids, renewable technologies, biomass, bio-diesel, electrical vehicle, plug-in electrical vehicles, et cetera. So a massive effort is required both for the supply side and the demand side to address the problem.

ALI MOORE: A massive effort and I guess none of that is particularly new. What will be the impetus for people to wake up and say we must do this now, not tomorrow, but now?

DR ROGER BEZDEK: One impetus would be to wait until it's too late when there are actual shortages and the price of oil has increased dramatically. Hopefully we and the world will be smarter than that and see the problem on the horizon and begin to take some of these mitigation options well in advance, and let me stress that time is running out and we have to start implementing these initiatives as soon as possible.

anyone who works at a computer or a phone does not necessarily have to be sitting in an office. You would literally take millions of cars off the road simply by encouraging telecommuting.

Millions.

The infrastructure is already in place. Bandwidth should be increased, but technology is there and a small percentage already work this way.

It is the one thing we can do immediately that will have an immediate effect.