FACING PEAK OIL AND PEAK GAS: IN SEARCH OF THE LEAST EVIL

  • by Risto Isomaki
  • Inter Press Service

The U.S. oil geologist Marion King Hubbert predicted, already in 1956, that the global production of oil will reach its all-time high roughly when we have used one half of the world’s oil reserves. This is because geologists tend to find the biggest fields first, and because oil wells become tired during the production phase. The more is taken out, the more difficult it gets to bring the remaining oil to the surface. The world’s production of crude oil may have peaked in July 2008, at 74,666 barrels per day. In other words we may already have passed the feared Peak Oil, without almost anybody noticing the event. This is because the production of natural gas is still increasing, and growing amounts of gas have been converted to various oil-replacing products, writes Risto Isomaki, an environmental activist and awarded Finnish writer whose novels have been translated into several languages.

Part of the problem can and must be solved with energy-saving measures and by improved energy efficiency, but it seems that we also need to increase our production of biofuels.

Biofuels have their own problems. They often require heavy doses of nitrogen fertilizer. This produces nitrous oxide, which is a strong greenhouse gas. Large-scale conversion of forested areas and tropical peat lands to biofuel plantations would have catastrophic consequences both for biodiversity and for climate.

However, biofuels can also be produced in ecologically and socially sustainable ways. We have millions of hectares of seriously eroded fields and grazing lands that have lost most of their organic carbon and fertility. Such lands could be distributed to landless families and converted to multi-storey home gardens producing food and timber ­as well as raw materials for biofuels. This might be an excellent way to solve the problems related to peak oil and peak gas in a way that also provided a decent livelihood for hundreds of millions of rural families.

(*) Risto Isomaki is an environmental activist and awarded Finnish writer whose novels have been translated into several languages.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service