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Oil and Energy Sites

This section contains many links that discuss the depletion of oil reserves and the coming crisis to our industrialized civilization.

Oil Depletion Resource Links

M. King Hubbert was a geologist and long time employee of Shell Oil, who addressed the issue of oil depletion. He was one of the first to clearly articulate the depletion problem. In 1956 he predicted the date (around 1970) when the US oil production in the lower 48 states would peak and would then begin what has now been a 30 year decline in oil production. He has been immortalized in the famous “Hubbert’s Peak” a mathematical curve describing this peak and decline. Versions of that curve have been used to predict depletion for other countries and the world. Two of the referenced Web sites include his name in their labels. In 2001, a book was published with the title “Hubbert’s Peak - The Impending World Oil Shortage” written by another geologist Kenneth S. Deffeyes, Princton University Press  2001.

The first of the two sites is the M. King Hubbert Center for Petroleum Supply Studies, whose mission is “To Assemble, study, and disseminate global petroleum supply data”.  This organization is located at the Colorado School of Minds. Its Web site URL is

            http://hubbert.mines.edu/

An important part of this site is the Hubbert Center Newsletters, which can be accessed in PDF format. Craig W. Van Kirk L. F. Ivanhoe, a well known geologist, is Hubbert Center Coordinator. Of particular importance is newsletter written by Colin Campbell, one of the leading figures in the field of oil deletion. This introductory paper summarizes the depletion situation in a few pages. Colin Campbell is also associated with the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre ("ODAC") in London and a network of European institutions and universities, known as the Association for the Study of Peak Oil ("ASPO")

            http://hubbert.mines.edu/news/Campbell_02-3.pdf

The second site is named Hubberts Peak. This is a more extensive site than the M. King Hubbert Center for Petroleum Supply Studies. It includes articles from and information about the “experts” who address the issue of depletion. These experts have decades of experience and their work is impressive and accurate.

            http://www.hubbertpeak.com/.

The site includes an archive of the "ASPO-ODAC" Newsletter of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre.  ASPO is a network of European institutions and universities with an interest in determining the date and impact of the peak and decline of world oil production, due to resource constraints. It presently has members in: Austria, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom.  ODAC is a charitable organization in London that is dedicated to researching the subject and raising awareness of the serious consequences whose mission is:

1.      To evaluate the world's endowment of oil and gas;

2.      To model depletion, taking due account of economics, technology and politics;

3.      To raise awareness of the serious consequences for Mankind.

The ASPO newsletters can be accessed at

            http://www.hubbertpeak.com/aspo/.

Sometimes this site does not include the latest newsletters. Another site which also contains the newsletters, including their latest copies is:

            http://www.energiekrise.de/e/      (press ASPONews icon).

One of the most important papers on the Hubbert’s Peak site is Dr. Richard C. Duncan’s “Road to the Olduvai Gorge.” It can be downloaded in a pdf format from:

             http://www.hubbertpeak.com/duncan/road2olduvai.pdf

A third non academic site is provided by Matthew Simmons, an investment banker managing a 130 person firm who has written extensively on oil depletion from an investor standpoint. His web site contains many insightful papers on energy which can be accessed at
 http://www.simmonscointl.com/domino/html/research.nsf/$$ViewTemplate+For+msspeeches?openform

Simmons papers and speeches are also found on other web sites. His energy white paper written in October 2000 on the implications of the famous Club of Rome book, “The Limits of Growth", points out how accurate the predictions of this seminal work actually were. It can be found at:

            http://greatchange.org/ov-simmons,club_of_rome_revisted.pdf.

Simmons presented another important paper at the International Workshop on Oil Depletion in Uppsala, Sweden beginning May 23, 2002.

            http://www.hubbertpeak.com/aspo/iwood/simmons_depletion.pdf

Another important site is the description of the International Workshop on Oil Depletion. The Web site for the conference with news paper summaries etc. is:

            http://www.isv.uu.se/iwood2002/welcome.html

The conference proceedings with more details on the papers given are at:

            http://www.isv.uu.se/iwood2002/iwood2002procceding.html

The most important papers available to be downloaded are:

            The assessment and importance of oil depletion - Colin J. Campbell, Ireland
                        (ODAC)

            U.S. Energy Policy Issues-Matt Simmons, Houston, USA

            Past oil forecasts, and the "Limits to Growth" message, Roger W. Bentley, UK
                        (ODAC)

Most relevant to small communities is the paper entitled “Ruralization, a possible planning method to avoid impacts from reduced energy input by Folke Günther, Lund University, Sweden. It can be accessed at:

            http://etnhum.etn.lu.se/%7Efg/lectures/Ruralisation-filer/v3_document.htm

Two other web sites contain valuable information. Running on Empty summarizes much of the pertinent information about energy in a useful and terse format.

            http://www.runningonempty.org/

The next site consists mostly of links to other sites and papers. It is very comprehensive.

            http://dieoff.org/page1.htm

The best yearly summary of energy usage can be found at the oil company BP’s site (the old British Petroleum. It is published annually -

            http://www.bp.com/centres/energy2002/index.asp

Government Agencies and Organizations:

U. S. Energy Information Administration

            http://www.eia.doe.gov/

The Annual Energy Review 2001

            http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/contents.html

International Energy Agency

            http://www.iea.org

This is the site to order the World Energy Outlook 2002.

            http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/weo/pubs/weo2002/weo2002.asp

Office of Transportation Technology - US Department of Energy

            http://www.ott.doe.gov/

Key facts about energy from Office of Transportation Technology

            http://www.ott.doe.gov/facts/archives.shtml

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

            http://www.eren.doe.gov/

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy-Hydrogen

            http://www.eren.doe.gov/hydrogen/faqs.html#cost

Miscellaneous Sites

Utopian story of a new world without autos

            http://www.living-room.org/sustain/remembering2.htm

Formerly Auto Free Times - Jan Lundberg

            http://www.culturechange.org/

John MacCarthy - Well known computer scientist on energy

            http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/

An important paper that compares the existing energy status to the predictions of the Club of Rome is entitled  “Oil Forecasts, Past and Present” by R.W. Bentley, Department of Cybernetics, The University of Reading. Bentley is chairman of the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre ODAC) in London. The presentation is under Past oil forecasts, and the "Limits to Growth" message and can be downloaded from

            http://www.isv.uu.se/iwood2002/iwood2002procceding.html

A second important Bentley paper on depletion

            http://greatchange.org/ov-bentley,global_depletion.pdf

The Bush Administration’s energy policy is described in detail on this site:

            http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/

Uranium Information Center - Information on nuclear power.

            http://www.uic.com.au/ne1.htm

Books

Important Books Relative to Energy Futures:

GeoDestinies, Walter Youngquist, National Book Company, Portland Oregon, 1997, 499p

The Coming Oil Crisis, by CJ Campbell; Multi-Science Publishing Company & Petroconsultants, 1997 ISBN 0906522110

End of the Road, Wolfgang Zuckermann, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1991, 299p

Papers available at Community Service Library

            A dangerous Addiction, Dec 13 20001 The Economist

            If We Really Have the Oil, Sept 2002, Bloomberg Wealth Manager

            Beyond Fossil Fuels Sierra Club Magazine, July/August 2002, p 28

            The Agrarian Standard, Wendell Berry, Orion,  p 51,

            Methane Madness, A Natural Gas Primer, 4/13/01, 5 p

            The Peak of World Oil Production and the Road to the Olduvai Gorge, Richard C Duncan, Pardee Keynote Assumption, 17 p November 13, 2000. KEY PAPER

            The End of Cheap Oil, Scientific American, March 1998 page 78-83

            Oil Production Curve - Cause for Concern, December 2001, Australian Energy news, pg 30

            Mining for Oil, Scientific American, March 1998, 84 - Richard L. George.

            Liquid Fuels from Natural Gas, Safaa A. Fouda, Scientific American, March 1998 p92-

            The Assessment and Importance of Oil Depletion, C. J. Campbell, International Workshop on Oil Depletion, Uppsala University Sweden, May 23-24, 2002. 17 p Excellent - this and Duncan paper the best!!!

            The Limits to Growth - Abstract by Edward Perstel, no date or source. Came from web 8 pages.

            M. King Hubbert Center For Petroleum Supply Studies, #2002/3 - Colin Campbell 10p

            BP statistical review of world energy June 2002, 40 pages.

            1998 Scientific American March, 86-91 Oil Production in the 21st century.

            Time August 26, 2002 - The Challenges We Face - The Green Century

            US in the World, Population Reference  Bureau, unknown source. PDF.

            The Death of the Oil Economy, Ted Trainer, Earth Island Journal