Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil (Norton Paperback)

Science tells us that an oil crisis is inevitable. Why and when? And what will our future look like without our favorite fuel? Our rate of oil discovery has reached its peak and will never be exceeded; rather, it is certain to decline—perhaps rapidly—forever forward. Meanwhile, over the past century, we have developed lifestyles firmly rooted in the promise of an endless, cheap supply. In this book, David Goodstein, professor of physics at Caltech, explains the underlying scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel shortage we face. He outlines the drastic effects a fossil fuel shortage will bring down on us. And he shows that there is an important silver lining to the need to switch to other sources of energy, for when we have burned up all the available oil, the earth's climate will have moved toward a truly life-threatening state. With its easy-to-grasp explanations of the science behind every aspect of our most urgent environmental policy decisions, Out of Gas is a handbook for the future of civilization. Author Biography: David Goodstein, vice provost and Frank J. Galloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor at the California Institute of Technology, is the author of Feynman's Lost Lecture , among other works. He lives in Pasadena. "In this book, David Goodstein, professor of physics at Caltech, explains the underlying scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel crisis we face, and the closely related peril to the Earth's climate. The discovery of any natural resource, oil included, rises rapidly at first, but the rate of discovery eventually reaches a peak that will never be exceeded, and declines forever after that. In the 1950s, when America's military and industrial might arose largely from the fact that it was the world's leading producer of oil, a geophysicists named M. King Hubbert, realizing that the discovery peak had already passed, predicted that oil production in the Lower 48 would reach its highest point around 1970 and would decrease rapidly after that. To the surprise of nearly everyone, he turned out to be right. Now a number of petroleum geologists have pointed out that worldwide discovery of oil peaked decades ago. As oil fields continue to be depleted and new discovery, including advances in oil technology, fails to keep up, the prospect of a global Hubbert's peak looms before us." Book Jacket.

Science tells us that an oil crisis is inevitable. Why and when? And what will our future look like without our favorite fuel?

Our rate of oil discovery has reached its peak and will never be exceeded; rather, it is certain to decline—perhaps rapidly—forever forward. Meanwhile, over the past century, we have developed lifestyles firmly rooted in the promise of an endless, cheap supply. In this book, David Goodstein, professor of physics at Caltech, explains the underlying scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel shortage we face. He outlines the drastic effects a fossil fuel shortage will bring down on us. And he shows that there is an important silver lining to the need to switch to other sources of energy, for when we have burned up all the available oil, the earth's climate will have moved toward a truly life-threatening state. With its easy-to-grasp explanations of the science behind every aspect of our most urgent environmental policy decisions, Out of Gas is a handbook for the future of civilization.

Over the past century, we have developed a civilization rooted in the promise of an endless supply of cheap oil. But our rate of oil discovery worldwide has reached its peak and will never be exceeded; it is certain to decline forever forward. David Goodstein, professor of physics at Caltech, explains the underlying scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel shortage we face, and the closely related peril to the earth's climate. With its easy-to-grasp explanations of the science behind every aspect of our most urgent environmental policy decisions, "Out of Gas" is a handbook for the future of civilization The rate of oil discovery throughout the world has peaked; in future it is certain to decline. David Goodstein explains the scientific principles of the inevitable fossil fuel shortage and the closely related peril to the earth's climate The author looks at the specifics of oil reserves and the petroleum industry and speculates on what will happen when the well runs dry. The world will soon start to run out of conventionally produced, cheap oil.