Don’t Confuse Peak Oil And The Peak Oil Debate
In the past five years of writing about energy one of my favorite observations has been that people get into trouble because they “confuse Peak Oil and the Peak Oil Debate.” In other words, they confuse what Peak Oil IS and what Peak Oil MEANS. Because the honest truth is that most people, even energy professionals, don’t actually know the proper definition of Peak Oil. And when they think about the “Peak Oil Debate,” they mistakenly believe that it refers only to those extreme pessimistic predictions of energy doom. The debate actually represents a wide spectrum of discussions, beliefs, and positions related to oil depletion. In short, your view of Peak Oil is far too narrow if you only see it as a discussion with only two sides (energy doom vs. extreme abundance).
I wrote about this in a January tweetstorm copied below for your review. Feel free to read through the tweets in order first, and then return to view the additional comments I’ve included for each.
Ed Crooks, energy editor at the Financial Times, also penned a great response thread on Peak Oil Supply and Peak Oil Demand. You should also read his thread as well.
(thread) Quick thread to expand on Chris’ point below. People always get into trouble because they confuse Peak Oil and the Peak Oil Debate. In other words, they confuse what Peak Oil IS and what Peak Oil MEANS. #OOTThttps://twitter.com/chrisnelder/status/953661525478092800 …
On the former, there is and always was just one definition for Peak Oil Supply: the “max rate of oil production.” It’s not good, or bad, it’s a number. That’s all it is.
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