While browsing CleanTechnica I found an interesting article on peak oil. According to a leaked military report from the German Bundeswehr, peak oil will occur this year and the consequences will be dramatic.
Among them are market failures and tremendous risks for democracy itself. As Cleantechnica notes “ it is unlikely that any nation would be unaffected by such crises. “ This is not exactly encouraging news.
Meanwhile, the US Army is also thinking about the risks of peak oil and may stop completely using this energy source by 2040.
As we have already seen it, changes have begun as the US army is going green by insulating tents, low carbon energy from waste, recycling water and alternatives fuel made of algae for jets. This report is the next logical step.
However the very issue of peak oil is almost never addressed in traditional media. Maybe if people knew about it they would be a bit more interested in energy conservation and alternatives…
I think this is another important reason for us to develop alternatives to the traditional internal combustion engine that waste 85 percent of the energy it uses.
Half of the oil consumed in the world is burned in such engines. Electric cars are to me the next logical technological step. But I believe we should be reliant on cars less altogether. It is not as if we lacked alternatives.
indeed, alternatives to oil consumption have been invented and promoted ever since engines and motors surfaced above the concept of re-inventing the wheel…the problem is the massive strength of the oil cartels.
the bulk of capital assets is centered behind fossil fuels, hang on to your mode of transportation, for once the same business magnates find out how to maximize profits on the next cheap energy–they will corrupt that as well–unless…
we seriously rally for the cause of whichever sustainable/renewable is available locally…in the Midwest, wind,solar…near the oceans, wave and algae..whatever serves the immediate need–and as you often write–conservation first and foremost passive insulation.
irony would be for the civilian population to follow the biggest military spenders into the bright, smart technology.