May 21 , 2008

Peak Oil

Speaker: Dr. Langhorne Smith, NYS Museum

Abstract

Life as most of us know it is almost entirely built on the consumption and availability of cheap oil. Oil production and consumption have increased with few interruptions over the past century, but the geologic reality is that there is a finite amount of oil in the ground.

At some point in the next 20 years, oil production will peak and begin to decline. This lecture will examine where oil comes from, current trends in production and consumption, the range of estimates for the timing of peak oil, and possible implications for the global economy, the environment, and geopolitical relationships.

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