Originally Posted by Peter O'Brien

WHAT would happen to our economy if the world started running out of oil? Imagine 40 per cent of Ireland unable to heat their homes, or petrol €5 a litre at the pump, and cheap air travel a thing of the past.

Conventional wisdom says we've got 30 years before this happens, so why does a growing group of petroleum experts believe that it's coming in three years or fewer? Are they just scaremongers or have the rest of us been asleep at the wheel?

.....

Dr Colin Campbell is founder and chairman of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) and lives in Co Cork. He has spent most of his life on the front line of oil exploration on three continents. He was chief geologist for Amoco, a vice-president of Fina, and has worked for BP, Texaco, Shell, Chevron/Texaco and Exxon in a dozen different countries. "The oil won't run out for very many years," the Oxford PhD says. "However, the issue is the long downward slope that opens on the other side of the global peak in production. Oil and gas dominate our lives, and their inevitable decline will change the world in radical and unpredictable ways."

.....

When most of us think about oil, we tend to think first about heating oil and about the petrol and diesel fuels that keep our cars and trucks on the road. What most of us don't realise, however, is that oil does more than just fuel our vehicles and keep us warm in winter: it has become the foundation upon which our entire way of life hasbeen built.

Here's an example: agribusiness is totally dependent on the use of large machines and on artificial fertilisers and artificial pesticides in order to grow, harvest and transport the vast quantities of grain, fruit and vegetables that we enjoy every day. These days, much of our food travels an average of 1,200 to 1,500 miles before it gets to our tables - so at present we need those large machines on the road in order to ensure that our supermarket shelves remain full. Not just that,but fertilisers and pesticides also require oil and natural gas, not only for their distribution but in their manufacture as well.

To add to that, the feed for beef and poultry is heavily dependent on these same fertilisers and pesticides for its production, and, of course, on oil for its distribution. And we haven't even touched on how reliant we are on plastic, another oil by-product.

.....

However, thanks to our location at the edge of the Atlantic, we are also in the fortunate position of having more green energy potential than the rest of Europe. Ireland is actually rich in potential wave, wind and solar energy. In fact, if these resources were properly harnessed, Ireland could become not just self-reliant but also an energy exporter!

The Swedes intend to wean themselves off oil completely within 15 years. There is no good reason why we should not do the same.