Averting a Liquid Fuel Crisis From Peak Oil

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett and Dr. Robert Hirsch presented background and lead a discussion about peak oil and its ramifications for liquid fuels that are vital for transportation worldwide and the feedstock for plastics, pharmaceuticals and other essentials. The era of plentiful, low-cost conventional oil is approaching an end because production will soon reach its maximum capacity – a peak. Most experts predict peak within this decade or the next. Peak will impose a sudden limit on the supply of a commodity that is essential to the functioning of the world economy. Commercially viable mitigation options are available. However, the scale of the problem is unprecedented in the modern world, so unless mitigation is implemented soon, the economic damage to the U.S. and the world will be dire and long lasting.