Cheap Oil

To what extent is Oil Energy artificially cheap?

• doesn't recognize cost of Pollution cleanup

• doesn't recognize cost of military action to maintain stability in the Middle East

What are some of the effects:

• cheap transportation of goods -> Monoculture (Big Retail, Big Agriculture)

• cheap transportation of people -> Suburbs

Peak Oil http://www.peakoil.net/

http://www.peakoil.com/

A friend pointed out that the end of Cheap Oil may solve Global Warming without us doing anything (else). Ouch.

Abiotic Oil - some people believe that oil is from non-organic sources, so it's not a Fossil Fuel! And that supplies are much higher.

• Thomas Gold explored this - Deep Hot Biosphere ISBN:0-387-98546-8

  • Wire Mag 2000 interview

  • some say he plagiarized

• http://www.questionsquestions.net/docs04/peakoil1.html

• others say this is bogus

  • http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2002/11nov/abiogenic.cfm

  • http://www.peakoil.com/post8054.html

• Aug'2007: Freeman Dyson says there has been some evidence supporting the theory. At least for abiotic Natural Gas.

Kevin Kelly notes the theory that Bacteria could play a role, and that Craig Venter and others are exploring the idea of engineering bacteria to make oil from other carbon gases, like Carbon Dioxide.