I’m trying carefully to not Google anything before writing this. According to my memory as a boy in the early 1970′s, we should really be feeling the oil crunch right now. I’m sure this is not accurate, but back then our teachers were telling us that we only had enough crude oil to last us until the next 50 or 60 years at the latest (which means we should be running out now). As a grown man, I’m very busy and forget such figures easily and so don’t remember the last estimates. But I do get this weird feeling that I keep hearing that we’re running out of oil, but there always seems to be more than ever. I heard recently that the U.S. for example was pretty much depleted of its oil and was keeping it for emergency use only and now, but just the other day I heard that there is more shale oil in the North-Central U.S. than in much of the Middle East!

I’m not sure what to believe about oil anymore but I do know that it is an expensive commodity which has caused tremendous geopolitical volatility resulting in the disruption of millions of lives. It is also inefficient, highly explosive, and has resulted in much pollution and blight. It is also almost certainly altering the climate.

So even if we still do have plenty of oil, doesn’t it behoove us to begin using alternatives now? I realize of course that if you agree with this sentiment

It’s merely preaching to the choir, and if you don’t you may have vested interests of one form or another and wouldn’t agree anyway. But if were to sum up succinctly, I’ll say this- the day is coming when we will no longer use oil for our energy needs. The question is, what will our earth be like by then?