The Peak Oil TheoryIn addition to climate change, pollution and water shortages, some scientists now believe that humanity is entering a period termed “peak oil,” during which half of the earth’s oil (petroleum) stores have been used up, and the remaining oil will be more difficult to extract and be in a less usable form. Also, according to these writers, other currently available energy sources—natural gas, solar, biomass (plant and animal sources), hydrogen or nuclear—will not be able to replace the 80 million barrels of oil that humans consume each day. And while oil may become harder to obtain, demand is expected to continue rising. All countries need oil in the form of gasoline and diesel fuel to transport materials, products, and people and this need is increasing in developing nations such as India and China. In addition, oil is essential to producing plastics, pharmaceuticals, paint and many other commodities that humans use in daily life. Food production is especially dependent on oil, from soil preparation, pesticides and irrigation to harvesting, processing, packaging and delivery. Thus, without oil, much of the modern world would go hungry. Some writers predict that economic problems stemming from the depletion of oil resources will begin within the next ten years. Others believe that the world’s oil reserves will last much longer. For example, The World Petroleum Assessment issued by the United States Geological Survey estimates that based on current recovery rates, the earth possesses enough petroleum reserves to continue current production levels for 50 to 100 years. Whatever the case may be, reducing our need for oil is essential, considering problems such as over-production of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels and the resultant global warming that is currently affecting our planet. One way to approach this challenge is to build local, community-based economic systems to replace the vast regional, national and global systems now in place. At the same time, we can accelerate the development of renewable, non-polluting energy sources such as solar generators, wind and tidal energy and biofuels such as vegetable oil to power diesel engines, and also convert to organic farming methods. The Thermal Depolymerization ProcessAnother relatively simple new technology has appeared that may aid in the transition from fossil fuels, and also help to eliminate much of the organic waste that humans accumulate; namely, the Thermal Depolymerization Process (TDP), which mimicks the way nature breaks down complex organic matter into the simple molecules comprising oil and gas. However, instead of requiring thousands of years and conditions of extreme heat and pressure, as does the production of fossil-based oil, TDP accomplishes the same results in hours using an array of tanks, pipes, pumps and heaters that can be set up in a backyard garage. The company Changing World Technologies has built a TDP plant in Missouri, USA that uses water as a catalyst and converts 210 tons of animal waste per day into gas, liquid fertilizer, dry minerals, carbon, water and 70 tons (500 barrels) of high-grade petroleum-type oil. Only 15% of the energy produced by TDP is used for the plant’s operation, providing a net energy output of 85%. The TDP process is also non-polluting, using a low-temperature, low-pressure facility that can be built in various sizes and that produces only economically useful byproducts. When employed to convert vegetable or animal wastes, it provides oil and gases that do not contribute to global warming. The owners claim that TDP can also convert old tires, plastic bottles, harbor-dredged sediment, used computers, municipal sewage sludge, paper-pulp effluent, medical waste and oil-refinery residues into the same safe and valuable products, though such waste streams may require energy-intensive preparation before processing. TDP converters are relatively low-cost, decentralized systems that can allow a town or even a village to produce some of its own fuel and fertilizers. Despite its advantages, however, TDP cannot completely replace fossil-based oil as the world’s major energy source. Using TDP, for example, the USA would need to process almost ten million tons of waste every day to meet its current oil needs. And although the raw materials that the process converts would otherwise be wasted, such materials are originally produced (or grown) using oil, and they will become scarcer as oil production itself declines. Nonetheless, by rescuing energy from oil-made wastes, TDP may help ease the difficult transition from carbon-based energy to cleaner, simpler sources such as the sun, wind and tides. Creating a Positive FutureIndeed, procedures such as TDP can only be temporary measures, because humanity’s problem is not merely lack of an adequate energy source. Simply leaping from one technology to another will never solve the problem of our growing abuse of nature, especially if it encourages expending energy on cutting forests, paving over farmland, polluting and otherwise reducing our fresh water resources and continuing to cause species extinctions, topsoil erosion, climate change and chemical and nuclear contamination of the air, land and water To create an environmentally friendly future for humankind in harmony with nature, we must learn to conserve all our precious resources, live simpler lives, become more sensitive to the biosphere and focus on local self-sufficiency for life’s necessities of food, clothing, shelter and community. Improving public transport, promoting neighborhood organic farming, installing solar panels and wind generators on homes and public buildings and recycling solid waste and sewage are some of the ways that people are beginning to prepare for the post-oil era. But without the support of international governments it will be difficult to implement these programs on a large enough scale. Wars are already being fought over the remaining reserves of oil, as unenlightened people become more desperate to control the only world they know. Writing letters to newspapers and magazines, contacting government officials and having community meetings can all be useful in moving society toward more helpful, humane behavior. The Golden Age has dawned, but it can only develop further with human spiritual advancement so that the material plane may be transformed by the spirit. For a world that sometimes seems to have gone awry, the depletion of a major material resource such as oil, however difficult it may be in the short term, can be just what humankind needs to turn its attention more purposefully toward nature, love and the evolution of consciousness.♥ Resources for Research: Thermal Depolymerization:
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