Excellent article. I count myself as being in the "peak oil camp" (end of cheap oil) but I'm a lot less of a "doomer" than some. I absolutely agree with your central premise: "The goal should be to switch our transportation from being powered by petroleum to electricity"
As Andre says we need at least a twenty year start for a soft landing and I believe we may be in for a bumpy ride. As you point out the peak in natural gas (much of which will need to be imported as LNG at considerable expense) and coal is further away - however there is no room for complacency. I believe it is possible to be optimistic **if** we make a quick and orderly transition from petroleum to electricity. Unfortunately the mainstream debate remains focused on apportioning blame rather than seeking fundamental solutions.
I also note that while America has excellent tide, solar and wind resources they are currently less than 1% of the energy mix when they could be contributing so much more.
Posted on July 14 at 3:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Benjamin,
Excellent article. I count myself as being in the "peak oil camp" (end of cheap oil) but I'm a lot less of a "doomer" than some. I absolutely agree with your central premise:
"The goal should be to switch our transportation from being powered by petroleum to electricity"
As Andre says we need at least a twenty year start for a soft landing and I believe we may be in for a bumpy ride. As you point out the peak in natural gas (much of which will need to be imported as LNG at considerable expense) and coal is further away - however there is no room for complacency. I believe it is possible to be optimistic **if** we make a quick and orderly transition from petroleum to electricity. Unfortunately the mainstream debate remains focused on apportioning blame rather than seeking fundamental solutions.
I also note that while America has excellent tide, solar and wind resources they are currently less than 1% of the energy mix when they could be contributing so much more.
James
Alternative Energy Blog
http://alt-e.blogspot.com
On Op-ed column: Technology is there