Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Is "shale oil" the answer to "peak oil"?

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Is "shale oil" the answer to "peak oil"?

by Gail Tverberg from The Oil Drum.

There are some technical terms that she uses that may throw the average reader, but this knowledgeable author zeros in on the current crucial issues facing the energy extraction industry and the economy as organized under capitalism. The article also provides a useful antidote to all the rosy pictures that the managers of the economy attempt to portray in mainstream media about the future of energy. She approaches the question posed by the title by looking at the evidence related to the following specific questions:

1. Is this really a new drilling technique?

2. How likely is the 2 million barrels a day of new production, and the 20% increase in US production, by 2015?

3. Can this additional oil supply really reduce the US’s imports by over half?

4. How much of a difference will this oil make to “peak oil”?

One crucial aspect of shale gas that she omits from this inquiry is the pollution of ground water caused by mining and drilling operations. See this, this, and this.