Mr. JMW

A few things happened today.

First, today was the first day I car-pooled to work. A co-worker and I live in the same city, so we gave it a try. It worked out well, and we are trying to get other co-workers to join us, when possible. I have been at this job for about two months, and it is about an hour commute in traffic, each way (most of the time). So I am really looking forward to car-pooling regularly.

Second, I finished a canvas today that says “FUEL”. It also has a reference to PeakOil.net on it. I chose this word in an attempt to add meaning to my paintings. I have known about the upcoming energy crisis for about a year now. This painting’s “message” is to raise awareness about energy, and how it affects are lives, now and in the future.

Chevron has put up a site to raise awareness of this fact WillYouJoinUs.com
If a major gasoline company is putting up a site like this, you know this is serious.
The following is quoted from the site…

“Energy will be one of the defining issues of this century. One thing is clear: the era of easy oil is over. What we do next will determine how well we meet the energy needs of the entire world in this century and beyond.” WillYouJoinUs.com/Vision

My father recently worked for an oil company. This company bought a military oil reserve that was sold during the Clinton era. It costs them less than $15 to produce a barrel of oil and currently oil is about $65 a barrel. So they have been pumping oil as fast as they can.

My dad has worked as an engineer in oil refineries and oil fields for years. So he knows quite a bit about the energy industry. He tells me that in the next 4 years, an energy crisis will begin that will last for about ten years.

Here is why…
Right now, gasoline (which is made from oil) is one of the cheapest forms of energy. This may sound like a foolish statement considering gas prices, but it is true. That is why we have been using it all these years, because it was cheaper that any alternative. But it won’t be cheap in the future.

The problem is, the number of barrels of oil produced per day in the world will soon peak. That means, soon, the number of barrels of oil produced per day in the world will continue to decrease, month by month, year by year.
But the worlds demand for gasoline and oil has been increasing, and will continue to increase. The U.S. has traditionally consumed a lot of gasoline. It has become part of our culture. There are many Chinese in the world, many don’t drive, but more and more Chinese are buying cars and consuming gasoline. It is certain that the worlds demand for oil and gasoline will increase.
When more and more people want to use gasoline for transportation (demand increases over time), and less and less gasoline is produced every day (supply decreases over time), it is inevitable that the price of gas will go up.
When gas prices go up, the solution is not as simple as using an alternative fuel. The price of alternative fuels will go up if the price of gasoline goes up.

The U.S. oil crisis of the 1970s was a little before my time, but many will remember the long lines, and relatively high prices of gasoline. This happened because at that time the U.S. had reached it’s peak oil production. This is the scenerio explained above, but it happened to the U.S. in the 1970s. In other words, since that time in the 1970s the U.S. has been producing less and less oil each year. But the oil production for the entire world has still be increasing year by year since that time. When the world reaches its peak oil production, a world-wide energy crisis will occur, just like what happened to the U.S. in the 1970s. This is what the website PeakOil.net is all about. We are on the verge of the worlds peak oil production.

The bottom line… in the near future the price of energy will go up.

With gasoline being so cheap in the past, it was used to provide energy in a lot of areas. And since it was so cheap, the price of other forms of energy (like electricity) were lower because it had to compete with gas. But in the future all energy will be more expensive.

The price of energy going up will affect the price of everything. Transportation of goods will cost more and the extra cost will generally be passed on to consumers.

In the past, gasoline was really the only cheap form of energy. But gasoline will no longer be a cheap form of energy and the world economy will have to cope with the loss of a great resource for it to thrive off. One of two things will inevitably happen. Either a cheap form of energy will be discovered to replace oil and gas, or our (American) lifestyles will drastically change.

I don’t know much about the different fuels that may replace gasoline. But I know that some of the aspects that will change in our lifestyles are…

The amount of telecommuting, car-pooling, public transportation, and working closer to home will increase greatly. I look at all of these as good things.

Traffic is a terrible annoyance of our day. I like efficiency and I know that thousands of cars in traffic SEATING UP TO FIVE BUT ONLY CARRYING ONE is extremely inefficient (but it is a big part of our current lifestyles).

Having a home office that one can telecommute from would be great I think. Online project management tools are becoming freely available from the open source movement. Teleconferencing is a technology that is on the cutting edge but will one day be commonplace. The Internet has provided the ability to communicate from a distance like never before, and all of its benefits will surely be utilized.

If ones work can’t be done via telecommuting a job close to home is the next best thing. You could avoid a long commute; spend your time doing something else besides being behind the wheel. You would save money on gas (which will probably still be the primary fuel source for some time to come, but it will cost us). You could even go home for lunch.

If public transportation will work for you, you could save wear and tear on you vehicle. More public transportation systems will be built and current ones improved in the future. In some cases public transportation will be the fasted, cheapest and easiest way to commute.

If your job is far away and you must commute, but public transportation would take too long, car-pooling could help. You would save on gas because you wouldn’t always be using your car (unlike if you didn’t car-pool). You would save on time because you wouldn’t always be driving and you could do something else like reading (again, unlike if you didn’t car pool). And you would be helping the terrible traffic situation plaguing many freeways because, instead of two, three, four or five cars on the road for each of your pool members, there would only be one car on the road.