A Cubic Mile of Oil: Realities and Options for Averting the Looming Global Energy Crisis [Hardcover]

Hewitt Crane (Author), Edwin Kinderman (Author), Ripudaman Malhotra (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2010

One cubic mile of oil (CMO) corresponds very closely to the world's current total annual consumption of crude oil. The world's total annual energy consumption - from all energy sources- is currently 3.0 CMO. By the middle of this century the world will need between 6 and 9 CMO of energy per year to provide for its citizens. Adequate energy is needed remove the scourge of poverty and provide food, clothing, and shelter for the people around the world, and more will be needed for measures to mitigate the potential effects of climate change such as building dikes and desalinating water.

A Cubic Mile of Oil describes the various energy sources and how we use them, projects their future contributions, and delineates what it would take to develop them to annually produce a CMO from each of them. The requirement for additional energy in the future is so daunting that we will need to use all resources. We also examine how improved efficiency and conservation measures can reduce future demand substantially, and help distinguish approaches that make a significant impact as opposed to merely making us feel good.

Use of CMO eliminates a multitude of units like tons of coal, gallons of oil, and cubic feet of gas; obviates the need for mind-numbing multipliers such as billions, trillions, and quadrillions; and replaces them with an easy-to-understand volumetric unit. It evokes a visceral response and allows experts, policy makers and the general public alike to form a mental picture of the magnitude of the challenge we face. In the absence of an appreciation of the scale of the problem, we risk squandering efforts and resources in pursuing options that will not meet tomorrow's global energy needs. We must make critical choices, and a common understandable language is essential for a sustained meaningful dialog.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The authors explain energy in easy-to-understand terms: as they point out this a subject not only for scientists, policy makers, academicians and students, but for a broad readership. --Sekahr Seshan, in Business India, April 17, 2011

What we need is a way to compare and understand, putting it all on a common basis. This is done for us in A Cubic Mile of Oil, by SRI International's Hewitt Crane, Edwin Kinderman and Ripudaman Malhotra. --Geoffrey E. Dolbear in Fuel

The book is a must-read for scientists, engineers, managers, and decision-makers...anyone who seeks an understanding of the world energy sector. It is a worthy addition to the energy technology bookshelf. --James Speight in Energy Sources Part A,

...Overall, this book makes an important contribution and is a very compelling read.  Summing up: Highly recommended.--R. M. Ferguson in Choice, Feb. 2011

Finding a book that leaves the reader with a sense that there are reasonable options for our energy future is both rare and valuable - Nancy B. Johnson, Chem. & Engg. News

Policymakers around the world should add A Cubic Mile of Oil to the top of their readings lists, grasp the energy challenges to come, and make informed decisions. -R. J. Francescon, EUCI

"An orginal, illuminating and entertaining way to experience the energy debate. Cubic Mile is more than an introduction to a new unit of measurement. It is an encyclopedic embrace of energy issues, with dispassionate but compelling analysis of the energy conundrum."--Neil Reynolds, The Globe and Mail

About the Author

Hewitt Crane was one of SRI's visionaries, combining several disciplines in his multilevel career. He is considered to be SRI's first bioengineer and one of SRI's most prolific inventors. Prior to SRI Hew worked with John Von Neumann at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He was also co-founder of the highly acclaimed Ridge winery.

Edwin Kinderman has spent over 50 years actively conducting and/or managing research, development and evaluation activities dealing with the development and implementation of energy technology and the individual markets these technologies address. His latest effort has been an attempt to correlate these experiences into the overall evaluations discussed in this book.

Ripudaman Malhotra is an organic chemist who has worked extensively in the area of energy. Though most of his 30-year tenure has focused on the processing and analysis of fossil fuels, in recent years he has devoted increasing attention to the development of biofuels and other alternative energy sources.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195325540
• ISBN-13: 978-0195325546
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.9 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #560,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars New approach to energy policy September 12, 2010

By Nell Levy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

A Cubic Mile of Oil provides an interesting way to conceptualize our energy use and our needs in the near future. While we hear a lot about green energy, little is stated about what it would take to make a dent in our carbon/fossil fuel use. This book gives an overview of each energy source (coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, sun,etc.) with the pros and cons of each. The goal is educating the average person so that a more thoughtful energy policy can be advocated for the future.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be read by everyone interested in the future April 18, 2011

By G. M. Poteat

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been aware of the issue of "peak oil" for at least 5 years. Several years ago, I was a member of a group of faculty (as part of a program for incoming doctoral students in a resource management program) that read the "End of Oil". Oil is a limited resource and will increase in price as production (especially cheap production) declines and demand continues to increase. So I have been looking for a good, non-ideological guide to what alternatives exist for both conservation and the development of other energy resources. A Cubic Mile of Oil is in my opinion a balanced and accurate approach to facing the reality of the future energy shortage.

Some questions that we in the U.S. must face include what will happen when (maybe if) gasoline costs $10 or $12 dollars a gallon (my prediction not the authors) or when the production of electricity does not equal the demand? I think that the bump in petrol prices in 2008 impacted the U.S. economy. My opinion is that gasoline increasing to close to $4 a gallon was the straw that broke the back of the limping camel that was the U.S. economy and tipped the U.S. into the housing/debt crisis.

A "Cubic Mile of Oil" does not give any easy answers to our dilemma, but it does point out that a lot of people are engaged in magical thinking. Specifically the idea that solar and wind power can quickly solve our energy problems. If I build another house, I certainly plan to install solar panels but unless the cost drops and the efficiency improves, I doubt that I will live to regroup my investment. I will also install a geothermal heat pump. More efficient cars (see the X-prize which was awarded last year); changes in diet to include less red meat; increased use of coal (clean or dirty) to produce electricity; mass transportation; and reduction of suburban sprawl are all part of a partial solution. But unless someone invents a magic box or there are drastic improvements in the production of photovoltaic cells leading to a reduction in costs, and a corresponding improvement in storage (batteries?) then the U.S. and the world are not going to be able to meet the near term energy needs with just green solutions.

I have not finished reading this short book but I can unequivocally state that I think it should be required reading for every college student in the U.S. I think anyone who thinks about the world and its future should read this book. Cheap energy has built the world we live in and the supply is running out. It may be 2020 or 2030 before we hit the limits but our current policies and practices cannot continue indefinitely.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent visualization June 7, 2011

By Reviewer

Format:Hardcover

I met Ripudaman Malhotra at a conference when he gave an overview of this book and the concepts within it. His explanation and presentation style is much like the writing within the book: engaging and easily absorbed. The cubic mile concept is extended to all of the grand energy problems we face, and makes it much easier to understand the scale. The EIA presently lists oil consumption in the US with Quadrillion BTU or million barrels of oil, which are numbers which likely have little relevance to the daily life of most humans. When all units are converted to the Cubic Mile of Oil (CMO), suddenly the scale becomes apparent. The comparisons enabled by this simple metric are new and creative because finally these energy ideas are knitted together in a common context. People can picture a cubic mile of oil, as if it were a folded black bubbly and pungent box with the footprint of a neighborhood extending one mile skyward, threatening to disgorge its volume and flood the world like an apocalyptic movie scene.

If you have any interest in any aspect of the energy problem, read this book and stick it on your shelf next to Deffeyes' "Beyond Hubbert's Peak", Glennon's "Unquenchable", Freinkel's "Plastic: A Toxic Love Story", and take a step back and comprehend the sheer immensity of our resource challenge.