Peeking at Peak Oil [Hardcover]

Kjell Aleklett (Author), Olle Qvennerstedt (Illustrator), Michael Lardelli (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 2012 | ISBN-10: 1461434238 | ISBN-13: 978-1461434238 | Edition: 2012

The term “Peak Oil” was born in January 2001 when Colin Campbell formed the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (ASPO). Now, Peak Oil is used thousands of times a  day by journalists, politicians, industry leaders, economists, scientists and countless others around the globe. Peak Oil is not the end of oil but it tells us the end is in sight. Anyone interested in food production, economic growth, climate change or global security needs to understand this new reality. In Peeking at Peak Oil Professor Kjell Aleklett, President of ASPO International and head of the world’s leading research group on Peak Oil, describes the decade-long journey of Peak Oil from extremist fringe theory to today’s accepted fact: Global oil production is entering terminal decline. He explains everything you need to know about Peak Oil and its world-changing consequences from an insider’s perspective. In simple steps, Kjell tells us how oil is formed, discovered and produced. He uses science to reveal the errors and deceit of national and international oil authorities, companies and governments  too terrified to admit the truth. He describes his personal involvement in the intrigues of the past decade. What happens when a handful of giant oil fields containing two thirds of our planet’s oil become depleted? Will major oil consumers such as the EU and US face rationing within a decade? Will oil producing nations conserve their own oil when they realize that no one can export oil to them in the future? Does Peak Oil mean Peak Economic Growth? If you want to know the real story about energy today and what the future has in store, then you need to be “Peeking at Peak Oil”.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: “In his book, Peeking at Peak Oil physicist Kjell Aleklett explores the science and consequences behind the sobering reality that the world’s oil production is entering terminal decline with no satisfactory alternatives. … Using simple language and engaging illustrations, Aleklett’s Peeking at Peak Oil leaves readers with a clear and comprehensive understanding of the emerging issue of our time.” (Sustainable Guernsey, June, 2012) “It is…refreshing to find a comprehensive, peak oil analysis that relies on rigorous scientific methods and empirical data rather than resorting to anecdotes, doomsday prophesies and red herrings….this book should be required reading for anyone seriously interested in the future world energy market and economy, especially politicians and policymakers….Aleklett’s analysis is meticulous, his results are convincing, and the implications are sobering….The book also contains a wealth of information and can serve as a basic primer on global oil industry….This book has enough to interest both novices and oil industry veterans.” (Roger H. Bezdek, World Oil, April 2012) “In the book, Peeking at Peak Oil, that is released today in Uppsala, Aleklett summarises very thoroughly his ten years of work studying and trying to view the entirety of our oil-supply situation….In the book’s rich collection of tables and figures Aleklett shows how companies, nations and even international energy organisations such as the OECD-based IEA have – intentionally or otherwise - made erroneous assessments.” (Kersti Kollberg, Energy Bulletin, 11 June 2012, http://energybulletin.net/stories/2012-06-12/oil-and-future-thorough-work) “The book factually shows that although fossil fuel consumption in industrial countries has somewhat leveled off, the demand for it in the rest of the world, China and India in particular, is rapidly rising. … the author discusses growing concerns within the governments of exporting and importing countries as well as giant oil companies. … A must read for those interested in energy and its future. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.” (J. Tavakoli, Choice, Vol. 50 (6), February, 2013)

From the Back Cover

The term “Peak Oil” was born in January 2001 when Colin Campbell formed the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (ASPO). Now, Peak Oil is used thousands of times a  day by journalists, politicians, industry leaders, economists, scientists and countless others around the globe. Peak Oil is not the end of oil but it tells us the end is in sight. Anyone interested in food production, economic growth, climate change or global security needs to understand this new reality. In Peeking at Peak Oil Professor Kjell Aleklett, President of ASPO International and head of the world’s leading research group on Peak Oil, describes the decade-long journey of Peak Oil from extremist fringe theory to today’s accepted fact: Global oil production is entering terminal decline. He explains everything you need to know about Peak Oil and its world-changing consequences from an insider’s perspective. In simple steps, Kjell tells us how oil is formed, discovered and produced. He uses science to reveal the errors and deceit of national and international oil authorities, companies and governments  too terrified to admit the truth. He describes his personal involvement in the intrigues of the past decade. What happens when a handful of giant oil fields containing two thirds of our planet’s oil become depleted? Will major oil consumers such as the EU and US face rationing within a decade? Will oil producing nations conserve their own oil when they realize that no one can export oil to them in the future? Does Peak Oil mean Peak Economic Growth? If you want to know the real story about energy today and what the future has in store, then you need to be Peeking at Peak Oil. Exposes the facts and implications of the most  “inconvenient truth” in science Highlights the major social and economic impacts of the Peak of the Oil Age Provides an authoritative introduction in easy-to-understand languageFeatures original illustrations by one of Sweden’s leading graphic artists, Olle Qvennerstedt

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 345 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 2012 edition (May 29, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1461434238
• ISBN-13: 978-1461434238
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Oil & Energy
  • #65 in Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Petroleum, Mining & Geological

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading for RIO+20? June 12, 2012

By Charles M. Savage

Format:Hardcover

"Peak Oil," what's that? It's nearly invisible at RIO+20. The same seems to be true for the latest meeting of the IPCC in Geneva (6th to 9th of June, 2012) as they prepare AR5 for 2014. Was M. King Hubbert wrong in a very brief 1976 YouTube video when he said: "If we go back 5,000 years and ahead 5,000 years, we see this Washington Monument like spike, the episode of oil, gas and coal. It is the most disturbing thing in human history. It is responsible for our technological society and in terms of human history it is a very brief period." Source: [...]

Prof. Kjell Aleklett of the Uppsala Global Energy Systems Group and President of the Association for Study of Peak Oil (ASOP) has just explained in wonderful detail the important and meaning of Hubbert's quotation. It's real and it's here! Yet our collective denial is profound and truly scary.

In this very readable and well illustrated book, "Peeking at Peak Oil" we learn that both the industrial and governmental agencies are not giving us a clear idea of where we really are, that Peak Oil us upon us and Peak Coal and Peak Gas (not to mention Peak Water and Peak Phosphorus) are not far behind. Even if these peak in the next 50 or 150, that's literally no time at all when we realize humans could live on this planet for the next 500 to 800 million years, or perhaps a little longer, before the increasing heat of the sun does away with our water. Therefore, if we truly care about our great grandchildren and theirs, we need to begin immediately to rebuild an extremely low-carbon our global economy which substitutes "consumptionism" with a vibrant cultural life that's more than just "entertainment." For all the wonderful insights in Prof. Aleklett's book, I'd wished he'd have had a clearer section on CO2 levels and had given a little more attention to the rapidly developing fracking efforts to reach shale gas. These aside, were Aleklett's book to be required reading for RIO, its chances of success would be greatly improved!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Important Work September 1, 2012

By keith renick

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book, Peeking at Peak Oil is a very important work. This work is based on science. It's sound in it's findings. Again, it's science that's based on very sound research methods. It's not pie-in-the sky or doomsday is here. It's sound scientific research that can't be overlooked. Looking at the facts, readers can draw their own conclusions as to how peak oil will play out. Peak Oil is real and it has arrived. Peak Oil is most often misunderstood by economists and the general public. Modern economics is flawed because it never had a reason it include net energy in it's economic models of growth. Economist are obsessed with total labor productivity. The world is consuming more and more energy and getting less and less growth, less bang for their buck. Along with "Peak Oil" we will have water problems as many places that produce oil will require huge amounts of water for water injection to get the remaining oil out of the ground. What's never addressed is the growing car and light truck population of the earth. When my granddaddy Crump was born in 1889 there were maybe 3 cars in the USA. When I was born there was less than 70 million cars in the USA. Today, there are over 250,000,000 cars and light trucks in the USA and growing. Today the global car and light truck population more than 800 million and racing to a billion worldwide. At some point, it doesn't matter how much oil is in the ground or how many miles per gallon your car gets. What matters will be the total number of cars and light trucks in the world, all of them, more than a billion, wanting their gas tanks topped off. But the average person doesn't want to hear that there are limits. Tap water and gasoline will always be there in abundance and will always be affordable. Many believe everyone who can afford a car should have one and the earth can support one billion cars, one and a half billion cars, 2 billion cars or more. The total number of cars and light trucks in the world has never crossed their minds. How can it be expected that China and India will stop making cars? They won't and the demand for oil will overtake production forever. At some point, the question might not be how much oil is left in the world but rather how are we going to use the oil that is left? Only about 2 thirds of a barrel of oil is used to make gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. This is the term "peak oil" refers to most often is that it's a liquid fuel transportation problem. This statement is true. However, I am very concerned about the remaining one third that's used in manufacturing thousands of products that we use everyday. Now we call everything oil. Heavy sour, tar and NGL. I was very honored several years ago when Dr. Colin Campbell emailed me some of his field-by-field estimates for Saudi Arabia. I believe the author of this book and Dr. Colin Campbell are the 2 most informed experts on the subject of "peak oil." The quality of their research is unquestionable. While I do not share the authors belief that we can feed a future world of 9 billion people, the authors knowledge and effort that went into "Peeking at Peak OIl," is truly remarkable. Keith Renick, Saudi Aramco Oil Retired

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Peak oil January 30, 2013

By Tom Wilson

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is far and away the best summary of the global oil situation I've seen in 3 years of researching. Written from a European academic perspective, the author and his students have an astounding degree of experience, independence, and access.

The delightful, often whimsical artwork is remarkably effective in conveying serious concepts. In our family, I found they bridge a gap to the non-analytical members.

The authors conclusions are radically different from what the public is hearing out of the IEA, EIA and most recently, the US National Intelligence Council.

For those of us in the United States and the OECD,his conclusion is that oil available for import could drop 42% between 2010 and 2020 - or worse. The supporting background data in the book is exhaustive.

This is an excellent book. It ranks #82,888 on Amazon's book list, 82,887 places behind 'The Legend of Zelda, Hyrule Historia'.

Uh-oh.