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A Cubic Mile of Oil: Realities and Options for Averting the Looming Global Energy Crisis 1st Edition

4.7 out of 5 stars 16

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Purchase options and add-ons

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.

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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

Book Description

A Cubic Mile of Oil describes the world's energy sources and delineates what it would take to develop each of them to annually produce the equivalent of current global annual consumption of oil--a CMO.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (July 15, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195325540
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195325546
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.32 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.3 x 1.1 x 6.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 16

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
16 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2011
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.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2015
Really one of my favorite books on global energy about a topic that currently and in the future will dominate all of our conversations and culture. I use and reference this text routinely. I appreciate the balanced approach and how it produces a rational argument for the need for blending alternative energies... NOW ... because we can't ignore their benefit and availability to help us meet future energy needs... they do all this without relying solely on climate change arguments!

I also appreciate how they focus on technologies that can scale to a cubic mile of oil, as well as the challenges that would be faced to scale them. Further more, the authors do not ignore the critical use of conservation to bridge the gap from where we are now to the sustainable future, all trying to be realistic of the economic burden that developing nations will face, population increase, and East Asia's growth as they transform into the predominant energy and economic power on this planet. The tone is not blissfully hopeful or overly dark, but a realistic snap-shot of our current state and what is possible.

The book came out just in time to see the 2008 collapse, but is a bit dated ... I don't think they completely saw the impact of fracking in the oil industry. Hopefully a newer edition could be in the works...hint,hint...

One of the main features of this book is how it treats the scale of the problem with new units (cubic mile of oil equivalent and gallon of oil equivalent) that are easier for students to grapple with. That being said, it is easy to get overwhelmed with the numbers and conversions at the beginning... stay with it, glossing through that part if you need to... you don't have to completely understand the specifics of the numbers to still appreciate some of the important points the authors are trying to make in the text.

Top reviews from other countries

Dennis Kean
5.0 out of 5 stars How many people will survive if the oil ran out to-morrow.
Reviewed in Canada on August 13, 2023
This book needs to be updated by an individual or small group with the same level of qualifications and abilities as Mr. Hewitt Crane and his co-authors. The war on fossil fuels needs to be critically analysed. The fusion theory of atomic power needs an in-depth study as presented by the most qualified people on both sides of the subject. For every 10 scientists who say it will save us all there is another scientist just as qualified who says it will not. The group of ten does not outweigh the one. How are my comments helpful? I would like to know.