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The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies First Edition

by Richard Heinberg (Author)

4.3 127 ratings

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The world is about to run out of cheap oil and change dramatically. Within the next few years, global production will peak. Thereafter, even if industrial societies begin to switch to alternative energy sources, they will have less net energy each year to do all the work essential to the survival of complex societies. We are entering a new era, as different from the industrial era as the latter was from medieval times.

In The Party's Over, Richard Heinberg places this momentous transition in historical context, showing how industrialism arose from the harnessing of fossil fuels, how competition to control access to oil shaped the geopolitics of the 20th century, and how contention for dwindling energy resources in the 21st century will lead to resource wars in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South America. He describes the likely impacts of oil depletion, and all of the energy alternatives. Predicting chaos unless the U.S.-the world's foremost oil consumer-is willing to join with other countries to implement a global program of resource conservation and sharing, he also recommends a "managed collapse" that might make way for a slower-paced, low-energy, sustainable society in the future.

More readable than other accounts of this issue, with fuller discussion of the context, social implications, and recommendations for personal, community, national, and global action, Heinberg's book is a riveting wake-up call for humankind as the oil era winds down, and a critical tool for understanding and influencing current U.S. foreign policy.

Richard Heinberg, from Santa Rosa, California, has been writing about energy resources issues and the dynamics of cultural change for many years. A member of the core faculty at New College of California, he is an award-winning author of three previous books. His Museletter was nominated for its "Best Alternative Newsletter" award by Utne Reader in 1993.

About the Author

Richard Heinberg is widely acknowledged as one of the world's foremost Peak Oil educators. A journalist, educator, editor, lecturer, and a Core Faculty member of New College of California where he teaches a program on "Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community, he is the author of six previous books including The Party's Over and Powerdown.

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0865714827
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978-0865714823
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First Edition
Publisher

New Society Publishers
Publication date

April 1, 2003
Language

English
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6.1 x 0.75 x 9.06 inches
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288 pages
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Society Publishers; First Edition (April 1, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0865714827
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0865714823
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 0.75 x 9.06 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,090,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10,296 in Environmentalism
- #14,498 in Nature Conservation
- #147,788 in Politics & Government (Books)

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4.3 127 ratings

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Richard Heinberg

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Richard Heinberg is the author of fourteen books including most recently "Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival" (2021, New Society). He is Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute and is widely regarded as one of the world's most effective communicators of the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels. Heinberg has given hundreds of lectures on our energy future to audiences around the world. He has been published in Nature and other journals and has been featured in many television and theatrical documentaries. He lives in California.

More information about Richard can be found on his website: richardheinberg.com

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Get Out Your Plow and Harness Old Nellie

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2006

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...to get a little tilling done before someone steals and eats her.

I chose this book for my second read on this subject because it has the highest ratings (on subject) on Amazon. Heinberg has done a thorough job of discussing every aspect of the coming problems to society due to a lack of petroleum - most of which I had never considered. Literature about this are from the point of view of either the politician, the economist, or the geologist. He takes the view of the geologist and the future does not look good.

I hold a more positive view: that human ingenuity will prevail - but I could easily be wrong. In any case, this is a worthwhile read for anyone. Of particular interest is the chapter that deals with alternate energy sources. The next time you read about an alternate energy source in the news, you'll remember the real pro's and con's from an expert.

Quick synopsis of 41 page alternative fuel chapter from "Party's Over:"

Natural Gas: Cannot be shipped from overseas easily like oil - is more difficult to extract economically every year - is being depleted like oil. In view of the precarious status of North American gas supplies, any attempt to shift to NG as an intermediate fuel would waste time and capital in the enlargement of an infrastructure that will soon be obsolete.

Coal: Shortage not so much a problem, however, its EROEI (Energy Return On Energy Invested) and pollution are a problem. As the richer seams are exhausted, it may cease to be a useful energy source within only 2-3 decades.

Nuclear: Electricity from existing nuclear plants is inexpensive, but only if direct costs are considered. When adding in plant construction, safety, reactor decommissioning, and waste storage - nuclear power is very expensive indeed. There are currently 442 reactors operating worldwide. France in the only country in Europe still building them. Only Asia expects to expand significantly. Only a few of the highly touted fast breeder reactors have been built, and they have proven to be prohibitively expensive. The US currently processes enough uranium to fuel existing US reactors for the next 40 years. The mining process is wasteful, polluting, and dangerous. When all things are considered, the EROEI on nuclear energy is fairly low and there is significant intangible downside.

Wind: Of all renewables (not depletable), wind power usage on a global scale is being developed the fastest. Technology has advanced - it no longer kills birds because it uses slower fan speeds and the fans are mounted on a vertical axis. It can operate in more variable wind speeds and the cost is declining rapidly. Soon your own equipment could be bought and used on your own property. Wind has the best EROEI and Germany leads the world in its usage. On a large scale, wind power would require vastly new infrastructure, but it is the most practical alternative so far.
Problem: cannot easily be converted to fuel transportation and agricultural needs.

Solar: Technology advancing rapidly, photovoltaic the best so far. Research is advancing into diverse methods of collection, including such easy methods of application as solar buckyball collectors incorporated into house paint. Tremendous potential, would need new infrastructure.
Problem: cannot easily be converted to fuel transportation and agricultural needs.

Hydrogen: For now, the process of hydrogen production always uses more energy than the resulting hydrogen will yield. For one thing, hydrogen is not an energy source, but an energy carrier. It's production depends on continued usage of the dwindling supply of natural gas. There is new technology, however, and reason to be optimistic. As with wind and solar, a whole new infrastructure, requiring time and investments of huge amounts of money and energy technology are necessary. Like wind and solar, hydrogen fuel cells should be central features of our plans to phase out petroleum. We should be dramatically increasing these investments.

Hydroelectric: In many regions of the world - and especially in the US - it is already thoroughly exploited.

Geothermal power, tides, and waves: limited application in limited regions of the world.

Biomass: wood burning - pollution and limited resources in a world with 6 billion people - imagine the world being one big Easter Island.

Ethanol: costs more energy to produce than it eventually delivers to society. Brazil is the poster child, but is burning down rain forests to grow sugar cane.

Cold-Fusion: pseudoscience

Conservation - Efficiency and Curtailment: Will be crucial in cushioning impacts from the depletion of oil. But it is not a panacea - even when you ignore cheaters (individuals and countries).

Saudi saying: My grandfather rode a camel. My father rode in a car. I fly a jet airplane. My grandson will ride a camel.

32 people found this helpful

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B. King

An Industrial Strength Critique of Energy Usage

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2003

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Part history and part prophesy, this book is an outstanding summary of many major issues facing Western industrial society. Author Richard Heinberg provides a scholarly critique of modern industrialism, focusing on its current use of energy, and a sobering forecast based on predictable trends.
The key point of the book is that the Earth's crust can provide mankind with an essentially finite amount of fossil fuel energy, with primary reference to oil. Drawing on the relatively unknown, and oft-misunderstood, concept of "peak oil," the book addresses the imminent shortfall of petroleum that will not be available on world markets. That day of reckoning is far closer than most people think. "Peak oil" is a global application of Geologist M. King Hubbert's (1903-1989) studies of oil production in "mature" exploration districts. That is, exploration for oil in sedimentary basins at first yields substantial discoveries, which are then produced. Additional exploration yields less and less "new" oil discovered, and that level of discovery coming at greater and greater effort. Eventually, absent additional significant discovery, production "peaks" and then commences an irreversible decline. This has already occurred in the U.S. in the 1970's, and is in the process of occurring in oil-producing nations such as Mexico, Britain, Egypt, Indonesia and Malaysia. Ominously, "peak" production can be forecast in the next few years in such significant producing nations as Saudi Arabia and Iraq (in addition to all of the other problems in those unfortunate nations.)
Much of the rise of industrial society was tied to increasing availability of high energy-density fuel, particularly oil. Western society, and its imitators in non-Western lands, is based upon access to large amounts of energy-dense fuel, and that fuel is oil. With respect to the U.S., the domestic decline in oil production has been made up, over the past thirty years, by increasing imports from other locales, with concomitant political risk. When the world production "peaks" in the next few years, the competition for energy sources will become more fierce than it already is. This book addresses issues related to what are commonly thought of as "substitutes" for oil, such as coal, natural gas and natural gas liquids, and shatters many myths. The author also delves deeply into energy sources such as "tar sand," "oil shale," nuclear and renewable sources. And thankfully, the author offers a number of proposals to address the looming problem (although these proposals are probably not what an awful lot of people want to hear.)
A book like this one could easily descend into a tawdry level of "chicken-little" squawks and utter tendentiousness. But thankfully it does not do so. This is a mature, well-reasoned and carefully footnoted effort. I could take issue with some of the author's points about "big business" and how decisions are made at high political levels, but not in this review. Instead I will simply congratulate Mr. Heinberg for writing an important contribution to social discourse. I hope that a lot of people read this book and start to look at and think about the world differently.

21 people found this helpful

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This Hippy Gorilla

Cogent, timely, largely ignored

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2006

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Maybe the most important book since Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species".

This volume represents THE wakeup call for a world society quite literally addicted to crude oil for its continuation, and, in most cases, it's very survival.

Heinberg has done his homework, and this volume should be required reading for anyone in an industrialized nation, or one just getting started down that road. It is a proven scientific fact that within a few years, we will begin to run out of oil, and it will be pretty much gone within 5 or 6 decades. Considering that we have built our entire society around an oil economy, the implications are dire - far, far beyond not being able to drive through the coffee shop with the kids in your SUV on the way home from the mall. Alternative energy sources? Dream on - read on.

The book is thoroughly researched, well-thought and organized and presents the often dissenting views at every side of this hugely important issue. It is also delightfully written and composed, and is fun and quick to read.

I highly recommend this book, and I hope at least one person reads what I'm writing and buys this book. And I hope they tell someone, too.

11 people found this helpful

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stevegg

Dismiss this book at humanities peril!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 6, 2012

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Read this book if you are at all concerned about the fragile state of diminishing resources and humanities fate in the next 50 years due to energy resource depletion (in particular fossil fuels), over population and our reliance on industrialised civilisation. A truly eye opening book on how we are heading towards dangerous uncertain times thanks to our over reliance and exploitation of fossil fuels with our governments heads buried in the sands despite decades of warnings by experts. The bottom line of this book is we have consumed and are still consuming our finite fossil fuels at an increasingly faster rate year on year, in the main oil, whilst new discoveries peaked in the early 1970's. The worlds nations insatiable quest to industrialise, globalise and expand has outstripped its natural resources with the biggest danger coming from our exploding population driven by mass cheap energy which is unsustainable. With ever increasing energy demands and dwindling exploitable natural resources some very harsh and unpalatable decisions will need to be made by governments in the coming decades, time is running out and with every passing year we sit on our hands and do nothing humanities options become more limited and will be more draconian, to bury our heads in the sand is not an option. As the author points out pre 1900's modern industrialisation, when the mass energy crude oil exploitation period really began the global population was 2 billion, just over a century later and almost mainly due directly to this exploitation and cheap energy boom it has risen to 7 billion. Now the fossil fuel, crude oil, period is entering its twilight years with the beginning of declining production at a time when demand is at a global peak and increasing, this spells dire consequences for the human race who have become reliant on this black gold to power our needs and sustain our modern lifestyles. The author predicts that unless we change our whole ethos on energy consumption our whole way of life and the human population will crash back to levels of pre industrialisation in an archaic way. Our addiction to oil has to stop now and a controlled transition to new energy sources implemented immediately or we will face the consequences. This is powerful reading which is hard to dispute and very thought provoking, we are on borrowed time and the clock is ticking!!

匿名555555

また、ガソリンの値上げか？

Reviewed in Japan on July 20, 2004

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私も、今流行りの”ピークオイル”論争を見てきましたが、石油はもともとどのようにできるのでしょう？いわゆる先進国の人間には常識となっている化石燃料説しか聞いたことのない人達は、The modern Russian-Ukrainian theory,J.F.Kenny氏などを調査することを勧めます。この本やほかのメディアに現れる人物、ASPO（Halliburtonもメンバー）の創設者、キャンベル氏はアングロサクソン系の石油会社の”OB”（今は？）。石油の値上げ、戦争、人口削減、等の正当化にはうってつけの”ピークオイル”説。ただ私も車は嫌いなので２つ星、作者の薦めるバイオディーゼル車は騒音がひどい。毎日日本では２０人以上（2004年現在）が交通事故で死んでいます。

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Erik Cummins

An exceptionally good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2012

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This book is perfect for anyone looking to make themselves more informed about the issue of oil, its effects on fundamental aspects of human life, as well as the state of society in general. Informative, in-depth, yet at the same time, succinct, this book is ideal for those wishing to learn more about the issues in hand without having to resort to a dull textbook or expert journal articles. Though some aspects of the book do appear to be more detailed than expected for a non-expert, these are necessary in order for the reader to properly appreciate the situations discussed. However, the tone and style of the writing is such that the author ensures that fundamental points are taken in by the reader; as such, this book is great for reading as a primer to the subject.
Despite the seriousness of the subject, the way the book is written puts across that the author is a person wanting to inform rather than lecture. This is demonstrated by the ease with which the text flows as well as other little quirks in the book that make it more enjoyable and easier to read than a textbook on the subject - I particularly like the quotes that are given at the beginning of chapters, which indicate to the reader the different attitudes that are taken by experts, critics and lay people in regard to the global problem of oil and its effects on society at large.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to any person who wishes to learn more about where our society has developed from, why society has such a dependency on oil and, most importantly, what can be done to change the world for the better.

Mr. Adrian J. Ball

The scariest book I've ever read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2008

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This is a truly horrifying book. The logic is sound and based upon extensive research. The conclusions are literally earth shattering. We're destined for some very tough times ahead. Sadly the chapters suggesting strategies and tactics for how the post-oil / post industrial decline might be faced are probably the least convincing. It's the kind of book that SHOULD change your life... before it's too late.

2 people found this helpful

V.Malamos

Highly recommended for every conscientious human

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2013

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This book is a clear, readable, informative and enlightening account of the ever-timely global energy challenges,such as the depletion of cheap fossil resources and the continuous population growth. Heinberg provides a solid text with a great historical, geopolitical and scientific background, enriched with interesting quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I strongly believe that such books should become an essential part of the educational process of every school and university. Are we braced for the ongoing decline of global oil production and the subsequent decline of the net energy extracted from the current array of energy sources? Are industrial societies willing to reduce substantially their energy footprint and hence their materialistic standard of living? Is it feasible to mitigate the imminent consequences of the energy-intensive party taking place over the past few decades? What course of action and mentality should be adopted towards a sustainable, low-energy world for the generations to come? Heinberg manages to raise public awareness through those critical questions and through a range of implications and recommendations presented in chapters 5,6. Try not to get depressed but to get active and fully aware of the available options ahead, no matter how radical or harsh they might seem!

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