Sustainable Gulf Coast and 350 Pensacola will present a free lecture tonight on ‘peak oil.’ Here’s the press release:
Please join us tonight as Doug Craft presents “Peak Oil and the Emerald Coast: Are We Ready for Energy Shortages?”
Where:Â Bayview Senior Resource Center, Meeting Room 101, 2000 E. Lloyd St., Pensacola, FL 32503
When:Â Tuesday, April 9, 7-8:30Â p.m.
Our fossil fuel dependence damages our environment and our health and is warming our planet in the process. Beyond the climate crisis and the damage these fuels cause to us now, what will happen as the world’s supply of oil is depleted? Climate change and Peak Oil may be the most serious threats to biodiversity we face, yet our dependence on fossil fuels continues. Speaker Doug Craft will present this lecture to help us understand the concept of Peak Oil and what it means to us as a society.
Energy in the form of fossil fuels is the fundamental resource for our civilization. Seven billion people now burn 75-80 million barrels of oil each day, and exponential population growth demands exponential growth in energy and secondary resource production to to keep the global economy running. Despite the exploitation of tar sands, enhanced recovery techniques, horizontal drilling and fracking, and deep water rigs, liquid petroleum production has been stuck around 75 million bbl/day since 2005.
Peak Oil is the scientific theory based on the laws of thermodynamics that explains why resource production follows a bell curve and why production of a natural resource will begin to decline once the first half of the resource is exploited. It explains why we are fighting wars of occupation in the middle east, the current cost of gasoline, the erosion of the middle class, and the current state of national and world politics.
In this talk, Craft will address in practical terms why Peak Oil happens, what we face as a consequence of declining energy supplies, the good and bad news about alternative fuels, and what we can do locally to prepare for this long crisis. Craft is a consulting environmental research chemist and local artist and musician. He has studied and lectured about energy issues since 2006.
Peak Oil will be a long crisis that will force us to change how we live and interact with each other. How we respond to this predicament will determine whether worst case AGWÂ consequences add to the coming energy crisis or if we will build a localized sustainable post-carbon economy.
The presentation is one in a series addressing environmental issues presented throughout the year by Sustainable Gulf Coast and 350 Pensacola. The meeting is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 850-572-7230 or email 350pensacola@gmail.com.