The anomalous age of easy energy

Abstract

Planet Earth goes back billions of years, and the first forms of life appeared long ago, with Modern Man arriving only 200,000 years ago. Agriculture changed his the way of life, as communities acquired land rights, leading to trade and the use of money. They faced the consequences of depleting their natural resources, prompting conflict. For most of history, energy needs were met mainly by Man's own muscles, but over the last two centuries he has tapped new sources from coal, followed by oil and gas, that changed the world radically, allowing the population to grow 10-fold. But these are finite natural resources, formed in the geological past, which means that they are subject to depletion. The Second Half of the Oil Age, which now dawns as production declines, may be marked by a contraction to match the expansion of the First Half. A debate rages as to the precise date of peak production, with much confusion from ambiguous resource definitions and lax reporting, but misses the point when what matters is the vision of the long decline on the other side of it. The transition is a turning point of historic magnitude, likely to be associated with much social, economic and political tension before people learn how to adapt. It is by all means an important subject.