Peak oil and energy policy--a critique

Abstract

Energy policy has frequently been based upon assumptions about future oil prices. At the end of the 1970s it was assumed oil prices would continue to rise. Now a similar assumption pervades policy design. This article critiques the peak oil hypotheses which lie behind these forecasts and policy beliefs, and considers that, from a climate change perspective, the challenge is too much not too little fossil fuel reserves. The coming of shale gas, its fungibility with oil via the electrification of transport, alon…