Synopses & Reviews
Geophysicist M. King Hubbert predicted in 1956 that U.S. oil production would reach its highest level in the early 1970s. Though roundly criticized by oil experts and economists, Hubbert's prediction came true in 1970.
In this revised and updated edition reflecting the latest information on the world supply of oil, Kenneth Deffeyes uses Hubbert's methods to find that world oil production will peak in this decadeand there isn't anything we can do to stop it. While long-term solutions exist in the form of conservation and alternative energy sources, they probably cannotand almost certainly will notbe enacted in time to evade a short-term catastrophe.
Review
"Deffeyes has reached a conclusion with far-reaching consequences for the entire industrialized world. . . . The conclusion is this: in somewhere between two and six years from now, worldwide oil production will peak. After that, chronic shortages will become a way of life. The 100-year reign of King Oil will be over." Fred Guterl, Newsweek
Review
"A most readable handbook. . . . If [Deffeyes] is right we have, at most, two or three years in which to prepare for yet another price shock, and to accelerate our move away from oil as fuel. The strength of the book lies in its solid background and well-explained basis for that single prediction." Stuart Young, Nature
Review
"Deffeyes makes a persuasive case. . . . This is an oilman and geologist's assessment of the future, grounded in cold mathematics. And it's frightening." Paul Raeburn, Scientific American
Review
"An important new book." Robert Kuttner, Boston Globe
Review
"The story behind Hubbert's analysisis told with engaging wit, humor, and great insight. . . . Deffeyes writes with the taut reasoning of a scientist and the passion of someone raised in the industry. . . . His background is ideal for the subject, and the book is a gem. . . . Read Hubbert's Peak." Brian J. Skinner, American Scientist
Review
"[Some] experts . . . worry that the global peak in production will come in the next decade. . . . A heavyweight has now joined this gloomy chorus. Kenneth Deffeyes argues in a lively new book that global oil production could peak as soon as 2004." The Economist
Review
"A persuasive prophecy. Hubbert's story is important and needs to be told. I suspect that historians in years to come will recognise Hubbert's Peak as a historical turning point." Tim Burnhill, New Scientist
Synopsis
As debates about the effects of fossil fuels on our climate and foreign policy intensify, the question of just how much longer we can depend on this finite source of energy becomes more and more pressing. This selection from Hubbert's Peak, the leading book on the limits of our oil supply, forecasts what the future will bring for fossil fuels and what the alternatives are likely to be.
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About the Author
Kenneth S. Deffeyes is Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He grew up in the oilfields; his father was a pioneer petroleum engineer. At the Shell Oil research laboratory in Houston, he was a colleague of M. King Hubbert. He joined the Princeton faculty in 1967 and continued to participate in the petroleum industry as a consultant and as an expert witness. General readers best know Deffeyes as the guide/mentor in John McPhee's series of popular books on geology, collected and republished under the title Annals of the Former World.