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With oil reaching $100 a barrel in January 2008 and the US facing challenges to dollar hegemony, few people would now deny that there is an energy crisis and that it is linked to economic uncertainty. However, the mainstream lacks a theory to explain this apparently sudden challenge to optimistic expectations of long-term economic growth and an end to world poverty. The Final Energy Crisis provides political explanations to fill that gap. The authors engage with depletion trends in oil, gas, coal, uranium, soil and biodiversity. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, they study energy trends, prospects, assets and liabilities in different political systems and regions, including the US, Venezuela, China, Africa, the ex-Soviet Union, North Korea, Japan, France and Australia. Far from being a doom-laden work on peak oil, this book offers practical suggestions for readers keen to be part of the solution to resource depletion. This comprehensively updated edition includes 13 new chapters and thorough revisions of existing material.
Introduction - In The Beginning
PART I: MEASURING OUR PREDICAMENT Introduction
1. Views From Hubbert's Peak, by Sheila Newman
2. Prediction Of World Peak Oil Production, by Seppo A Korpela (Ohio State University)
3. Appendix To Prediction Of World Oil Production, by Seppo A Korpela (Ohio State University)
4. The Assessment And Importance Of Oil Depletion, by Colin J Campbell
5. Coal Resources Of The World, by Seppo A Korpel (Ohio State University)
PART II: GEOPOLITICS Introduction: Geodestinies And Geodeterminism, by Sheila Newman
6. The Caspian Chimera, by Colin J Campbell
7. Update To The Caspian Chimera, by Sheila Newman
8. Battle Of The Titans, by Mark Jones
9. Dark Continent, Black Gold, by Andrew Mckillop
10. The Chinese Car Bomb, by Andrew Mckillop
11. Venezuela, Chavez & Latin-American Oil On The World Stage, by Sheila Newman
PART III: THE BIG PICTURE - FALSE SOLUTIONS, HOPES AND FEARS Introduction
12. No Choice But International Energy Transition, by Andrew Mckillop
13. Population, Energy And Economic Growth, The Moral Dilemma, by Ross Mccluney (University of Central Florida)
14. Renewable Energy Limits, by Ross Mccluney (University of Central Florida)
15. Peak Soil, by Alice Friedemann
16. Notes On Terra Preta, by Sheila Newman
17. Nuclear Fission Power Options, by Sheila Newman
18. Fusion Illusions, by Michael Dittmar (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich)
19. Geothermal, by Sheila Newman PART IV After Oil Introduction
20. France And Australia After Oil, by Sheila Newman
21. North Korea: The Limits Of Fossil Energy-Based Agricultural Systems - What North Korea Tells Us About Our Future, by Antony Boys (Tohoku University, Japan)
22. How Will Japan Feed Itself Without Fossil Energy?, by Antony Boys (Tohoku University, Japan)
23. The Simpler Way, by Ted Trainer (University of New South Wales)
24. In The End: Thermodynamics And The Necessity Of Protecting The Natural World, by Sheila Newman
Short Glossary
Notes On Contributors
Index
Sheila Newman is an environmental sociologist and editor of articles on energy, population, land-use planning and resources. She co-edited the first edition of The Final Energy Crisis (Pluto Press, 2005). Her blog is at http://candobetter.org/sheila. She is also an environmental film-maker.
