Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak | 
| Author: Kenneth S. Deffeyes
Publisher: Hill and Wang
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 16040
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 080902957X
Dewey Decimal Number: 551
EAN: 9780809029570
ASIN: 080902957X
Publication Date: June 13, 2006
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Product Description
“This book explains both why the decline of our most precious fuel is inevitable and how challenging it will be to cope with what comes next.”—Richard E. Smalley, University Professor, Rice University, and 1996 Nobel laureate
With world oil production about to peak and inexorably head toward steep decline, what fuels are available to meet rising global energy demands? That question, once thought to address a fairly remote contingency, has become ever more urgent, as a spate of books has drawn increased public attention to the imminent exhaustion of the economically vital world oil reserves. Kenneth S. Deffeyes, a geologist who was among the first to warn of the coming oil crisis, now takes the next logical step and turns his attention to the earth’s supply of potential replacement fuels. In Beyond Oil, he traces out their likely production futures, with special reference to that of oil, utilizing the same analytic tools developed by his former colleague, the pioneering petroleum-supply authority M. King Hubbert.
“The bad news in this book is made bearable by the author’s witty, conversational writing style. If my college econ textbooks had been written this way, I might have learned economics.” —Rupert Cutler, The Roanoke Times
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| Customer Reviews: Read 39 more reviews...
 Excellent discussion of Hubbert and his technical exposition June 27, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Deffeyes has written an excellent book on M K Hubbert's 1969 published predictions for future world oil production.The most interesting chapter is chapter 3.It covers the basic logistics model that Hubbert showed fit the data like a glove fitting your hand.Deffeyes has uncovered a small error in Hubbert's exposition.It is presented on p.51.Deffeyes correctly states that production,discoveries,and hits started together."Hits have to initially grow faster than discoveries.Discoveries have to initially grow faster than production"(p.49) Hits has the highest peak and peaked about 1960.Discoveries then has the next highest peak and peaked about 1980.Production(discoveries and hits)peaked around 2000.
The conclusion is that "the major theoretical conclusion is that a straight line requires that production(discoveries,hits) depends linearly on the fraction of oil that is unproduced(undiscovered,unhit)".(Deffeyes,p.51).The major prediction is that the price of oil will be going up constantly.Possible remedies are conservation,more(much more)fuel efficient cars, nuclear power,solar power,wind power,and cogeneration.The one non solution is to try to drill our way out of the problem.This is not possible given the technical constraints of the problem.
 Must-have for Peak Oil enthusiasts April 2, 2008
While the list of books on this topic continues to grow all the time, this is probably one of the must-have books if you are interested in the topic of Peak Oil. Deffeyes is often quoted in other works, as is his former colleague, H. King Hubbert. Deffeyes comes off as a wise expert when talking about issues directly related to his area of expertise, and an honest layman when talking about things he's not as much of an expert on. This give the book an air of authenticity. It is a fairly short book, but manages to give a good background on the different energy industries related to the question of oil and its possible substitutes. It also gives a pretty succinct summary of the state of reserves and production which can go a long way towards clarifying many common misconceptions, such as the idea that we can drill our way out of the crisis. Deffeyes predicted that peak oil would hit on Thanksgiving Day of 2005. Interestingly, he maintains a web page on which he comments on the latest events. So far he has yet to retract his predictions.
outstanding synopsis of energy alternatives March 29, 2008
A perfect introduction to energy for well educated readers. Short, clear, to the point chapters on the various options from traditional to alternative, full of pithy observations and good humor. Not alarmist, just fact based, clear headed and long sighted.
Why are electric vehicles all the rage? February 23, 2008
This book explains why GM is changing it's entire manufacturing process to run all 9 million cars it makes on electric motors and have an electric drive train. With the E - Flex design GM is betting the firm on, they can use a different generator as circumstances demand (eg compressed air, fuel cell, E85, diesel, CNG, etc). Beyond Oil explains why.
It also explains why ALL major car companies are moving to hybrids and PHEV's now.
After reading this why would you buy a car that runs only on petrol?
Very well done and researched. February 5, 2008
This will not tell you how to survive without oil, but it confirms the truth about peak oil and the inevitable decline in production. He outlines many alternatives and their problems. Great book.
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