Atop the Energy Caprock

The above chart is courtesy of Matt, a poster at TOD. Using EIA data, the chart shows that global oil production has plateaued since 2005. Notably, production has stayed essentially flat irrespective of price and consumption signals. (Classical economists might be scratching their heads now). Veteran energy analysts, like Tom Whipple, believe we've reached the historic terminus of peak oil -- the point in time where the maximum production capacity for oil is reached.

What lies on the other side of the energy plateau is the second half of the Hydrocarbon Era. The world will still have oil producers, but the rules for distribution and consumption will fundamentally change. Tourism, the big box retail store, bunker-fueled cargo ships, air freight, suburban housing, "fresh" out-of-season produce, imported coffee (arghh!), indeed, most everything you can think of about globalization is a product of the age of cheap energy. What will the architecture of life resemble in an age when we have oil, but we find that we cannot afford to burn it?