"For 200 years we have been systematically de-carbonizing our energy system."

According to Richard Sears, the world hit peak oil in 1985 in the sense that oil accounted for 50% of world energy in 1985 and the percentage has been declining since then. By that same measure, we hit peak coal in the 1920’s and peak wood in the 1820’s. Sears summarizes

For 200 years we have been systematically de-carbonizing our energy system.

We didn’t stop using wood as our primary energy source because we ran out of trees; we moved on to something better better. Sears believes we are now in the process of transitioning from oil to renewable energy sources, and not because we’re running out of oil. He concludes his presentation by saying

… the Stone Age ended, not because we ran out of stones. It’s ideas, it’s innovation, it’s technology that will end the Age of Oil before we run out of oil.

via www.johndcook.com

Comments

[Dave Kimble]

Peak Oil is different because it is the BEST energy source we will ever have. There is no way that renewables can be considered to be better energy sources (cleaner, yes, more energy dense, no). Peak Coal is variously predicted to occur from 2011 to 2026, (see http://www.peakoil.org.au/peakcoal.htm ).
Conventional gas is predicted by ASPO-Ireland to occur in 2021, although unconventional gas (from coal seams and from shale) are an unknown factor. This puts Peak Fossils at about 2022, just 11 years away.

There is no way renewables can be brought on-stream at sufficient scale to prevent Peak Energy, as the energy embodied in the raw materials and infrastructure and maintenance operations for renewables needs to come from somewhere. Same for nuclear.

So the saying "the Stone Age didn't end for lack of stones" is quite inappropriate for the real future we face. We have built up a fantastically complex, interdependent, "just-in-time" world based on cheap fossil fuels, and post Peak Fossils, we will see it collapse into energy gridlock and spectacular chaos.