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Concept
A Thousand Barrels a Second
Summary
A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an Energy Dependent World is a 2007 book by Canadian energy economist and columnist Peter Tertzakian that describes the multiple pressures forcing an upending of oil's dominant role in the global energy supply mix and conjectures about how economic, social and technological innovation will drive the inevitable adjustment process.
The book draws attention to the numerical significance of the 2006 global oil production figure: of crude oil per day is equivalent to one thousand barrels per second. He believes the transcendence of this consumption threshold marks the beginning of a historically significant "energy break point" when oil's dominant position as a primary energy source is no longer tenable. The book examines industrial society's "addiction" to oil in its past, present and future aspects. The history of humankind's ongoing adoption and abandonment of energy sources – wood, coal, tallow, whale oil, kerosene, etc. – illustrates a "evolutionary energy cycle". This cycle is evident today in the problems facing the oil industry. At the time of the book's publication, various factors – ranging from unrest in the Middle East, a "demand shock" from India and China, exceptionally elevated energy commodity prices and climate change anxiety – weakened oil's leadership amongst all primary energy sources. The author does not commit to the inevitability of any one particular future outcome, but paints various scenarios that could lead to a peaceful and profitable resolution of the break point.
In order to properly comprehend the nature of the current oil break point, the author begins his exposition with a historical study of the dominant energy sources before the oil age. He depicts, for instance, the displacement of one fuel source by another (i.e. tallow—spermaceti—kerosene as illumination; wood—coal—oil as a primary fuel) and demonstrates how the story of energy is inextricably linked with economic development and rising living standards.
Official source
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