The Party's Over - Richard Heinberg: Book Review

The Party's Over: Oil, War And The Fate Of Industrial Societies - Richard Heinberg

The Party's Over is a great overview for people unfamiliar with peak oil. You haven't heard of Peak Oil? Well that's okay, because the media won't touch this topic with a 10 foot pole. It doesn't fit into a typical sound byte and of course the public does not want to hear that their consumer lifestyle will have to change dramatically in the coming years.

Whenever the media covers oil it typically talks about when "oil will run out". However, the important issue is not when oil will run out, but when oil production peaks. This is the point where approximately half of the world's oil has been extracted but the rate of extraction has peaked and will continue to decline.

The United States already experienced peak oil in the 1970 where oil production in the U.S. reached a maximum and led to the energy crisis of the 70's. The United States produced 9.64 million barrels of crude oil per day in 1970 and in only 5.83 million barrels in 2000 (U.S. Energy Information Administration). The reason why the United States was able to recover from this disaster was that other sources of oil were available in the world, in particular, the Middle East.

Heinberg briefly chronicles human interaction with energy through its history and show how human civilization has come to depend on energy as it does today. Then he presents the reasons for why peak oil WILL happen and counters critiques by free market economists who dismiss that it will be a great problem. Lastly, he addresses the consequences of peak oil by addressing the following questions:

• What will happen when the world production of oil peaks and there is no other source of energy?
• Will highly touted renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass (ethanol and biodiesel), hydrogen, and hydropower be able to save us?
• What about reverting back to coal and natural gas?
• What about innovation and technologies to increase efficiency?

Heinberg addresses all of these topics thoroughly and then proceeds to explain how dependent we are on oil. Some Americans believe that only their driving habits will affected by the decline in oil supplies. However, in today's globalized world, virtually everything has oil for energy or input stock ranging from food (fertilizers), clothing (synthetic materials), and anything that is transported over long distances.

In the last chapter Heinberg suggests possible ways that people can better prepare themselves for peak oil when it does come.

This book is a MUST-READ for anyone who needs an overview on the peak oil issue.

Recommended Reading:

• Energy at the Crossroads: Global Perspectives and Uncertainties
• Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
• Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict
  
• The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century

Recommended Movies:

• The End of Suburbia
• The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived the Peak Crisis
• A Crude Awakening