Leading oil producers agree that we are already using as much oil as the world can produce. There is very little spare capacity. If the weather gets really cold or the Chinese economy starts to fire on all cylinders then prices will rocket.
Despite the screams of anguish from the global warming nutters (egged on by the conspirators planning a global takeover) the world is going to rely on oil for years to come. Sunshine and wind provide only 5% of our energy – and that 5% relies on the sun shining and the wind blowing.
Even if the self-destructive sanctions preventing us using Russian oil are lifted, the price of oil is going to continue to soar and Europe, in particular, is going to be in serious trouble. The British Government, which has an open ended commitment to subsidise heating costs, is facing very serious financial problems. Either the subsidies will have to stop or taxes will need to rise dramatically.
Our modern society is built on the use of fossil fuels in general, and oil in particular.
It is forgotten that the Industrial Revolution revolved entirely around fossil fuels. It was coal and oil which changed our economy from an agrarian one to an economy dominated by industry and machine manufacture. It was the Industrial Revolution which led to the use of iron and steel, instead of wood, and, eventually, to the introduction of new energy sources such as electricity. It was the Industrial Revolution which led to the invention of new machines (such as the spinning jenny), the development of the factory system and to the development of the steam engine, the telegraph, the internal combustion engine and the jet engine. It was the factory system, a result of the Industrial Revolution, which led to the development of schools (so that there would be somewhere for children to go while their parents worked in the factories, and so that children would grow up accustomed to a day spent working) and terraced housing (so that workers could be accommodated close to the factories where they worked).
The Industrial Revolution resulted in changes in agriculture (tractors instead of horses), political changes (workers, now paying tax, wanting votes) and enormous social changes.
Read more: A Bigger Problem than Climate Change
