ASPO conference on the world's energy supply

In October of 2006 I travelled with my documentary team to Boston, MA to film the ASPO-USA conference... The ASPO is the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and gas... This organization studies the world's energy supply of fossil fuels and it's coming of age to greatly impact our way of life.
Here's a personal summary of what I learned:

Current Hydrocarbon energy breakdown

Energy Uses:

Natural Gas: heating, cooking, drying, textiles, electrical generation, fertilizer & food production.

Oil: Transportation, liquid fuels, farming, fertilizer, pharmaceuticals, rubber, paint & plastics.

Coal: electricity generation, heating, increased use in railroads & over-sea shipping as oil declines.

Oil: There is no available resource that is as abundant, cheap and has as high an EROEI (Energy Returned On Energy Invested) as oil... 2/3rds of U.S. oil consumption is for transportation.

Coal is abundant and cheap... There is about a 150-year supply for electrical generation at current rates of consumption... To turn to coal as a replacement for oil (which is very likely) puts it at a 60-year supply before depletion. But coal is also the largest polluter, it contains all the heavy elements, largest CO2 output and largest contributor to global warming... It is a foolish act to burn the remainder of the planet's coal reserves into the atmosphere... This will make the planet uninhabitable.

Natural Gas:.. LNG is dangerous and the NIMBY factor applies... Short term solution... Natural gas burns clean and currently has a high EROEI but world supply is in decline... It will be a failing to use this resource for the hydrogenization of heavy oils and the harvesting of tar sands & shale..... We should use this resource to extend our timeline for a transitional energy base.

Timelines:

Natural Gas: 20 years current consumption... As consumption increases, time decreases

Oil: 120 years to consume the 1st half of world oil reserves (1000 trillion barrels) at current consumption (30Gb/year)... 2nd half of world oil reserves will be consumed in 30 years.

Coal: Possibly 60 years at current rates... But to increase our current use from 50% electricity generation to 100% will mean a 5x increase in current coal production and burning... This will destroy our environment.

Politics:.. Energy has been central to the 'Vital Interests" of the United States for a century... Developed countries have a history of war and struggle to gain control over, and access to, the world's energy resources... As the third world industrializes there will be a growing demand for these resources... Many countries model themselves on the American economy and consuming lifestyle... Bottom line:.. These resources are finite and there does NOT exist enough to bring the rest of the industrializing world to our level of consumption... Therefore the result we are experiencing right now is one of increased war and terrorism as countries fight for control and access to what's left...

Solutions:

- Adopt a Depletion Protocol...
- Conservation
- Energy Independence of our electricity base (wind, solar & biomass)
- Education (less than 7% of our nation's annual budget is spent on education)
- Demilitarization of the United States: $450 Billion (and growning) is spent annually on the U.S. Military... This is almost 60% of the nation's annual budget..... This trend needs to be reversed and the wealth of the nation turned towards education, new infrastructure, non-HMO healthcare, and renewable resources.

Environmental impacts of hydrocarbon energy use:

- Global Warming
- Climate Change
- Polar Ice & Glacial melt-off
- Rising of sea level
- Extinctions of plant, animal & sea life. Direct affect on the world's food chain.