Branson: Oil crunch within 5 years
Branson's SpaceShipOneThink the recession caused by the financial crisis was bad?
The recession caused by the next oil crunch will be even worse, at least in Britain according to The Oil Crunch - a wake up call for the UK economy penned by Sir Richard Branson's Taskforce for Peak Oil and Energy Security.
According to the report within the next 5 years an oil crunch "could lead to shortages in consumer products and the UK's energy security will be significantly compromised."
Labels: Foreign Oil Dependency
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:19 AM
2 Comments:
When it comes to "Peak Oil" the real danger is if our estimates are wrong.
If the oil actually runs out earlier than when we estimate it will, the economic consequences will be catastrophic.
Additionally, if countries (especially OPEC nations) are overestimating the size of their oil reserves so that they can produce more oil, this will lead to a condition where the oil runs out prior to the estimated time.
One would think that we would err on the side of caution, and estimate conservatively and make plans to ensure we transition off of oil well before the oil actually runs out. For some reason I suspect that we are not doing this.....
A few weeks ago GM said they believe that an oil crunch is soon approaching that could be worse than the previous crunch, largely because it would be sustainable.
And that's not based on a big decline in oil production, just increased worldwide demand.
Yet, I don't see how GM's product plans match surviving these conditions, especially if the crunch happens within the next 5 years.
And the same is true of essentially every automaker, although perhaps they aren't as worried about an oil crunch as GM.
As you state, it seems automakers would also be better off to err on the side of caution, but they are not.
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