Ecologist lectures on implications of 'A World Without Oil'
Louise Stamper
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: News
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John Kaufmann of the Oregon Department of Ecology visited Gonzaga on Tuesday to discuss the nation's oil crisis.
"This is not a choice; this is the future," Kaufmann said at a lecture he gave called "A World Without Oil."
According to Kaufmann the days of "eat, drink and gas up" are coming to a close quickly. The oil problem is a well-worn topic of conversation in America today due to high gas prices and war. However, the reason the nation is looking at a scarcity of oil is not political.
"Two-thirds of the world's top oil producing nations have reached their peak in oil production," Kaufman said. "The height of world discovery of oil wells took place in the 1960s. Since 1983 production has exceeded discovery. For every 30 million barrels of oil that are produced only 6 million are discovered."
Demand has overtaken supply by 24 million barrels, and it will not stop there, he said. In the next five to 10 years, world oil will peak. The question is more than what can we put in our gas tanks instead. Kaufmann said oil affects everything. Walking around the classroom on Tuesday night, he pointed out petroleum products: chairs, desks, office supplies, equipment and even his tie. More items in the room were made with oil than not.
"Mr. Kaufmann advises the state of Oregon on policy steps that might be taken to address future energy challenges," biology professor David Boose said. He had initially asked Kaufmann, whose daughter is a student at Gonzaga, to be a guest lecturer in his Human Ecology class, "which looks, from a scientific standpoint, at the impacts that human activities have on our planet."
The Environmental Studies program addresses these kinds of topics.
"The relevance for GU students is that he is talking about your future - and your very near future at that," Boose said.
Dealing with "peak oil" will require the work of scientists, economists, lawyers, engineers, politicians and citizens. The hardest-hit population will be the low-income, Kaufmann said.
"This is not a choice; this is the future," Kaufmann said at a lecture he gave called "A World Without Oil."
According to Kaufmann the days of "eat, drink and gas up" are coming to a close quickly. The oil problem is a well-worn topic of conversation in America today due to high gas prices and war. However, the reason the nation is looking at a scarcity of oil is not political.
"Two-thirds of the world's top oil producing nations have reached their peak in oil production," Kaufman said. "The height of world discovery of oil wells took place in the 1960s. Since 1983 production has exceeded discovery. For every 30 million barrels of oil that are produced only 6 million are discovered."
Demand has overtaken supply by 24 million barrels, and it will not stop there, he said. In the next five to 10 years, world oil will peak. The question is more than what can we put in our gas tanks instead. Kaufmann said oil affects everything. Walking around the classroom on Tuesday night, he pointed out petroleum products: chairs, desks, office supplies, equipment and even his tie. More items in the room were made with oil than not.
"Mr. Kaufmann advises the state of Oregon on policy steps that might be taken to address future energy challenges," biology professor David Boose said. He had initially asked Kaufmann, whose daughter is a student at Gonzaga, to be a guest lecturer in his Human Ecology class, "which looks, from a scientific standpoint, at the impacts that human activities have on our planet."
The Environmental Studies program addresses these kinds of topics.
"The relevance for GU students is that he is talking about your future - and your very near future at that," Boose said.
Dealing with "peak oil" will require the work of scientists, economists, lawyers, engineers, politicians and citizens. The hardest-hit population will be the low-income, Kaufmann said.