"Unbeknownst to Westerners, "
Unless they are FReepers. Been hearing about this for a good while now.
Even if oil is not being continually generated in the Earth, it's a fraud. The "Peak oil" theory states that we've discovered all of the oil we'll ever find and that we must switch to some other energy source; that oil as a resource has "peaked". But the amount of oil left in the ground is an unknowable! There are new finds every year. Furthermore there are resources, such as tar sand and oil shale, that we have yet to tap.
The true motivation for declaring oil to have "peaked" is to impose restrictions in the US' usage of oil; and thus, to restrict our economic power. It's the same old, tired, hippie, greenie argument that the US is too wealthy and it's just plain unfair that we should have and use so much; the same crap we hear about CO2 and global warming; the same crap we hear about capital; the same crap we hear about consumer goods; the same crap we hear about the number of Big Macs we eat; that America is just too rich and we must be brought to heel.
Very interesting. bookmark to read more later.
Gold intentionally muddles the distinction between hydrocarbons, which are found on other celestial bodies, and fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas), which are the richest and most easily exploited source of hydrocarbons on Earth. I don't think there's much controversy that hydrocarbons are renewable -- just check out the methane flares at your local landfill.
Sure, all the components of hydrocarbons are present and abundant -- they're still around after the fuels are burned. Conservation of matter is 101-level stuff. In the same sense that there's enough hydrogen and oxygen to create more water than we could ever use for drinking or irrigation. It doesn't mean that it is where we need it or in a form we know how to use ... yet.
I love FR. NO BS science. Yummm.......
Bump
The more informative title of the theory is Peak Easy Oil. Most of the discussion of the theory is completely off point.