Energy: Hubbert's Total Fossil Peak
A peak doesn't mean running dry on a fuel. It means that supply rate cannot increase to keep up with demand growth. Peak oil has attention, but all fossil fuels will peak some time. Dumping exhaust gas in the air is only one issue, while high energy use opened many other issues -- and opportunities.
Note the very long timeline below. The fossil fuel era is long compared with human life spans, so we apt to think that it is "normal." In the long reach of history, it is not normal.
M. King Hubbert drew a diagram like this for testimony before Congress in 1974. No one paid attention, of course, just like they paid little attention in the 1950s when he projected American peak oil in 1970. Hubbert did not seriously address "greenhouse gases."
Today there's even speculation on when China will hit "peak coal." They burn it at about twice the U.S. rate, but have about half the known reserves.
