Peak Oil is You
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Page added on December 21, 2014
A year in a word: Peak
The humble word has become a fully-fledged ‘thing’, writes Jonathan Ford
Peak
noun – 1. The pointy top of a mountain; 2. The stiff brim at the front of a cap.
adj – At the highest level, maximum, as in “peak condition”.
colloq, vulg: very good or very bad, as in “Oh man, that rave was peeaak!!” or “Dude, your girl is giving you such stick nowadays, that’s peak.”
It all started with “peak oil” — a rather dry expression referring to a long-discredited theory about US oil production*. But 2014 was the year the humble word “peak” shook off its association with fossil fuels and became a fully fledged “thing”.
The transformation kicked off in April, when Australian researchers announced that the world had reached “peak beard”. Hipsters had jumped the shark on desirable hirsuteness; razors were back in.
The revelation dislodged a landslide of other “peaks”. We’ve had peak Shoreditch, peak hipsters (natch) and even peak ramen. No event, however trivial, seems able to escape being “peaked”. The closure of the Crumbs bakery in New York led to panicked tweets about hitting “peak cupcake”, while the opening of a café selling overpriced bowls of cereal in one of London’s poorest boroughs prompted anguished cries about “peak gentrification”.
There is a joke here, of course. Oil may be a scarce resource – but peak kitten, or salmon?
The good news is that peak is unlikely to be confined permanently to this clichéd cul-de-sac. The peak trope is a “snowclone”, a templated phrase capable of infinite adaptation, such as “yellow is the new black” or “we are all Falklanders now”. With time, they all fade. So as we head into 2015, we can only hope that one peak has now been passed: peak peak.
*The petroleum economist Marion King Hubbert predicted in 1956 that US oil production would peak in the early 1970s. It is now far higher.
12 Comments on "A year in a word: Peak"
Bandits on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 12:28 pm
“*The petroleum economist Marion King Hubbert predicted in 1956 that US oil production would peak in the early 1970s. It is now far higher”
The level of peak oil knowledge is plunging faster than the price, its not far off moron level.
rockman on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 2:25 pm
US monthly oil production: December 1970 – 308,264,000.
Latest US monthly oil production: September 2014 – 265,591,000. Down from 269,588,000 in the previous month.
Close but not there yet. But again, who with any f*cking sense gives a sh*t?. LOL. Adjusted for inflation the price of oil when it peaked in 1970 was only 25% of the average price in 2014. Now if oil drops to $21/bbl for the next year or two as it was in 1970 and we see the US oil break that 44 yo peak that could be something brag about.
In the meantime we’ll just have to suffer idiots like this who think the US oil rate is so much more important then the effects of high energy costs on the economy.
Harquebus on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 6:04 pm
“It all started with “peak oil” — a rather dry expression referring to a long-discredited theory”
Peak oil is an observation, not a theory.
The bottom line appears to me to be, the world can not afford +$100/bl oil and oil producers can not increase production without it. Peak growth.
Apneaman on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 6:13 pm
Will we ever see Peak Bullshit from these fake journalists?
Finical Times is owned by Pearson PLC. Take a look at their shit and decide who’s team they play for.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_PLC
Makati1 on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 7:27 pm
The end is near. Bullshit is raining down by the truck loads in the MSM. Duck and Cover!
Makati1 on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 7:29 pm
BTW: The pic shows the Grand Teton mountains from the Wyoming side, if I am not mistaken. It was a beautiful place in 1965. I heard that it has been infested with Federal Reserve vermin lately.
hculliton on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 7:38 pm
Apnea man: Well said sir! Unfortunately bullshit is the only substance that is truly limitless. If only we could figure out how to convert it into useful energy.
Plantagenet on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 8:31 pm
We’ll probably hit peak oil on $50bbl oil in 2015. Peak oil for $100 bbl oil will take a little longer
tahoe1780 on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 11:08 pm
Plantagenet – Not if we again change the definition of “oil” to include the water cut.
Nony on Sun, 21st Dec 2014 11:25 pm
Rock, open the ANWAR, GOM, and VACAPES. We’ve already proven that US drilling can have an impact. Look how much production we added and the impact it finally had one price. Drill, baby, drill worked. Open up those Federal lands that your treehugger commie Donkocrat buds are keeping off limits and we will rock this pig!
Makati1 on Mon, 22nd Dec 2014 7:15 am
Nony, the best thing that could happen for the survival of the human species is the total collapse of the system that underpins the recovery of hydrocarbons. The whole system of waste needs to end now. Not in a few years or 2050, but today. Unfortunately, we will probably take our species to extinction rather than change our wasteful habits.
Apneaman on Mon, 22nd Dec 2014 9:33 am
hculliton, If we could only find a way to connect Rush Limbaugh’s jaw to a generator we’d be good as gold.