A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an... by Peter Tertzakian

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A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an...
Available from Amazon
Price: $16.98
Updated on 6-28-2008.

Features

Audio CD

Publisher: American Media International; Abridged edition (April 25, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1933309415

ISBN-13: 978-1933309415

Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches

Shipping Weight: 4 ounces ()

From Publishers Weekly
Though written by an energy industry investment analyst and intended primarily for investors, this book makes a convincing, layreader-friendly case that the end of oil is nigh and it's time to get serious about energy alternatives now that the world is at "the dawn of a new energy age" that will pit the U.S. against China in the struggle for oil. Tertzakian provides an excellent primer on oil's history, uses, supply chains and politics, including dozens of charts and graphs to illustrate the bleak outlook for oil's future. The future of energy, Tertzakian advises, is an amalgamation of increasing dependence on alternative fuels (biofuel, nuclear and green sources) and conservation. He admits conservation is a tough sell for big earners who will be able to afford the $4 per gallon gasoline will inevitably cost, but he notes in the same breath that low- and moderate-income earners and energy inefficient industries will suffer the most. His analyses of energy consumption cycles and their breakpoints and rebalancing periods (when a fossil fuel becomes too expensive or difficult to obtain and society must change sources to maintain its economy) lend factual heft to his outlook. Though the author neglects significant facts-such as the influence of the CIA in the fall of Mossadegh in Iran and the threat of global warming-the book should be required reading for policymakers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
The coming "break point" Tertzakian describes--more a period than a moment, really--is the next 5 to 10 years, during which rising oil prices and market volatility will force structural changes in how we extract and expend energy. Both a chronicle of previous break points and their consequences--including the shifts from whale oil to kerosene lighting, coal- to oil-fueled navies, and steam to electric engines--and a carefully considered economic analysis of our present conundrum, this book offers no magic-bullet solution to the increasingly uncomfortable primacy of petroleum as the world's fuel of choice. Nor is it as alarmist as its title suggests, although Tertzakian harbors no illusions about the discomfort the next decades will bring. Rather, his cost-benefit analysis points toward pursuing a plurality of minor incremental solutions (mostly familiar, like smaller cars and biodiesel) as the next major fuel source (sorry, probably not hydrogen) emerges. Refreshingly measured and pragmatic, this account also is illuminating as a quick historical primer of the oil industry. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an Energy Dependent World (Hardcover) Tertzakian and his book stand as a rare find: a work on a timely topic often argued with little information, written by a man with great expertise in a plain and understandable style. His thesis is sobering. The world currently approaches a tipping point, where growth of demand so out paces growth of supply that a paradigm shift becomes the only way to move forward. Tertzakian offers examples of other such shifts, though none appear as deep as a post fossil fuel age -- whale oil may have stood as a primary lighting source, but it was hardly the basis for the entire economy when demand began outstripping supply. While some may complain about certain of the works shortcomings, such as its failure to consider climate change, Tertzakian's work stands as primarily an economic text as well as a primer on this key industry. His choice to focus his book, far from a flaw, inures to his credit. Further to his credit, this author does not pretend that any magic bullet will deal with the situation, nor does he claim to have a crystal ball and map out the future. Instead, he offers a fine primer from which to begin a crucial conversation. For this alone, he has great credit. All of us would do well to read this fine work. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)

A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an...
Available from Amazon
Price: $16.98
Updated on 6-28-2008.