Hasbeen, Im past worrying...ever since it conclusively dawnwed on me we no longer behave as a homo sapien(or 'reasoning man' tranlated from latin) but homo roboticus extinctus(not sure of latin translation on that one)...

so even with all the methane that may theoritically exist...looking at whats happening arround us, including Bazz point of Italian prime minister still trying the cold faced deceit tactic, that Obama mastered, on the population just to get through his current issues...thats where the effort is going...no one is realistically tackling the issues....

and the energy crunch...when it comes...the population energy consumption momentum is too large for any quick fix...so...you know the rest...

sam
just turn the tv off...and actively seek out some basic facts...would be a good startme thinks...

Sam your problem seems to be a belief in government, & what it will do about all this.

Well lets hope they do bugger all. That's why I hate talk of leadership. All the leadership I have read about just got a lot of people killed. It is the last thing we need from government.

We need a government to manage the shop, with minimum input. We need them to get out of the way, & take the academics with them, & let real people do what they do best. Have ideas, & do things to implement those ideas.

Fracking has not come from any government sponsored research, but damn fool windmills have. What more proof do you need.

Companies are even now exploring how to harvest the methane clathrate off Japan. Many will loose their shirts proving up a successful method of harvesting, but if government is not involved, it won't be our shirt.

As with the stone age not finishing because of a lack of stones, the oil age will finish, because someone, not government, has developed a better fuel.

All we need now is government out of the way, & if they'll take the greenie rabble with them, all will be well.

Savas;
I read a couple of months ago the book The End of Growth by Richard Heinberg.
He discusses how energy relates to growth and how we have reached our
present predicament. That and other articles I have read explain how
the cost of energy eats into your GDP.
In 2007-2008 the US's rising cost of oil was such that it reached 4%
of their GDP and the economy collapsed.
The reason that the economy collapses is because we rely on GDP to
repay loans and interest.
It is the best documented case of the cause of 11 of the last 12
recessions being proceeded by a spike in oil prices.
What is not certain is whether this 4% is valid for all economies in
developted countries. With so much mineral export here the figure might be 5 or 6 %.

The cost of fuel is also the cause of increased food prices which is
why the UN is in a flap about food supplies.
Welcome to the post peak oil world.

For all those so deeply in denial that they cannot see the wood for the trees, consider this:
There are 95,500 new cars hitting the world’s roads EACH day.
There is no way that there can ever now be an increase in oil production to accommodate that.
This does not include use of oil for other uses such as agriculture, power supply and just about anything that you look at in your home or car.
Forget BAU, it is not going to happen. Sorry guys but you are clutching at straws.

Hasbeen said;
As with the stone age not finishing because of a lack of stones, the
oil age will finish, because someone, not government, has developed a
better fuel.

I don't think we will need government direct intervention if the
windback is gradual as they will just increase public transport as a
matter of course.

The difficulty is the energy density of oil, diesel petrol etc.
Every suggestion that comes up has a scaling problem and usually a
poorer ERoEI (Energy Return on Energy Invested), eg ethanol, but of
course we all can be optimistic and expect that the magic bullet will
turn up.

The oil sands are an example of the problem, we (ie the world), can
afford to use it provided it is mixed with cheaper oil. If all the
oil was at the oil sands break even price (approx $90) we just could
not afford to put it in our tanks. I have seen reports that the oil
sands maximum output will be about 5 Mbd limited by the available
water and natural gas to heat the sand.
Also the ERoEI is rather poor 1:4 if I remember correctly.

No, what will happen is that oil's uses will gradually be restricted
because of price and the price will be forced up as supply fails to
meet demand.

I don't think that there will be a collapse, but a wind back to public
transport, a decrease in the number of cars and a fairly fast
reduction in air travel. But then I am an optimist.
This mornings Qantas news is probably a straw in the wind.

However, I think we should presume that Hasbeen's magic bullet will
not turn up, and act as though there will be no substitute and we
have to wind back on oil and natural gas based technologies.

What is the cut off price for petrol $2 / lt maybe. then there won't be enough public transport to go around. 4wd's will rot in paddocks. Even more small korean cars. Pushbikes with motors, Registered of course.
That is what it will take to make it attractive enough, for alt fuels to start appearing at $1.99 / lt. The carbon price will aid that change also. Get your own power supply for home, and leave grid power for industry. Or else wait till your power is cut off during the day before doing something.
Refrigerators run well on batteries, every thing else can be shut down.
Do not leave it till the last minute, Change is inevitable.