When people say they’re ‘burning the
Whale oil was consumed in ornate brass and porcelain lamps for light. It was also used as candle
wax, and it was sometimes employed to treat raw wool before the fiber was combed and woven
into thread. This substance was the first animal oil to achieve
commercial viability. But what happened? As whales became less abundant the cost
of this commodity climbed until it was priced out of reach of the average
consumer - alternatives had to be found. Does this scenario sound familiar? Could
this planet’s crude oil reserves soon become as scarce as its whales?
At a meeting of the American Petroleum Institute in 1956 a
man named King Hubbert referenced whale oil when he made his now famous
prediction that global petroleum production would peak in the early 1970s. He
became an industry celebrity when his forecast came true. Crude oil prices did
rise sharply in March 1973 when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) ceased shipments to the
Lets look at the whales again... Sperm whale oil sold for $200 a barrel in 1823 (equivalent
price by 2003 standards*), but by 1855 this animal product was fetching more
than seven times that amount. When a whaling ship named Triton arrived back in Portsmouth in 1833 it boasted a cargo of five
hundred barrels of high quality oil which sold for almost half a million dollars*.
Every sailor on the manifest was a rich man, and captain Charles Cushing was
able to buy his own boat Plato. But
the golden age of commercial whaling was coming to a close; years later, peak
prices crashed the market as consumers sought and developed cheaper substitutes.
Kerosene was introduced in the 1860’s and the electric light bulb was born in
1874.
With crude oil valued at just under sixty dollars a barrel, are we experiencing
King Hubbert’s peak oil right now? How much longer before gasoline is hunted and
quarried to extinction? If we follow
Hubbert’s model, petroleum prices will begin to drop as the market shifts to
cheaper alternatives… but why are these replacements so slow coming to market? Critics will tell you
that green energy is still years away from commercial viability – don’t listen
to them. Green energy is here and ready to be utilized today.
Energy conscious Canadians can find a myriad of options all
over the internet: Electric cars can be ordered online here. Solar panels
are available here .
One hundred and fifty years ago humanity shifted its energy appetite away from whale oil as that commodity's supply and demand curve peaked. In the age of peak oil, our energy inclinations must change again. Mankind must wean itself off mineral fuel and onto vegetable fuel as we mature into a more efficient, environmentally conscious species.
‘You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.’
Buckminster Fuller, Critical Path 1982
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Alternative fuel source for the fossil fuel by
making use of the oil extracted from jatropha curcas
seeds, which is then converted into biodiesel for
industrial and automotive uses.
Posted by: sharon | July 07, 2008 at 12:45 AM
It was also used as candle wax, and it was sometimes employed to treat raw wool before the fiber was combed and woven into thread. This substance was the first animal oil to achieve commercial viability. But what happened?
Posted by: Merchant Accounts | February 02, 2009 at 09:37 AM
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Posted by: Foberry | September 16, 2013 at 06:51 PM