Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Fossil-fuel resources running out: scientist
DAVID Hughes, a geoscientist who studied Canada's energy resources for 32 years with the Geological Survey of Canada, does not mince words when it comes to his views on the earth's fossil-fuel resources.
Speaking at the Future of Trucking Symposium in Winnipeg on Thursday, Hughes said production of non-renewable fossil fuels will likely peak early this century. He said some noted experts believe that happened in 2008.
That will mean the end of cheap energy to fuel the global supply chain.
"The existing paradigm is over, whether we like it or not," he said. "It is just a question of time."
There are many who dispute the timing of the urgent warnings of the so-called "peak oil" scientists like Hughes, but there is agreement that there is no silver bullet.
"But there is whole bunch of little things we can do," Hughes said, including increasing use of solar, wind and geothermal energy.
"The biggest thing is to figure out ways to radically reduce consumption," he said. "Not burning fossil fuels is the biggest source of future energy."
He said declining oil and gas supplies will mean more localized economies and shortened supply chains.
"We need to bring manufacturing back here from offshore, even if it costs more now," he said.
-- Martin Cash
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 19, 2010 B4
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