The Oil Drum

I had thought that the short thread that has run through my last few posts – relating to the imminence of a fuels crisis, and the lack of political perception of the problem, had run out. And then I read the piece from Salon that threadbot had as the top story on Drumbeat on Sunday. Taken with a conversation that I had with the Nurse (who lives in Ottawa) today, it led me to this additional comment. And to put that in context, for those who live further South, while Ottawa might get about 100 inches (250 cm) of snow in a normal winter, this year it has had more than 166 inches (421 cm) and the snows are not over. Part of the reason that I bring this up, in context of the Salon article, was the line in that article that said (and I recognize that I am taking it a little out of context)

And for that only one alternative fuel is even remotely plausible -- carbon-free electricity.

And my tiny mind asks, where, with a 20-inch (50 cm) snowstorm does one find this source to supply a city of 1,148,800 inhabitants in the short term.

This past week Exxon Mobil announced the closure of their operating coal mine in Illinois, and their departure from the coal business. For those who worry most about greenhouse gas emissions this might seem to be a step forward, and, while I will likely write about that issue some other time, I would rather express a different concern today. Electric power is a fundamental part of our everyday life. Outside of the impact of the occasional storm, we expect that when we flip a light switch, the light will go on. Yet few give much thought to the power station that is generating that power. In recent years the new power stations that have been built have largely got their power from natural gas. But if the world oil is within that zone that we will, in future years, refer to as the peak plateau, the state of US Natural Gas is in a much more perilous position.