Coal Futures

With the price of gasoline so volatile of late, it is not hard to accept the argument that the world may be entering the period of "peak oil," a time in which the extraction of oil from the ground becomes limited by geological constraints on the amount globally available. Resource analysts differ in their assessments. Some believe the peak in oil production from conventional sources (which is to say, easily exploited ones) has already arrived. Others project that this key turning point may not come for another decade or more.

But one thing is for sure: The notion of peak oil has been on lots of people's minds. Books and Web sites are full of the topic. Now a new study from a European organization called the Energy Watch Group proposes another daunting prospect: that the world might soon have to grapple with a peak in the production of coal, too....

Published in: American Scientist, July-August 2007
Available from: American Scientist