What I've Been Reading

I just finished Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: oil and the end of globalization by Jeff Rubin. I first heard about this book when I watched The Hour on CBC and George was interviewing Jeff Rubin. The interview was intriguing and merely scratched the surface.

After reading this book you'll never think the same way about energy consumption, energy conservation, or where your everyday purchases are coming from. I really like the idea of living locally and letting the suburbs grow over and return to farm fields. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of running out of energy for all of our energy sucking appliances and gadgets. Not being able to fly around the world without being a millionaire is also not appealing to me but I may not have an option.

Did you know that it takes 1400 cubic feet of natural gas to produce one barrel of tar-sands oil. This natural gas could definitely be put to better use. According to Rubin "if Canadian oil-sand production ever increased from its present level of approximately 1.2 million barrels per day to the 4 million per day that the oil industry forecasts for 2020, Canada would have to cannibalize its natural-gas exports to the United States to do it. That would mean you could fill up your gas tank but only if you turned the lights off at home."

Did you know that "your standard flight from New York to London burns about 24,000 gallons of jet fuel or 112 gallons per passenger in a Boeing 767. That's as much as a mid-sized American car burns in three months"

One of the other interesting points that Rubin makes is the "head fake" that is energy conservation. Sure we have energy saving appliances and energy saving light bulbs in our homes and that makes us feel like we are cutting down on our energy consumption but energy consumption in general is at an all time high. As Rubin points out "the average air-conditioner is 17 percent more efficient than it was in 1990, [but] the number of air-conditioners in American homes is up 36 percent." Also, "since 1950, the average American home has grown from 1,000 square feet to almost 2,500 square feet today" So, while energy efficient appliances and other energy saving improvements to our homes have allowed us to use energy more cheaply we are living in bigger homes that have many more appliances than ever before. Ask yourself, do I really need 3 TVs and 2 computers? Do I really need a heated garage?

Overall, this book is fascinating and is based on proven and sound economics. Even if half of what Rubin predicts comes to fruition, we are all in for a big change - and maybe that is a good thing.