David Goodstein: Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil

This event was digitally recorded and is available for viewing on the Caltech Theater site.

The world will start to run out of cheap, conventionally produced oil much sooner than most people expect, possibly within this decade. This talk will discuss the reasoning that leads to that conclusion and the likely consequences if it is correct. It may be possible, with considerable difficulty to substitute other fossil fuels for the missing oil, but if we do that we may do irreparable damage to Earth s climate. And even then we would start to run out of all fossil fuels, including coal, probably within this century. Can civilization survive if that happens? We will consider the possibilities.

David Goodstein is Vice Provost, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, and Frank J. Gilloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor at Caltech. He recently authored the book Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil, which will be available for purchase and signing at this event.

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