Glenn Stewart Coles, 9251 Yonge Street, Suite 8-924, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, L4C 9T3
Text Box: As discussed in last week’s column, our civilization is dependent on oil and supplies are limited. When the car was invented only one hundred years ago, crude oil was first utilized as an energy source. We now derive much of our energy and all of our plastics from crude oil. In forty or fifty years the accessible crude oil supply will be depleted. What are we going to do? The most immediate consideration is harvesting of shale rock from the middle United States. Like oil, shale rock is carbon based, and the amount of accessible shale rock is actually more than all the oil that existed on planet earth. As the oil supplies diminish, the harvesting of shale rock will grow to supplement our energy requirements. Of course, there are still issues to overcome. Firstly, current processing capabilities require a lot of energy. While the ratio of energy required / energy gained is thirty-to-one for crude oil, it is only three-to-one for shale rock. In addition, the processing creates toxic waste, and severely pollutes water. The environment impact of mining millions of tons of rock from the middle of the continent must also be considered. Ultimately, the discovery of a cheaper and cleaner process for shale rock is essential during our transition from an oil-based civilization. Even the shale rock is limited, and only adds another hundred years at projected usage. As our civilization grows, the need for energy will be greater than the supply. Many people will go without the basic needs for survival, and many will suffer. Nations that are currently underdeveloped will not be able to catch up, as the rising costs of oil and plastics will prevent investment. To survive as a species, we cannot be dependent upon burning oil for energy. Instead, it is time for humanity to develop a new energy source. To create a balanced eco-system, this energy source must utilize resources that exist in abundance. We require the ability to capture and store this energy, and to be able to release it with regulation. Our utilization of this new energy source will not release harmful components into our environment, and may in fact improve the health of our planet. The energy source must be both cost-efficient and processing-efficient. We must increase our use of energy that already exists in abundance. Collecting the energy of the wind and the sun is within our current means. Our technology for building windmills and solar panels is advanced, and usage is growing. Underdeveloped nations such as India and China would be wise to base their growth strategies on renewable resources rather than oil. In developed nations, building codes could be changed to require energy collection capabilities within every new house and building. A current source of scientific investigation for energy involves hydrogen. A process known as electrolysis can separate hydrogen and oxygen atoms from the molecules of seawater. The hydrogen molecules contain energy that can be stored in a battery and used for later power. Current limitations involve processing, since the energy required to collect the hydrogen is greater than the amount produced. In addition, the technology to store and deliver hydrogen is vastly expensive, and all of our technology would have to be converted. Ultimately, as our science and capabilities advance, we are capable of learning how to manipulate matter at the atomic level. When we do, we can utilize abundant resources, such as seawater and carbon dioxide, and harvest the energy. In order to survive, our knowledge and interaction with matter must change. To achieve this as a species, our expectations and actions must change. There are numerous other possibilities to consider for the replacement for oil. Energy can be derived from vegetable oils, and certain plants can be distilled into biological fuel. There are other things to burn on our planet, but none are capable of releasing the amount of energy held in crude oil. In addition, one benefit of changing from oil-based civilization can be a dramatic reduction of pollutants, if we choose to stop burning things. It is likely that future discoveries are beyond our current knowledge. Perhaps certain crystals can be used as tuning devices to access the continuous resonant energy of our universe. Everything that exists is actually an energy field, and all matter is actually energy when observed at a sub-atomic level. Perhaps all we need to do is discover how to tune into the universal energy, much like tuning in a radio station. By accessing the harmonic resonance of the universe, focused and redirected through crystals, we could tap into the ultimate energy source. Crystal Resonance Energy could be readily available, easily managed, and with no waste products. The details of future discoveries will come when they are supposed to. Today there is one fact that cannot be ignored. As a civilization, we must find alternatives to burning fossil fuels for energy. We have known for some time that we were damaging our planet through pollution, but that was not enough to force us to change. Now the realization that supplies are limited reveals no other options. Despite all of our previous discoveries, we must change how things work. Next week’s column will investigate the political and social ramifications of shrinking oil resources. © Copyright Glenn Stewart Coles, 2006 First Published April 9, 2006

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In forty or fifty years the accessible crude oil supply will be depleted. What are we going to do?