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Rating: 
- Interesting but speculative discussion on post-industrial, post-Peak Oil societies
Richard Heinberg's book, The Party's Over - Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, is an overview of Peak Oil issues; the situation where easily recoverable and inexpensive oil reaches a maximum level of global output but demand continues to rise, leaving a net energy loss for its consumers.
The book is divided into six logical chapters (and a 2005 updated Afterword), beginning with (1) what is energy and how have civilisations harnessed it over the centuries, moving through to (2) the industrial interval and what impact oil has played on the domestic and geopolitical scene, then looking at (3) how Peak Oil is actually ascertained. Chapter 4 gives a review of the potential of non-petroleum energy sources (coal, nuclear, the renewables (wind, solar et cetera), hydrogen and even zero point technology). These first four chapters are where the book is strongest, relying as they do on solid, multidisciplinary research. The concluding two chapters are unfortunately weak.
Chapter 5 discusses how modern societies might be affected by having less access to energy - on the economy, transportation, environment, public health, inter/national politics. Chapter 6 presents thoughts on what we as individuals, communities and nations can do to ease our transition from competitive societies predicated on continual growth and expansion, to societies based on slower, co-operative, lower impact organisations, due to less net energy availability.
The final two chapters are the weakest because they are speculative. It could be argued that Heinberg does not pull his speculations out of thin air, that he is extrapolating from a reasonable hypothesis but ultimately, it is no more (or no less) than informed guesswork. At best, Heinberg is at least not simply being a harbinger of impending doom but providing some debate as to what direction nation-states should take, as and when it is realised by the population at large that the era of cheap oil is over.
The subject of Peak Oil is a massive subject and no one book can of course claim to be truly all-encompassing and authoritative on any subject but unfortunately, Richard Heinberg devotes too much of his attention to speculative areas and ignores larger realities, such as how can less developed countries like India and China leapfrog the fossil fuel era and still improve the standard of living of the great majority of their inhabitants? The Party's Over is well written and thought-provoking and Heinberg does at least provide the basis for debate about where to next take post-industrial societies but as a third of the book contains conjecture and hypothesising, this isn't the sobering wake-up call that it could have been.
Rating:
- An excellent broad overview of peak oil
There are many books on the subject of peak oil with authors coming from different perspectives. Some come from people who work or have worked in the oil industry (like petroleum geologists Colin Campbell or Kenneth Deffeyss) while others are in journalism like David Strahan (author of the excellent 'Last Oil Shock').
Heinberg's background is social anthropology and this book reflects that. What's good about this book is that it takes a really wide view on the subject. It describes the basic laws of energy in physics (1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics) and looks at energy use through mankinds evolution. It also has a great history of oils use during the twentieth century including the previous oil shocks, the way General Motors and co stripped US cities of there train systems and much more. It has section on the effects of peak oil from food production to economics.
The writing is packed full of facts but is clear and easy to understand. The chapters are divided up logically and you don't have to be read them in any particular order.
More than any other book I've read on the subject this is the book I most go back to. Even though it's a few years old now the fact it takes this wide overview means it's unlikely to go out of date any time soon.
If you want to learn about the most important and disturbing subject of our times this book is great place to start.
Rating:
- Alarmist
A biased and very exaggerated view of a worst possible case scenario, boardering on the 'loony left'. There is no doubt that this is a very important topic that requires considerable consideration from all levels of society but to suggest that the world is on the verge of collapse and that a form of communism is our only hope is unhelpful and misleading.
There's no doubt that the book is well written and researched but if you're looking for a balanced and well argued book on this subject i suggest you read something else.
Rating: - A warning.
This book is rather depressing and alarming in it's outlook, but maybe this is just what we need. We have to face facts.
Richard Heinberg has gathered evidence from a variety of sources to paint a picture of the future if we continue to use and aim to use non-renewable energy sources. The theory is, and it is a theory that is backed up by most experts, that these sources of energy will become far rarer in the future. This will have economic consequences (ie a major downturn over time) as well as geopolitical (ie more resource-based wars). We are already seeing this played out now (oil price shooting up, Iraq etc).
The outlook is gloomy.
Thinking more positively for a second, the book has a great section on the pros and cons of various alternative sources of energy (eg wind/solar etc), and a guess of how the future would look if we took the sensible option. This future is much simpler, and it may not appeal to some, but although not as economically rich as now, perhaps it will be spiritually happier. I believe so.
The book also has a very interesting opening on how we have used energy in the past, all the way up to this oil age.
Although clearly not meaning to be a book about the link between fossil fuel use and global warming (there are other depressing books about that!), I think Richard Heinberg could have included a separate, small section, just to give added impetus to the movement towards renewable sources of energy.
I would also have liked to read even more about why current governments do not make the move to renewables (cost, links with oil/car industry, lobbying etc) - just to see the forces we're up against.
Overall, a great book.
Rating: - Start here!
Having read many, many books on Peak Oil and the future of modern industrial society, i can say that this is the best and most comprehensive of those works. Anyone interested in wars, oil or the future of the human race should start here. A fascinating and worrying read!
- Interesting but speculative discussion on post-industrial, post-Peak Oil societiesRichard Heinberg's book, The Party's Over - Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, is an overview of Peak Oil issues; the situation where easily recoverable and inexpensive oil reaches a maximum level of global output but demand continues to rise, leaving a net energy loss for its consumers.
The book is divided into six logical chapters (and a 2005 updated Afterword), beginning with (1) what is energy and how have civilisations harnessed it over the centuries, moving through to (2) the industrial interval and what impact oil has played on the domestic and geopolitical scene, then looking at (3) how Peak Oil is actually ascertained. Chapter 4 gives a review of the potential of non-petroleum energy sources (coal, nuclear, the renewables (wind, solar et cetera), hydrogen and even zero point technology). These first four chapters are where the book is strongest, relying as they do on solid, multidisciplinary research. The concluding two chapters are unfortunately weak.
Chapter 5 discusses how modern societies might be affected by having less access to energy - on the economy, transportation, environment, public health, inter/national politics. Chapter 6 presents thoughts on what we as individuals, communities and nations can do to ease our transition from competitive societies predicated on continual growth and expansion, to societies based on slower, co-operative, lower impact organisations, due to less net energy availability.
The final two chapters are the weakest because they are speculative. It could be argued that Heinberg does not pull his speculations out of thin air, that he is extrapolating from a reasonable hypothesis but ultimately, it is no more (or no less) than informed guesswork. At best, Heinberg is at least not simply being a harbinger of impending doom but providing some debate as to what direction nation-states should take, as and when it is realised by the population at large that the era of cheap oil is over.
The subject of Peak Oil is a massive subject and no one book can of course claim to be truly all-encompassing and authoritative on any subject but unfortunately, Richard Heinberg devotes too much of his attention to speculative areas and ignores larger realities, such as how can less developed countries like India and China leapfrog the fossil fuel era and still improve the standard of living of the great majority of their inhabitants? The Party's Over is well written and thought-provoking and Heinberg does at least provide the basis for debate about where to next take post-industrial societies but as a third of the book contains conjecture and hypothesising, this isn't the sobering wake-up call that it could have been.
Rating:
- An excellent broad overview of peak oilThere are many books on the subject of peak oil with authors coming from different perspectives. Some come from people who work or have worked in the oil industry (like petroleum geologists Colin Campbell or Kenneth Deffeyss) while others are in journalism like David Strahan (author of the excellent 'Last Oil Shock').
Heinberg's background is social anthropology and this book reflects that. What's good about this book is that it takes a really wide view on the subject. It describes the basic laws of energy in physics (1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics) and looks at energy use through mankinds evolution. It also has a great history of oils use during the twentieth century including the previous oil shocks, the way General Motors and co stripped US cities of there train systems and much more. It has section on the effects of peak oil from food production to economics.
The writing is packed full of facts but is clear and easy to understand. The chapters are divided up logically and you don't have to be read them in any particular order.
More than any other book I've read on the subject this is the book I most go back to. Even though it's a few years old now the fact it takes this wide overview means it's unlikely to go out of date any time soon.
If you want to learn about the most important and disturbing subject of our times this book is great place to start.
Rating:
- Alarmist A biased and very exaggerated view of a worst possible case scenario, boardering on the 'loony left'. There is no doubt that this is a very important topic that requires considerable consideration from all levels of society but to suggest that the world is on the verge of collapse and that a form of communism is our only hope is unhelpful and misleading.
There's no doubt that the book is well written and researched but if you're looking for a balanced and well argued book on this subject i suggest you read something else.
Rating:
- A warning.This book is rather depressing and alarming in it's outlook, but maybe this is just what we need. We have to face facts.
Richard Heinberg has gathered evidence from a variety of sources to paint a picture of the future if we continue to use and aim to use non-renewable energy sources. The theory is, and it is a theory that is backed up by most experts, that these sources of energy will become far rarer in the future. This will have economic consequences (ie a major downturn over time) as well as geopolitical (ie more resource-based wars). We are already seeing this played out now (oil price shooting up, Iraq etc).
The outlook is gloomy.
Thinking more positively for a second, the book has a great section on the pros and cons of various alternative sources of energy (eg wind/solar etc), and a guess of how the future would look if we took the sensible option. This future is much simpler, and it may not appeal to some, but although not as economically rich as now, perhaps it will be spiritually happier. I believe so.
The book also has a very interesting opening on how we have used energy in the past, all the way up to this oil age.
Although clearly not meaning to be a book about the link between fossil fuel use and global warming (there are other depressing books about that!), I think Richard Heinberg could have included a separate, small section, just to give added impetus to the movement towards renewable sources of energy.
I would also have liked to read even more about why current governments do not make the move to renewables (cost, links with oil/car industry, lobbying etc) - just to see the forces we're up against.
Overall, a great book.
Rating:
- Start here!Having read many, many books on Peak Oil and the future of modern industrial society, i can say that this is the best and most comprehensive of those works. Anyone interested in wars, oil or the future of the human race should start here. A fascinating and worrying read!
