Held at UCL on Tuesday 14 January 2014
'Peak oil' suggests that global oil production will reach a maximum level and subsequently decline terminally. For many years this has been the subject of a fervent debate, with numerous questions over its likelihood, what might drive such a peak, and (most frequently) the date on which it might occur. Some argued that the peak was inevitable and likely to occur imminently (or indeed has already occurred), while others dismissed the concept as unnecessary scaremongering. Recently, principally because of the rapid rise of production of tight oil in North America, many of those who had accepted that peak oil was a relevant concern have begun to question their positions on the issue. However, this remains a contested area, with numerous strong opinions that are not always supported by robust evidence.
This talk will review the principles behind the peak oil debate, explore why there remains such a range in projections of future global oil production, and discuss whether peak oil is still, or ever was, a relevant subject.
About the speaker:
Christophe joined the UCL Energy Institute in 2010 and the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources in 2013. He recently completed his PhD that looked at uncertainties in medium and long-term projections of oil and gas production. His research now focuses on modelling the volumes and locations of fossil fuels that are, and are not, required in the transition to a global low-carbon energy system, and the potential role that natural gas could play during this transition. He has written a number of papers on oil and gas, and was lead author for a systematic review of shale gas resource potential for the European Commission.
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