Drilling down: the gulf oil debacle and our energy dilemma

For more than a century, oil has been the engine of growth for a society thatdelivers an unprecedented standard of living to many. We now take for grantedthat economic growth is good, necessary, and even inevitable, but also feel asense of unease about the simultaneous growth of complexity in the processes and institutions that generate and manage that growth. As societies grow more complex through the bounty of cheap energy, they also confront problems that seem to increase in number and severity. In this era of fossil fuels, cheap energy and increasing complexity have been in a mutually-reinforcing spiral. The more energy we have and the more problems our societies confront, the more we grow complex and require still more energy. How did our demand for energy, ourtechnological prowess, the resulting need for complex problem solving, and the end of easy oil conspire to make the Deepwater Horizon oil spill increasingly likely, if not inevitable? This book explains the real causal factors leading up to the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history, a disaster from which it will take decades to recover. A world expert on oil technology and one of our foremost social commentators, the author of “The Collapse of Complex Societies,” join forces to:. Lead you on a fascinating tour from the events on the Deepwater Horizon to the processes in society that made the tragedy nearly inevitable. Explain the energy-complexity spiral that governs our way of life. Take you beyond the headlines, finger pointing, and political punditry to the underlying causes of the Gulf catastrophe. Help decision-makers from all walks of life to understand the risksand challenges of managing complex organizations. Discuss energy options for the future. INDICE: 1. Introduction. 2. The Significance of Oil in the Gulf of Mexico.3. The Energy that Runs the World. 4. Offshore Drilling and Production: A Short History. 5. The Energy-Complexity Spiral. 6. The Benefits and Costs of Complexity. 7. What Happened at the Macondo Well. 8. Why the Gulf Disaster Happened. 9. Our Energy and Complexity Dilemma: Prospects for the Future. Appendix A.Glossary. Appendix B. Offshore Production. Appendix C. Operating an Offshore Platform. Index.

• ISBN: 978-1-4419-7676-5
• Editorial: Springer New York
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Páginas: 230
• Fecha Publicación: 28/10/2011
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés