Name: Planning for the end of oil
Uploaded: 2010-05-20T10:53:00Z
Duration: 6 min 35 s
Description: As the world's attention focuses on the perils of oil exploration, we present Richard Sears' talk from early February 2010. Sears, an expert in developing new energy resources, talks about our inevitable and necessary move away from oil. Toward ... what?

As the world's attention focuses on the perils of oil exploration, we present Richard Sears' talk from early February 2010. Sears, an expert in developing new energy resources, talks about our inevitable and necessary move away from oil. Toward ... what?

Planning for the end of oil

Energy systems have shifted over centuries from wood to coal to oil, and now oil’s share is steadily declining. Despite nearly 100 trillion gallons of oil remaining, history shows that new technologies and ideas—not resource depletion—drive these transitions. Just as the abalone creates a material far tougher than chalk from the same basic ingredient, future breakthroughs could reshape energy by rearranging molecules for greater efficiency. The Stone Age ended not for lack of stones, but because people invented something better.