Oil's not well

Our society's using more oil every year, while reserves are dwindling. "Limitless" supplies have dried up before - in Azerbaijan, Venezuela, the US. As India and China industrialise, our demand will be massively multiplied.

Still we refuse to pay what oil's truly worth in terms of energy produced. Nor are we perfecting the alternate sources to save us when it's gone. Hydrogen fuel and solar cells are decades away from large-scale feasibility.

Even if every car on the road was magically replaced today by a fuel-electric hybrid such as the Toyota Prius, the present level of demand is too great. Our grandchildren will never travel by plane, predicts one expert.

The oil-producing nations are guilty of pretending nothing's wrong. Insiders say they're no longer discovering major deposits - and won't. They have the tech to find oil anywhere, but they've looked almost everywhere.

Granted, companies are now extracting more oil from tar sands in places like Canada. But the process comes at a higher financial and environmental cost. And seems to be an admission traditional sources are running out.

Within 30 years, or maybe 10, we face an energy crisis. Consequences include a stockmarket crash, widespread depression and Iraq many times over as countries fight "resource wars" for the oil and natural gas remaining.

It's World Environment Day, I've been to see the doco "A Crude Awakening" and I'm worried.