The Clean-Energy Equation No One Can Solve Yet
Does the world have enough key minerals?
By Alexander C. Kaufman, The Atlantic
In 1956, the American geologist M. King Hubbert made a startling prediction: In a matter of decades, the supply of fuel on which so much of modern society depended would dwindle. Dubbed the “peak oil” theory, the concept held sway for decades as U.S. production of crude topped out in 1970, then declined. By 2009, however, the numbers started to turn, thanks to offshore drilling and new fracking technology, until U.S. crude oil output surpassed not just the country’s 1970 peak but that of every other crude-pumping nation throughout all of history.
