The lead story in a recent The Wall Street Journal Report on Innovations In Energy was titled “Get Ready for Peak Oil Demand.” We have been getting ready for the past couple of years. However, in dealing with such a critical issue overhanging the future of this important global industry, the unanswered question is when will oil demand peak and begin to decline. To answer the question one needs to know when those forces reducing oil consumption will become meaningful. Then, one has to know how much the demand will be reduced. The assumptions underlying some of the most pessimistic forecasts for oil consumption treat demand-altering forces as switch-like – once thrown, oil use goes from light to dark, hot to cold, or rising to collapsing. It has a nearly immediate impact. However, it may be more appropriate to view the transition from expanding energy use to shrinking consumption […]