The premature peak of oil will result in the world’s third largest crisis ever, according to Jeremy Leggett from energy company Solarcentury. He took delegates at the Soil Association conference this month through the recently published Peak Oil Taskforce report entitled ‘The Oil Crunch: Securing the UK’s energy future’.

“This outlines the kind of things that can be done if you take a proactive approach,” said Leggett. “The drop in oil production will contribute to the crisis, but will not be the only variable. The oil industry is following the same cultural failing as the financial sector has.

Depletion of crude reserves - if the figures are actually correct - is due to a human failing that runs through the industry itself.”

Leggett revealed that the difference between the financial situation and the predicted oil crisis is that the UK government has now been warned by the report, which was complied by the taskforce of eight companies: Arup, FirstGroup, Foster & Partners, Scottish and Southern Energy, Solarcentury, Stagecoach Group, Virgin Group, Yahoo.

The food and drink sector is the single largest manufacturing sector in the UK and virtually all of the processes in the modern food system are dependent on cheap oil and therefore the price of UK’s food is directly linked to the price of oil. More than 50 per cent of fossil fuels used in agriculture are fed into the production of fertiliser, currently vital to maintaining domestic food supply.

“BP said that there is 40 years of oil supply left - so no need to worry,” he continued. “But we are worried. The Taskforce has discovered that after the discovery rate of oil has gone down just after production takes up. We have a collapsing discovery rate and flow rates will fall from 2013.

“We have three problems, climate, energy and oil. Let’s drag a silver lining one of this cloud. We have to bite the bullet of how deeply you have to go to change our energy source, deal with peak oil and discover the soft landing we failed to do so in the credit crunch.”

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