The writers' hypothesis in this article is clear, though they do not specifically state it. We need to get off our dependence on oil as an energy source for economic, civil and environmental reasons. The point is important because everyone is aware that oil reserves cannot last forever, and take thousands of years to renew, so alternatives energy sources need to be found now, before we do run out. The authors do not present a great deal of evidence. Rather, they present a summary, an overview of the situation. More detail would have made the essay more hard-hitting and made more of an impression on the reader. As it stands, the paper really just gives a glossed-over view of the situation and does not go into depth on any of the major issues presented. The paper gives sweeping overviews not backed up by any evidence. It would serve well as an introduction tp the topic, but does not stand alone as an in-depth analysis of the situation, as would be expected from the title.
The paper tries to compare energy consumption now to what it was in the pre-industrial era, which is an absolutely useless comparison. No one would expect energy consumption now to bear any relationship to pre-industrial times. Of course the world has changed, and of course it has developed, and populations have grown, so of course energy demands are higher. They would have been even without industrialization. The writers present a graph showing the rise in energy consumption of different types from the 1700s to the present day. This again is a useless illustration because it is inevitable. As populations grow, energy needs grow, and energy consumption increases no matter what form it takes. The graph shows rapid growth in the last 50 years, but populations and industries have grown in the last 50 years, so they are not presenting anything that is new or unexpected and not adding to anyone's current knowledge.
The authors give three reasons why t...