The discussion about the peak oil proposition is as lively as ever across the divide between proponents and opponents.
Peak oil is when the maximum rate of world oil production is reached and the rate enters terminal decline. The idea was proposed by King Hubbert in 1956. He accurately predicted that US oil production would peak between 1965 and 1970 and that world oil production would peak in 1995. However, it did not, due to the rise in oil prices and the persistent substitution of oil by other energy sources in the 1970s and 1980s, thus shifting the time when the peak would be reached.
Some analysts believe that we have already reached peak oil while others — the more optimistic analysts — suggest that the global decline will begin after 2020, with a third group suggesting that none of this will happen.
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