JimmyT, here is a link to a Scientific American article from 1998, which describes the problem. The book I mention in my previous post also ties Chinese and Indian energy consumption curves to the info in the SciAm article to find that soon, oil will become so expensive it may break down the world economy.

http://dieoff.org/page140.htm

We aren’t running out of oil. We are just using it way too fast, and we have crossed over the peak of world total production. We will have to take drastic steps to just survive peacefully until focus fusion and/or other similar projects come to fruition. That is why this project is so important, why this website is important, and why the people working on the project are very important.

One other consideration is man-made, CO2-based global warming. If it is true (there is still debate) then it needs to be worked on now. Anything we do to offset the increases in crude oil use in the growing economies in Asia needs to not add to the CO2 problem.