About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherSpringer New York

ISBN-101441976760

ISBN-139781441976765

eBay Product ID (ePID)99496275

Product Key Features

Number of PagesIX, 242 Pages

Publication NameDrilling Down : the Gulf Oil Debacle and Our Energy Dilemma

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2011

SubjectPublic Policy / Energy Policy, Operations Research, Environmental / General, Industries / Energy, Petroleum, Middle East / General

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaPolitical Science, Technology & Engineering, Business & Economics, History

AuthorTadeusz Patzek, Joseph A. Tainter

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Weight13.8 Oz

Item Length9.3 in

Item Width6.1 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2011-935227

Dewey Edition22

ReviewsFrom the reviews:Tainter and Patzek use the story of Gulf oil spill as the background for discussing the energy-complexity spiral, and its relationship to this accident. â€¦ Drilling Down touches on many interesting topics, from details about how extraction is done â€¦ to overviews of how various civilizations have dealt with rising complexity and reduced energy flows. â€¦ The book is well worth â€¦ . With one detail-oriented author, and one 'big picture' author, the book includes something for everyone. (Gail Tverberg, Financial Sense, September, 2011), From the reviews: "Tainter and Patzek use the story of Gulf oil spill as the background for discussing the energy-complexity spiral, and its relationship to this accident. ... Drilling Down touches on many interesting topics, from details about how extraction is done ... to overviews of how various civilizations have dealt with rising complexity and reduced energy flows. ... The book is well worth ... . With one detail-oriented author, and one 'big picture' author, the book includes something for everyone." (Gail Tverberg, Financial Sense, September, 2011)

Number of Volumes1 vol.

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal333.790973

Table Of Content1. Introduction.- 2. The Significance of Oil in the Gulf of Mexico.- 3. The Energy that Runs the World.- 4. Offshore Drilling and Production: A Short History.- 5. The Energy-Complexity Spiral.- 6. The Benefits and Costs of Complexity.- 7. What Happened at the Macondo Well.- 8. Why the Gulf Disaster Happened.- 9. Our Energy and Complexity Dilemma: Prospects for the Future.- Appendix A. Glossary Appendix B. Offshore Production.- Appendix C. Operating an Offshore Platform.- Index.

SynopsisHow did our thirst for energy, our technological prowess, and the end of easy oil conspire to make the Deepwater Horizon oil spill likely? This book explains what caused the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, from which it will take decades to recover., For more than a century, oil has been the engine of growth for a society that delivers an unprecedented standard of living to many. We now take for granted that economic growth is good, necessary, and even inevitable, but also feel a sense of unease about the simultaneous growth of complexity in the processes and institutions that generate and manage that growth. As societies grow more complex through the bounty of cheap energy, they also confront problems that seem to increase in number and severity. In this era of fossil fuels, cheap energy and increasing complexity have been in a mutually-reinforcing spiral. The more energy we have and the more problems our societies confront, the more we grow complex and require still more energy. How did our demand for energy, our technological prowess, the resulting need for complex problem solving, and the end of easy oil conspire to make the Deepwater Horizon oil spill increasingly likely, if not inevitable? This book explains the real causal factors leading up to the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history, a disaster from which it will take decades to recover.

LC Classification NumberGE300-350