The high oil price and warnings by the international energy agencies about possible oil and gas supply disruptions have brought the energy question back to headline news. While facts about the world's energy use and the different energy resources are easily available, the debate about the energy problem is, even within the scientific community, dominated by many myths, folktales and even fairytales.
This talk confronts these fantasies with the physics laws and facts about our energy sources and their use. Scenarios for the future of the industrialized and the so-called developing world are confronted with today's scientific understanding of the energetic 'limits of growth'.
Are we approaching the natural limits? And if so what consequences can be imagined for our energy-intense societies?
