Peak oil? No, but...

By chance, I have just caught up with yesterday's BBC HARDtalk interview with Fatih Birol, one of the most influential people on the world energy scene. I wasn't expecting a lot of realism from someone who has spent much of his life defending the oil industry. But his final words were these: "With the current trends, we are perfectly in line for a temperature increase up to six degrees Celsius, which would have devastating effects for all of us, rich, poor, South, North... and if there are no major international agreements very soon, around 2017... we may well lock in our energy infrastructure and... say goodbye to our current lifestyle."