The military consumes a lot of oil; precisely how much, not even they seem to know. But not only do they buy and consume lots of oil, but they ship it all over the world to whatever theater they need. It isn’t exactly efficient, and the Department of Defense knows it. They’ve been moving towards greener, less oily ideas of getting troops and equipment around, ideas that may one day filter down to the civilian population.
But while the Department of Defense may not know how much oil it uses, it has a good idea of when it will start running short of supplies. A recent report suggests that as soon as 2015 all the surplus oil production could be gone, and production could fall short on the order of 10 million barrels… per day
There are lots of arguments for, and against, peak oil, when it will happen, and just how bad it will be. But as a single entity, the US Military is the top consumer of energy in the world. The military pays as much as $400 a gallon for gas, when you figure in all the shipping, equipment, and personal required to get the fuel where it is destined to go. So when the military is predicting massive shortages just a few years out, we should all tune in and pay attention. (more…)