[RickSp]

The world will not end. The reserves will not run out. They will decline. Oil will become scarcer and more expensive to produce. Electricy production will shift to coal or hydro. Countries like Poland already produces close to 100 % of all electric power from coal. New Zealand and Canda each already produce 75% of their electricy from hydro. Over half of the power in the US is produced from coal, nukes or hydro.

Transportation is a bigger problem than electricity. That being said, Brazil is using ethanol on about half the autos on the road. Likewise the Germans during WII and more recently the South Africans converted coal to gasoline. It cost more but then higher oil proces and better technolgoy could make it feasible. The huge US grain surplus might be seen as a great resource if vehicles in the US are converted to burning ethanol.

All I am suggesting is that while energy prices will rise, things may not change too much. As energy gets more expensive, we will not waste it so carelessly. Pollution will still be a problem. New technolgies will be used to make coal burning less polluting. New energy sources will be developed. Many things will change, most will not.