EDITOR’S PAGE. DOES OIL SHALE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT FUTURE?; pp. 1–5

Modern civilization and, in particular, industrial civilization, which concentrates on economic growth and improving life styles, is dependent on inexpensive energy, predominantly coal, oil and gas.Of these sources, oil has had the most pronounced effect since it is a relatively safe, transportable, storable and convertible source of energy that has enabled compound growth in oil consumption, particularly in the people and goods transportation sector.This mobility has dramatically altered the way the world's populations live and there is no turning back; so, we are faced with a series of circumstances and realities related to this energy-intensive way of living and developing into the future.While there are numerous studies and publications available relating to the world's energy picture, it is sometimes worthwhile to take a look at past projections and interpretations of key data to see if our more recent understandings have significantly altered these trends.The following are excerpts of a series of graphs and data taken from the book titled Only One Earth by