Energy Resources in an Uncertain Future: Coal, Gas, Oil, and Uranium Supply Forecasting

This book analyzes the economics of resource and reserve estimation. Current concern about energy problems has focused attention on how we measure available energy resources. The five parts of this book take an in-depth look at resource and reserve estimation for oil, gas, coal, and uranium. The goal is not to provide a good estimate of what lies beneath the surface of the earth, but to deal with the crucial concepts lying behind resource and reserve estimation. What do geologists measure and how well does this interact with the economists' notion of supply. The fault in estimation is rarely geological but, rather, economic. The concept of abundance is an economic one, and the authors ask what geological information means when interpreted in light of economic reasoning. The 27 chapters of the book are distributed under 6 parts, including an introductory part. A separate abstract was prepared for each of the 6 parts.