GeoDestinies
The inevitable control of Earth resources over nations and individuals

A landmark interdisciplinary study of interest to —

SOCIOLOGISTS: Mineral and energy sources and supplies determine lifestyles and support social structures of societies. Societies built on non-renewable resources have a tenuous future. Important social legacies are left from mineral exploitation.

GEOLOGISTS: Where is the search for energy and minerals today? How is the world Earth resource base changing? What new roles will alternative energy sources play?

ECOLOGISTS: The environmental impact of mineral and energy production now. Effects of alternative energy development on the environment. Population and the environment. Conservation of non-renewable resources — for whom?

ECONOMISTS: Huge transfer of the industrial world's money to the Persian Gulf region; its effects on the world banking system, and international balances of payments. How the resource wealth of each nation directs its .economy domestically and internationally. Prospects for renewable resources as a basis for a “sustainable economy.” “Growth” — for how long?

POLICYMAKERS, PLANNERS, FUTURISTS: The Twentieth Century was unique in its exponential use of Earth resources. It cannot be duplicated again against the demands of huge population growth. How long will we have enough to go around? What solutions might exist?

POLITICAL SCIENTISTS: International relations and alliances as determined by competition for mineral and energy resources — the Persian Gulf War example. Russia is mineral rich but needs western technology — how this affects its policies. Japan’s foreign policy is based on a critical need for raw materials. The economic rise of Southeast Asia and China – their increasing demands for energy and minerals, and probable future impacts.

This unique volume provides essential data on energy and mineral resources and population issues including:

World petroleum reserves. How long will they last?
World trends in the use of two most vital materials: water and soil
Current myths and realities about energy and mineral resources
Future prospects for balancing resources to population, lifestyles, living standards, and the environment
Conflicts over resources
The realistic possibilities for alternative energy sources to replace oil
Minerals and health
Minerals and war . . . and economic warfare
World trade and strategic minerals

A comprehensive bibliography for each chapter adds further reading suggestions for all topics.

Reviews

A. R. "Pete" Palmer, Institute for Cambrian Studies, Boulder, Colorado, in Geotimes, March 1998

Tim Campbell, Economic Historian, at Amazon.com, March 10, 1998

Kenneth Watt, University of California at Davis

Robert M. Whelan, Oregon Geology, Jan/Feb 1998 / Response by R.E. Corcoran, Mar/Apr 1998

Laurence R. Kittleman, Oregon Geology, March/April 1998

Robert G. Russell, Oregon Geology, March/April 1998

Sheila Newman, The Social Contract, Fall 2002

Related Author Publication

Spending Our Great Inheritance -- Then What?, Geotimes, July 1998, pp.24-27

Quotes from GeoDestinies

“The question of conserving mineral and energy resources . . . is one which cannot easily be answered. We conserve these resources for whom? And for how long?” Chapter 23

“NO other material has so profoundly and universally changed the world in so short a time as has oil.” Chap. 12

“At present, we are living on a great mineral resource inheritance. We must begin to live on current income . . .” Chapter 22

“. . . a major and increasing cause of human migration is the exhaustion of natural resources.” Chapter 2

“Water, for which there is no substitute, may be the ultimate limiting factor in the growth of world population.” Chapter 15

“The great hope is that alternative energy sources will be found to gradually fill the void left by diminishing oil supplies.” Chapter 12

“It takes a one-ton lead-acid battery to give an electric car the same energy as a gallon of gasoline.” Chapter 14

“Using corn to produce ethanol as a fuel makes no economic, energy efficiency, environmental, nor ethical sense.” Chapter 14

“. . . worldwide, land degradation is proceeding much above the rate of soil replacement.” Chapter 17

“. . . most of the world's oil will have been consumed in a period of less than one lifetime . . .” Chapter 12

An Important Refence; A Unique Text

27 -- Myths and Realities of Mineral Resources -- 422

Tables

Table 1 -- World Oil Statistics 1994 -- 169
Table 2 -- Estimated World Oil Distribution In Selected Countries 1995 -- 170
Table 3 -- Comparative Oil Well Production, By Country 1994 -- 174
Table 4 -- Comparison of Average Oil Well Production In Selected States 1994 -- 175
Table 5 -- United States Oil Statistics 1970-1993 -- 176
Table 6 -- Oil Reserves In Selected Countries 1974 and 1994 -- 189
Table 7 -- Time to Which Current Oil Production Can Be Sustained, By Country -- 191
Table 8 -- Barrels of Oil Reserves Per Capita In Selected Countries -- 192
Table 9 -- Countries Holding Major Proved Gas Reserves 1975 and 1995 -- 194
Table 10 -- World Regional Natural Gas Distribution 1995 -- 195
Table 11 -- U.S. Energy Mix 1987 and 2000 -- 212
Table 12 -- Alternative Energy Sources -- 213
Table 13 -- Percentage of Selected Strategic
Metal Reserves Held by South Africa and Russia -- 323
Table 14 -- Dependence of Major Industrial Nations on Imports of Selected Metals -- 333

Figures

Figure 1 -- U.S. per capita annual energy mineral consumption -- 23
Figure 2 -- U.S. per capita annual mineral consumption -- 24
Figure 3 -- Geography of Persian Gulf region -- 113
Figure 4 -- U.S. crude oil reserves 1947-1994 -- 177
Figure 5 -- Graphic history of changes in energy mix in the United States -- 211
Figure 6 -- Time of fossil fuel use in perspective of human history from 5000 years past to 5000 years in the future -- 225
Figure 7 -- Be fruitful and multiply...Now divide -- 394
Figure 8 -- Curves of discoveries and production during a complete production cycle of a finite resource -- 440
Figure 9 -- World oil supply: discoveries and production -- 454

About the Author

Dr. Walter Youngquist brings to this unique volume his studies as a geologist in 70 countries on the vital relationship of Earth resources to nations and individuals.

His professional affiliations include membership in the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Geothermal Resources Council, and the New York Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He makes his home near Eugene, Oregon.

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GeoDestinies The inevitable control of Earth resources over nations and individuals