Peak Oil

Brad DeLong : Liveblogging World War II: February 3, 1943:

A caveat to the predictions of economic collapse as a consequence of 'peak oil'.

"It needs to be said, of course, that the dire predictions of Hitler and his economic advisers in 1941 and 1942 about the certain collapse of the German war machine if no new sources of oil were obtained proved to be exaggerated. The German war effort did not grind to a halt when the campaign to capture the Caucasus oilfields failed. Although Germany's oil situation remained acute, and became desperate after the Allied air offensive against its synthetic fuel plants and the Rumanian oilfields began, the Reich continued fighting until May 1945."

There are alternatives.  They may not be sustainable themselves, but..
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