Here’s a comment I posted on an opinion piece written by Richard Stuebi, The Petroleum Industry: Past the Tipping Point?
Interestingly, where it’s the minerals and non-renewable resources that should run out: oil, gold, aluminum, etc.; it’s been the renewable stuff that’s proven to be exhaustible: mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, cedars of Lebanon, gorillas. The paradox is that by using non-renewables, we are able to conserve the renewables. Perhaps we need to use more oil and natural gas? For instance, two-thirds of the wood used in the world goes toward cooking and heating in the developing world. Butane could replace that wood and drastically cut CO2 emissions and cut health problems caused by wood stoves.
Nullius in Verba 