What would happen if there was some sort of an oil emergency that required countries to rapidly cut down on their fuel use? Clearly there would have to be some sort of a triage plan to allocate what oil was available.
There are a number of possible scenarios that could lead to a cessation of oil imports and/or distribution, ranging from hurricanes to wars in the mid-east.
This is worth thinking about, because the impact to your lifestyle could be large, depending on your circumstances.
Luckily, we have a pretty good ‘lens’ into the mindset of the official planners, because in 2005 the IEA completed a study where they assessed the types of policy responses that would save the most oil and at what cost (to implement; not to lower the impact on the economy or your lifestyle, obviously).
I love this report because it provides a nice confirmation of my general intuition, which is that during a fuel crisis my driving options will narrow considerably. Forget about holiday or pleasure trips, have a plan for assuring an emergency ration of gasoline (or diesel) at your disposal, and be familiar with where, how, and when to buy all the other necessities of life in bulk.
Because you won’t be driving as much.
What I’ve done below is combined the two central tables into one image so that it would be easier for you to take in (I had to mentally flip back and forth between the tables to combine them).
by kenc