End of cheap oil: from [Muda] to [Mottainai]

Abstract

Our Earth is finite, so is oil which supports present industrialized civilization. While most people are unwilling to accept “peak oil”, the global oil production is about to peak even before 2010, the gap increasing between the demand and supply. I discuss (1) importance and implication of Peak Oil, (2) essential vulnerability of industrialized agriculture also supported by oil, and (3) importance of EPR (Energy Profit Ratio) for energies. Now that our future survival in Japan-Island is at stake, our long accustomed “concept and civilization importing” from continental Europe and US is no longer viable. From [Muda] to [Mottainai] is vital for Japanese survival.