ABSTRACT
Oil is complex. It is not only geophysical and economic, but also social and cultural in the many ways it conceptually and practically influences our lives. And yet, how societies capture and convert carbon-based energy such as oil and gas continue to undermine environmental and social sustainability. The historic relationship between ecological balance and carbon-reliant infrastructures is both a fraught and symbiotic one. As a society, we need forms of energy to support our current way of living, and yet our most consumed form of fossil fuel energy is both toxic and finite. A 2013 report by the World Energy Council projects by 2050 we will need 60 per cent more energy than at our current rate of usage – if, that is, we do not change how and why we use energy (Whitney 2013, 16).
