What’s Max mad about? Peak oil

No matter how it does at the box office this weekend, “Mad Max: Fury Road” joins its three predecessors in the series in being a different kind of apocalyptic movie. Instead of nuclear war or pandemic illness, in the “Mad Max” universe, the End was brought about by — a bad economic theory.

It’s the doom of peak oil, and it was supposed to end life as we know it decades ago. According to the theory, we were supposed to run out of oil by now.

“‘Fury Road’ is otherwise true to the lean, elemental ‘Mad Max’ aesthetic,” the Associated Press notes. “Max, a Ford Falcon-driving loner, navigates a neo-Medieval wasteland where fuel and water are in scant supply.”

And that’s the origin of the “Mad Max” franchise — creator George Miller’s vision of a world after “peak oil” was reached. Miller, then a medical doctor, read about peak oil during the 1973 Arab oil embargo.

“George and I wrote the (Mad Max) script based on the thesis that people would do almost anything to keep vehicles moving and the assumption that nations would not consider the huge costs of providing infrastructure for alternative energy until it was too late,” said his co-writer, James McCausland, in 2006.

But the movie franchise has outlived the thesis.

“Peak oil proponents — the guys and gals who believe overconsumption combined with scarce resources will lead to stratospheric energy prices — are now clinging to the hope that the shale oil and gas boom will fizzle out as the cost of drilling climbs,” reports Business Insider. “For the most part, the boom has held up, though no one believes it will last forever. But there is a fifth-column phenomenon this group has completely overlooked that will once-and-for-all obliterate their arguments: energy consumption efficiency.”

Put simply, we won’t run out of oil and gas (and other fuels) because we’re using less and less of them.

Not because demand is down, but because efficiency is up. That applies not only to transportation, but more importantly, to electrical generation.

“Contained in Exxon’s (2014) Outlook for Energy report is the following damning statistic: Electricity generation will grow by 90 percent by 2040, but the amount of fuel needed to generate that electricity will only have to grow by 50 percent,” the magazine reports. “And the projected increase in energy demand is 20 percent less than the demand increase seen from 1980 to 2010. The IEA has previously projected that electricity will become more affordable over time in most regions as income levels increase faster than household electricity bills.”

In one sense, this is a victory for the conservationists. It’s difficult to quantify, but the EPA’s Energy Star program no doubt played a part. Consumers were encouraged — but not forced — to spend their money on more energy-efficient appliances. Consumers were rewarded for their purchases with tax credits — and lower electricity bills.

The big loser in all this? Peak oil.

Watching any movie requires a willing suspension of disbelief. With “Mad Max,” we’ll just have to be a little more willing.

Tyler