Dr. Marion King Hubbert (born 1903, died 1989), know as M. King Hubbert, was geologist born in Texas, USA. He was a former member of Technocracy Inc. and developed the Peak Oil theory of oil production otherwise known as The Hubbert Peak.
Biography
He attended the University of Chicago where he obtained a degree with triple majors in 1929. He obtained a PhD in 1937. He worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Chicago from 1928 to 1931 then became an instructor at Columbia University, New York, in 1931. He met Howard Scot about this time and became one of the founding members of Technocracy Inc., where he contributed to the more scientific presentation of their technocratic ideas and was on the staff of the Continental Head Quarter (CHQ) of Technocracy Inc. Hubbert shared his accommodation with Scott until Hubbert married. [1]
M. King Hubbert (outlined in blue) and other prominent leaders of the technocratic movement
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In 1942 he moved away from New York and as a result of his work departed from Technocracy Inc. staff. He became a senior analyst of the Board of Economic Warfare in Washington in 1942. He later worked an analyst for Shell Oil Company where he developed the Hubbert Theory of oil, otherwise known as peak oil. He later served at a number other research and administrative posts. He was a member of the United Nations Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources.
Hubbert and Technocracy
Hubbert was responsible for the education aspects of Technocracy Inc. and was the main author of the Technocracy Study Course used to teach Technocracy Inc.’s version of technocracy. He also organised the East European Socialist Section of Technocracy Inc. in Cleveland.[2]
Peak Oil Theory
As a geologist for the Shell Oil Company he analyses the production life time for oil wells and noticed they followed typical pattern of rising to a peak, where 50% of the oil was removed and then the production would start to fall. Hubbert then extended this to oil fields as a whole and successfully predicted that US oil production would peak in the early 1970s. Although his prediction of world oil production peaking in 2000 was incorrect due to new finds and economic pressures the general rule of oil production following a bell curve still holds. Hubbert published his first scientific paper on peak oil in 1949.
External Links
- Energy from Fossil Fuels
- Nuclear Energy and the Fossil Fuels
- Exponential Growth as a Transient Phenomenon in Human History
References
- ↑ Henry Elsner, jr., "The Technocrats: Prophets of Automation" Syracuse University Press. 1967
- ↑ William E. Akin, "Technocracy and the American Dream: The Technocrat Movement, 1900-1941" University of California Press. 1977 ISBN 0-520-03110-5