Yet here we are a decade later, "Oil everywhere! We’ll never run out of oil!" So, which is it?

然而，現在我們在那之後的十年，「到處都有油！我們永遠不會把油用完！」所以到底哪一個是對的？

Right now, the world produces a whopping 93 million barrels of oil every day, but more than a trillion barrels still sit in Earth’s crust.

現在世界每天製造大量的 93 百萬桶油，但是有超過一兆桶的油還儲藏在地殼中。

We’ve already gotten most of Earth’s "easy" oil, but new technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are giving us to access more and more of it.

我們已經取得了地球大部分不費力就能取得的的油，但是新的科技像是水平鑽井，以及水力壓裂法讓我們能取得更多的油。

But considering the impact of fossil fuels on the climate and environment, we have to ask, "When will we be done with oil?"

但是考慮到化石燃料對氣候和環境的衝擊，我們必須得問：「我們要使用石油到什麼時候？」

If the history of energy is any guide, how much oil we pump up to the surface and ultimately into the atmosphere, depends a lot on what other energy options we have.

如果能源的歷史能當成參考，我們能把多少油抽到地表，並將它最終排放到大氣中，絕大多數取決於我們還有什麼其他的能源選項。

In the 17th century, there were 820 million acres of virgin forest in the United States,

17 世紀時，美國有八億兩千萬英畝的原始森林，

but after a few centuries of burning wood for heat, energy, and cooking, that number had dwindled to just 138 million.

但是幾世紀以來人們為了熱能、能量、烹飪而燃燒木柴，使森林的數量逐漸減少到一億三千八百萬英畝。

At some point in the mid-1800s we reached "peak wood."

在 19 世紀中葉的某個時期我們達到了「木柴的高峰」。

Luckily, we had an alternative fuel that, at least at the time, promised to be environmentally friendly and save the forests: coal.

幸好我們有替代的燃料，而它至少在當時被指望是環保且可以拯救森林的資源：煤炭。

Likewise in 1846, thanks to the popularity of whale oil as a smokeless lamp fuel, we reached "peak whale."

同樣地，在 1846 年，歸功於鯨油這種無煙燈油的普及，我們達到了「鯨魚高峰」。

Whales are a decidedly non-renewable resource. Our love of lamp almost drove them extinct.

鯨魚必然是非再生能源。而我們對燈的熱愛幾乎讓牠們完全絕種。

I love lamp. I love lamp.

我愛燈。我愛燈。

But it wasn’t simply dwindling supply and increasing demand that saved the cetaceans.

但並不僅僅是逐漸減少的供給以及增加的需求拯救了這些鯨魚。

It was the discovery of a new lamp fuel called kerosene, distilled from a black liquid that we’d recently learned how to pump out of the ground.

真正的救星是一種叫做煤油的新型燈油，而煤油則是從人類剛學會如何從地底下抽取出來的某種黑色液體提煉出來的。

Now, if oil saving the whales seems like an odd idea, that’s because the history of energy in America tends to be solving one problem by introducing another.

如果石油拯救了鯨魚或許聽起來有點詭異，但綜觀整個美國的能源史，我們一向在解決一個問題的同時，引來了新的問題。

We used to think that tool use was our defining human characteristic, until we saw chimps do it.

我們原本認為使用工具是我們人類的特徵，直到我們看到黑猩猩也會這樣做。

Then we claimed language as our own, until we met a gorilla named Koko.

接著我們宣稱語言是我們特有的能力，直到我們遇見了一隻叫 Koko 的大猩猩。

But the ability to intentionally manipulate energy to do stuff seems to be a distinctly "us" thing. Although, there’s those beavers.

但是有意的利用能源來做事看來是我們專屬的能力。雖然河狸也會這麼做。

Anyway, how a society uses energy is one of its defining characteristics.

不管怎樣，社會如何使用能源是它的一個決定性特徵。

Humans first harnessed thermal energy, and then kinetic energy, but there's no easy way to convert one to the other, until the steam engine.

人類一開始利用熱能，接著利用動能；但是要把一種能源變成另一種絕非簡單的事－直到蒸汽機的出現。

This ability to convert and control energy led to the Industrial Revolution, which was a pretty big deal.

這個能轉換和控制能源的能力導致了工業革命，而這可是件大事。

As a rule in history, as a society gets more advanced, it consumes more energy, and we’re no different.

如同歷史的規則，當社會變得更進步，它便會消耗更多能量，而我們也是一樣。

The story of the 20th century is one of more energy, for more people, used for more things.

20 世紀的故事就是生產更多能量，給更多人用，用在更多東西上。

But that’s not the only trend.

但是那並非唯一的趨勢。

The past centuries have seen a general trend from wood to coal to oil to renewables, and today we get our energy from more sources than ever before.

過去的幾世紀出現一個大致的趨勢，從木頭到煤到油，再到可再生資源。而現在我們從比以前更多的來源中得到能量。

Renewable energy in particular has grown in the past ten years.

尤其可再生資源在過去十年中成長不少。

We’re also getting more energy per unit of CO2 than ever before.

而我們也從每單位二氧化碳中獲得了前所未有的能量。

We hear a lot about reducing carbon today, but we’ve been on that path for a long time.

我們現今常聽到很多關於減碳的事，但是我們其實一直在這條路上。

But even though more efficiency and less consumption means that we’re using fewer fossil fuels over the past decade,

雖然更高效率和更少的消耗量表示，我們在過去十年中用了較少的化石燃料，

total consumption has gone up faster, so emissions are still higher than they were 4 decades ago, and fossil fuels are still number 1 by a big margin.

總消耗量仍上升得比以前快，所以二氧化碳的排放量還是比 40 年前高，而化石燃料依然大幅度領先位居第一名。

U.S. energy use matches the rest of the world pretty closely.

美國的能源使用跟世界的其他地方相仿。

I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, but it means that my problems are your problems are everyone’s problems.

我不確定這是好是壞，但這表示我的問題就是你的問題，也是所有人的問題。

Unfortunately, the Energy Information Administration projects that where we all get our energy won’t change much over the next two decades,

不幸的，能源資訊局提出我們的能量來源在二十年內並不會有大改變；

and well, have you heard about this whole climate change thing?

而且，好吧，你有聽過這整個氣候變遷的事嗎？

The history of energy transitions has been one of new energy sources taking the place of dirtier, scarcer ones.

能源轉換的歷史就是一個新能源取代較髒且較稀有的能源。

But considering that with the exception of nuclear, all of our energy technologies date from the 19th century, inventing new energy sources is a thing of the past.

但是除了核能以外，我們其他的能源科技都是從 19 世紀開始。發明新能源已經是過去的事了。

But as CO2 levels continue to climb past 400 parts per million, waiting for peak oil might not be an option.

但是隨著二氧化碳量繼續攀升過 400 ppm，等待「石油高峰」不會是個選項。

For the first time in our history, we might have to invent a peak of our own.

史上第一次，我們可能要創造自己的高峰。

Be sure to check out the other videos in the series about energy by clicking above or you can check down in the description.

一定要點上方或查看下列內容來關注其他有關能源的的影片。

The world of energy is really complex and confusing, but we should know how it works.

能源的世界或許非常複雜且令人困惑的，但是你還是應該了解整個運作的方式。

Luckily, the Webber Energy Research Group with the University of Texas has put together an amazing online course called "Energy 101."

幸運地，Webber Energy Research Group 跟德州大學一起組織了一個叫「能源101」的線上課程。

They got versions for desktops, mobile devices, everything.

他們有針對電腦、手機的各種版本。

If you wanna know more about that massive machine that exists behind your electrical outlet and inside the gas pump, it's really really awesome. You'll understand like all of energy.

如果你想要更深入了解在你的電源插座後跟加油槍裡的巨大機器，這真的很厲害。你會了解所有能源有關的東西。

They also regularly publish a poll of what people think about energy is. Objective, scientific. And if you like polls, its a good one.

他們也會定期發佈一個有關大眾對能源認知的投票，基於客觀與科學的方式。如果你喜歡投票，這個蠻好的。

There's links to all that stuff down in description, along with lots more. Stay curious.

上述所有東西以及更多額外資訊的連結都附在資訊欄內了。請繼續保持好奇。