The International Energy Agency is to call today for an energy revolution and a "major de-carbonisation" of global fuel sources as the world confronts tighter oil supplies caused by shrinking investment.  The energy watchdog is warning for the first time that oil output could pass its peak as power shifts from "super-majors" to national companies controlled by producer states. It highlights a potential oil-supply crunch.

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Energy experts questioned by BBC News are warning that this country will face an unacceptable risk of major blackouts in less than 10 years unless policy is radically improved.  They say the government is to blame because it has dithered over policies vital to energy security and climate security.

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Traffic on Britain's roads is decreasing significantly for the first time since the three-day week of the early 1970s, suggesting the car economy is heading for a crash, official figures revealed yesterday. At the same time, sales of new cars have fallen by 23 per cent and are at their lowest since 1996. The motor industry is suffering across the world, with Volvo, the Swedish giant, selling just 115 heavy trucks over the past few months, compared to 41,970 during the same period last year – a 99.7 per cent fall.

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On Wednesday 29th October 2008 I attended a press conference at the London Stock Exchange. The meeting was convened by the "Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil & Energy Security" to introduce a new report: The Oil Crunch, securing the UK’s energy future. This is a ground breaking report, not so much for its content as for the companies behind it. Shell's inclusion is a very positive development. These are not a "beleaguered small minority of voices" but billion dollar, international companies, employing tens of thousands of people sounding the alarm bell.

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The Detroit property market and the US car industry are mirror images: both are in freefall. Speculation is mounting that the government is planning a bail-out of the giant 'Detroit Three'. Washington is also said to be trying to engineer a merger of GM and Chrysler as analysts predict that the latter's new owner, private equity firm Cerberus, could pull the plug on it. Without dramatic government intervention, analysts predict all three companies will run out of money some time next year.

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The fight against climate change will get an unexpected boost today from oil-rich Gulf states which will pledge to invest some of their petrodollar profits in British green energy projects.

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"Given the gravity of the news this week you would expect that the front page of every newspaper would be screaming EMERGENCY!" begins the October 31st edition of the ODAC newsletter.

Declining availability of oil will hit the UK earlier than generally expected, with potentially devastating implications for the UK economy, report warns.

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All of this seems a little strange, though. We are going into the winter months, when demand for oil normally rises because many people around the world heat their homes with oil. We are using somewhat less gasoline in the United States, but apart from the hurricane disruptions, not very much less than earlier this year. While we are going into a recession, it doesn't seem to have hit with full force yet. What other factors may be involved in the current lower prices?

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So where does all this leave the world's oil supply - the life blood of our civilization? Recent reports say world production dropped rapidly in September. As stockpiles seem to be rising, we can presume OPEC will cut production again or be faced with much lower oil prices. Given that nearly all the world's oil exporters have let their economies become accustomed to six years of steadily climbing oil revenues, they, as well as their customers, are in for some hard times.

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