Oil constant

Ölkonstante (Oil constant in German) is a term describing various outdated material properties of (vegetable and mineral) oils.[1] The term has been used as well an inside joke and pun in the German petroleum industry.

Background

It refers to the constant estimate of available petroleum (Öl in German) resources. The estimated amount of time until the available petroleum resources are depleted has remained around 30 or 35 years since WWII.[2] Prewar and immediately postwar estimates were sometimes lower, in 1919 as low as 9 years and in 1948 around 20 years. However, since then the value has been around 35 years for the various presents. This sort of constant move of an prediction value along time has often been used as a pun, or a rule of thumb.[3][4]

Further Use

A similar joke has been used about the feasibility of fusion power: Since the 1950s, feasible technological means of using hot fusion for electricity production have constantly been predicted as being 30–40 years ahead, so the "fusion constant" exhibits a similar range to the oil constant.[5]

References

  1. ↑ E. Matthes: Theoretische Betrachtungen über die Ölkonstanten als Maßstab für die Veränderungen von ölen während des Keimens der Samen. (Bot. Arch., 18, 1927, 269—281).
  2. ↑ Samuel Schubert, Peter Slominski UTB, 2010: Die Energiepolitik der EU Johannes Pollak, p. 20
  3. ↑ Arndt Reuning, "Energie aus Erdöl und Erdgas" Wissenschaft im Brennpunkt, Deutschlandfunk, 23 July 2006
  4. ↑ Wolfgang W. Merkel, "Energie aus der Tiefe", Die Welt, 3 December 2005
  5. ↑ Ulf von Rauchhaupt, "Sonnenfeuer am Boden", Die Zeit, 15 April 1999.
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