Peak Oil: What we need and what we would need to replace it

The world currently uses about one cubic mile of oil per year. Here's what that equates to in other energy sources:

Assumptions: The Three Gorges Dam is rated at its full design capacity of 18 gigawatts. A nuclear power plant is postulated to be the equivalent of a 1.1-GW unit at the Diablo Canyon plant in California. A coal plant is one rated at 500 megawatts. A wind turbine is one with a 100‑meter blade span, and rated at 1.65 MW. A solar panel is a 2.1‑­kilowatt system made for home roofs. In comparing ­categories, bear in mind that the average amount of time that power is produced varies among them, so that total energy obtained is not a simple function of power rating. (From Spectrum, the magazine of IEEE, billed as the world's largest professional technology association.)

For much more on this issue, read this post at The Oil Drum.