Thanks for the Musk video, Firn. I was not aware of it. Also for your observations, Steve.

I note that early in his presentation Musk said, "Sustainable energy... I mean the ability to produce and consume energy in a sustainable manner is the probably biggest challenge of the 21st century" (or words to that effect).
Personally, I would have voted for population/population control but energy is certainly top-three.

Musk comes across as a sensible, strategic guy... attentive to details, a visionary who remains realistic. His observations on energy production (35th min) make perfect sense (emphasis on solar). He is confident in his existing lithium-ion batteries and expects further improvements re. both energy density and price.

The implications for Peak Oil are obvious: such improvements could really take the sting out of future constraints of oil supply, which are bound to come eventually.

He certainly has a cautionary note re. deep shale hydrocarbons (52nd min) re. climate change and not much good to say about land-based biofuels (1:17), for very good reasons.

I agree that we need a 'floor price' for oil. So does Robert Hirsch. I'll bet that Musk would argue the same: a sudden return to cheap oil could undo much that he and others have achieved. The current price of roughly $100 is a bit of a sweet spot: low enough to not cripple the economy (though it certainly limits recovery/growth) but high enough to stabilize production of bitumen and LTO and support investment in alt-energy. Yes, there is a self-destructive aspect to it but there will be much more pain further down the line if we fail to make necessary changes.

Personally, I think a somewhat higher price ($115 - $120?) would be beneficial. As long as we regularly see people idling their vehicles in mall parking lots just to run the a/c, we know that oil is still too cheap and that many people can indeed absorb an even higher price (despite their ongoing complaints about "pain at the pump").

But it's a delicate balance, as the Bundeswehr team warns. If energy prices are unaffordable and the ripple effects cause unemployment, a collapse in suburban property values, mortgage default & unpaid taxes, unaffordable food prices, etc then things could destabilize fairly quickly.