"the production curve of any given species of fossil fuel will rise, pass through one or several maxima, and then decline asymptotically to zero." Decline asymptotically to zero! The potential consequences were vast. Hubbert believed that the fossil-fuel explosion had created the population explosion--that consuming coal, oil, and gas had provided the impetus to drive our species up Gause's S-shaped curve. Because the amount of the world's oil was by definition finite, the supply would fall to zero after too much use. As a result, we were bound, so to speak, to hit the edge of the petri dish."