What are we going to do when the oil runs out

[Shogun]

They say there is only 25-30 years of oil left in the ground for us to use{ some scientists say even less time} ,what will happen? our life's are heavily dependent on oil,its took the human race just over 100 years to use up nearly all the oil on this planet,oil that took millions of years to form from natural processes,oil that can never be replaced , burnt used gone for ever,our whole way of life will have to change,some say for the better, the Americans know the oil is running out,something that could be an end to there world dominance.

[Harleyman]

They say there is only 25-30 years of oil left in the ground for us to use{ some scientists say even less time} ,what will happen? our life's are heavily dependent on oil,its took the human race just over 100 years to use up nearly all the oil on this planet,oil that took millions of years to form from natural processes,oil that can never be replaced , burnt used gone for ever,our whole way of life will have to change,some say for the better, the Americans know the oil is running out,something that could be an end to there world dominance.

 

What's oil got to do with your notion of "American world dominance"?

The US imports part of it's oil requirement from Venezuela, Canada and the middle east. The rest is domestcally produced. The way you talk you seem to be under the delusion the the country is the major world exporter of oil instead

 

Anyway to set you straight there are still vast amoints of untapped oil under the oceans. The technology is now there to be able to drill for it but due to the cost it's not considered a viable venture at this time. However within the next two decades the major economic powers including the US will start undersea drilling and that's a no brainer

[SpecialPG]

walk everywhere i assume

[dawny1970]

bike everyware, as there are no cars, then no need to worry about road rules lol

[Mecky]

make synthetic oil

[HeadingNorth]

Nobody knows how much oil is left. The problem, in any case, doesn't turn on how much is still there; the question is how much of it can be extracted for less energy than it takes to get it out. If you must burn one barrel of oil in order to power the machinery to extract 0.9999 barrels of oil, then the oil will not be taken out of the ground no matter how much of it there is and no matter what price it would fetch.

 

As Harleyman points out, technological advances have meant that oil which was previously not worth the effort of extracting, can now be taken out at a net energy profit. My own opinion, though, is that he's far too sanguine in assuming that there are "vast amounts" of the stuff. Given the rate at which oil consumption is expanding - and the rate at which it expands it itself expanding - vast amounts of oil could disappear very quickly, even if they would last for 200 years at current usage rates.

[Harleyman]

Nobody knows how much oil is left. The problem, in any case, doesn't turn on how much is still there; the question is how much of it can be extracted for less energy than it takes to get it out. If you must burn one barrel of oil in order to power the machinery to extract 0.9999 barrels of oil, then the oil will not be taken out of the ground no matter how much of it there is and no matter what price it would fetch.

 

As Harleyman points out, technological advances have meant that oil which was previously not worth the effort of extracting, can now be taken out at a net energy profit. My own opinion, though, is that he's far too sanguine in assuming that there are "vast amounts" of the stuff. Given the rate at which oil consumption is expanding - and the rate at which it expands it itself expanding - vast amounts of oil could disappear very quickly, even if they would last for 200 years at current usage rates.

 

 

 

I think there'll be little choice but to eventually by mid century drill undersea and there must be huge amounts under the Pacific alone.

The problem is that there just isnt enough advancement in technology at present towards finding a really cheap and efficient alternate energy source to replace it. What we have in place right now is hardly the solution.

No doubt an alternative energy source will eventually be found but it's light years away at the moment.

[Shogun]

Nobody knows how much oil is left. The problem, in any case, doesn't turn on how much is still there; the question is how much of it can be extracted for less energy than it takes to get it out. If you must burn one barrel of oil in order to power the machinery to extract 0.9999 barrels of oil, then the oil will not be taken out of the ground no matter how much of it there is and no matter what price it would fetch.

 

As Harleyman points out, technological advances have meant that oil which was previously not worth the effort of extracting, can now be taken out at a net energy profit. My own opinion, though, is that he's far too sanguine in assuming that there are "vast amounts" of the stuff. Given the rate at which oil consumption is expanding - and the rate at which it expands it itself expanding - vast amounts of oil could disappear very quickly, even if they would last for 200 years at current usage rates.

They say there is a lot of what they call dirty oil left,but it takes far to much energy to refine,out of the 800 or so oil wells 90% are past there peak and the effort to get it out makes it unenviable financially,

[andyofborg]

use lard

 

......................

[Ron001]

Unfortunately, lard will be at a distinct premium, given the reliance of intensive farming on petrochemical-based fertilisers.

 

[i'm assuming you meant use lard in diesel engines, not drowning one's sorrows by scoffing vast quantities of the stuff, or deploying super-lubricated methane powered (from the pigs) moving walkways like they have in airports]