Is the shortage of oil going to be the reason of ending human civilization? Is it to late to get us out of this hole? Discuss..
No. It's going to be the reason that we try to become more independant and try to develope new technologies. We are already in the process with cars that are hybrid. It's never too late for anything. There are several new technologies that are in development as we speak. This whole oil war thing might actually be good in end. If an oil supply was not a problem, then we probably would not care to try to invent something newer, and cleaner. I think this will help the environment more in the end. Let's hope.
Dream, the thing I don't think you understand is everything in this world needs oil to work. I'll start slow with this debate, you brought up the hybrid car, all the plastics in that car are made from oil, to melt the metal into the body you need oil, and understand to make each tire you need 7,000 barrels of oil.
Until enviromental energies are wide spread than yes oil could very well be the end if a conflic between a few super powers happens. I think that everyone will eventualy go green even China but we have to keep things peaceful until that day.
I don't understand how we CAN go green. We are in a very, very deep hole. The world is powered my oil, you say make solar power fields, wind turbine fields, and electric cars, but you need billions of barrels of oil that we don't have.
You know that the united states has the worlds largest oil field that is still untapped right lol? We havent tapped into our supply in quite some time because we have been sucking the rest of the worlds supplies dry and eventualy we will have the last bit of oil and we will be the ones selling it and raking the benefits. Believe me we have plenty of oil to do anything we want. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/images/facts/fotw249.gif&imgrefurl=http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2003/fcvt_fotw249.html&usg=__smw3nHghqRsZwjGErQJ32c4SoBc=&h=381&w=486&sz=8&hl=en&start=6&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=UYxkloGkQ3z2wM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Doil%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bunited%2Bstates%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1 We have oil in our country that we stockpile and have yet to tap into so we have no problems with oil for a long time and we will by the time of it running low be able to switch to green fully. http://geology.com/usgs/oil-shale/images/united-states-oil-shale-map.gif our off shore oil reserves are giant. http://images.google.com/imgres?img...pped+oil+in+the+united+states&hl=en&sa=G&um=1
We're in a 9% decline rate of oil and we're half way through the fall until we hit "bankruptcy" if you will. We owe the rest of world trillions of dollars, we won't be raking in any money. And you think other countries aren't going to say "**** it" and attack us for our oil? Some countries are in possession of nuclear bombs that'll knock out the Americas with just one.
We have the ability to pay everyone back and any country foolish enough to attack us would not only be attacked by us for using a nuclear devise but the entire United Nations. So basicaly who ever would attack us would have just annilated themselves in the process. Plus you don't nuke a area your trying to retrieve oil from. lololol Other wise the middle east would have been a giant crater a long time ago. We may have a bill to pay but we have the resources to do so. Oil decline is happening because alternate energies are being used not because we are running out. Its all about supply and demand.
Where did you say the biggest oil reservoir was? Because I remeber hearing something about the North Pole having the biggest, but no one can get to it.
I have those linked sources in my previous posts. @CaMOfo the North poles reserve is large but ya it cant be tapped as of now. The United states has very large reserves all over the inland and even larger ones offshore. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_otfwl2zc6Qc/SE0wQyJnr6I/AAAAAAAAEyM/qB1woRiwGvk/s400/oilmap.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-policies-put-most-us-oil-off-limits.html&usg=__rp6f_0l2lCkKJVfEwY7H8_RmNwk=&h=298&w=400&sz=28&hl=en&start=3&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=ctd0EWVVcdoTSM:&tbnh=92&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Duntapped%2Boil%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bunited%2Bstates%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1
From the link you gave me Eyeless, it says we make around 2,117,511,000,000 barrels on average a year. The United Sates alone uses 19,498,000 everday, that's 7,116,770,000 barrels a year. Now your source didn't say how much oil was in those reserves, so to think 19,498,000 barrels a day and when we run out the world is going to crash, no one will have enough money to run anything. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...a%3DN%26um%3D1 Oil: Crude and Petroleum Products - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy
I do see what you are saying. You have to look at it like this though, if we can get down our oil consumption, then we could use the remaing oil to manufacture products. I would think that most of our oil supply is lost to heat and the propultion of vehicles.
Before we make the assumption that oil is causing a collapse we have to show that there actually is a collapse. I don't see it.
Saying that the shortage of oil would collapse human civilization completely is pretty drastic. Many companies have been showing interest in alternatives to gasoline as a source of power, whether it be for cars or for power plants. And as the gas prices go up, these alternatives become much more feasible and would be adopted, thus cutting a portion of dependency on oil. Also, the electronic/hydrogen fuel cell car projects have been gaining more and more leverage as they've improved on efficiency. Eventually as oil prices peak, enough people will have moved on to alternative fuels that it won't be missed as much. And sure, a large portion of our goods other than gasoline are petroleum-based (waxes, plastics, etc.). However, our petroleum-based products make up only 18% of crude oil goods (the rest being fuels such as gasoline, propane, etc.). (http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/media/teachers/pdfs/2003S/030221WR1.pdf) (Yeah, I realize it's a school worksheet. It still works.) If we take 18% of the aforementioned daily amount in Camofo's post (19,498,000 per day), we get 3,509,640 barrels used for polycarbonate products each day in the US. The US would only need to import 1,281,018,600 per year for all of their plastic/other goods for each year. In the refining process, the waste fuel could be sold to 'alternative' gasoline power plants (which would then be alternative, while current alternatives would take primary role).
So right now you are telling me that everybody will dye when we run out of fuel? Think back when nobody knew what fuel was. What did they do? You just need to use the other natural resources to survive. You can not say they everybody will die much less end human civilization entirly.
I say this because if we do lose fossil fuels to the extent not everyone can afford them then there will be wars. The human race is very greedy and will kill to stay alive. Not to mention nowadays everyone is so dependant, also the earth is useless without chemicals (made from oil) that we won be able to grow anything, the soil is just so diluted.
So are you saying forget all green technology and drill until we hit rock bottom, then invest in green technology?
Peak Oil, Matt Savinar, Life After the Oil Crash Read through the whole website. (Will take ages.) Then realize that we're completely and utterly ****ed, IMO. No-one wins war. There are only losers. Sometimes, one side may lose more than the other, but there is never a 'winner', or 'victory' to be gained from any war. P.S. - What a lovely Christmas debate.