What will happen when oil runs out? (1 Viewer)

[isildurrrr1]

Re: What will happen?

I think Nuclear Energy is a viable option in Australia, since there's no actual natural disasters (besides bushfires and hurricanes in OLD) to destroy a power plant and have some fukushima shit happen. Chernobyl type accidents are possible, but that's why we put them in remote areas nomsayin.

Other than that Uranium is a great source of energy.

It is and unless we have an infrastructure for electric cars it won't solve the oil problem.

Oil will never run out. Copper will never run out. Natural gas will never run out. There are synthetic ways to produce oil (oil sands) and gas (e-gas) and there's no such thing as "peak" oil. Oil is already plummeting as a commodity because there's an oversupply of it in the market, cars are becoming more efficient. I don't know where you get your figures that oil is going to run out in 52 years, since a SINGLE saudi oil reserve holds at least that much oil underground to be drilled.

Speed: modern nuclear reactors don't produce that much radioactive byproducts. Thorium salts are the way to go.

 

[Papercutter]

Re: What will happen?

Good question, I was hoping that you would bring it up your self and expand on it but I can do it as well

So for radioactive waste, scientists and engineers brought up the topic of sending the waste into space with a rocket. But their smart idea was scrunched, but not thrown out when the government or the company that can do this kind of job said it will cost millions and millions of dollars to build some sort of rocket capable of sending the waste. Its more on the governmental side, this thing. Its is a future option though, take my word for it man.

Imagine if they actually tried to send radioactive waste into space, but they got shit funding from the government and the rocket turns out substandardly. Then before the rocket can break free of its orbit, it gets pulled down by Earths gravity and crashes.

Spilling toxic waste everywhere and killing thousands, maybe even millions around the world and obliterating life on the planet. Or we could mutate from the waste and use our photosynthesis powers to live off the sun.

 

[Papercutter]

Re: What will happen?

Sorry I got carried away with the last sentence there.

 

[Papercutter]

Re: What will happen?

We HAVE discovered different alternatives instead of oil, we just haven't invested in them enough (yet) for it to be made commercially viable.

Yea you're right haha

 

[wannaspoon]

Re: What will happen?

Imagine if they actually tried to send radioactive waste into space, but they got shit funding from the government and the rocket turns out substandardly. Then before the rocket can break free of its orbit, it gets pulled down by Earths gravity and crashes.

Spilling toxic waste everywhere and killing thousands, maybe even millions around the world and obliterating life on the planet. Or we could mutate from the waste and use our photosynthesis powers to live off the sun.

Not only this, we have made this earth into a land fill, do we really need to make space into the next one...

 

[SylviaB]

One day (estimated in just under 54 years time or in the year 2040...)

those estimates are complete bogus because the price of oil will, unless a revolutionary fuel technology emerges, be much higher then and so the amount of exploitable reserves will rise accordingly.

 

[Speed6]

those estimates are complete bogus because the price of oil will, unless a revolutionary fuel technology emerges, be much higher then and so the amount of exploitable reserves will rise accordingly.

Ohh you don't worry, the technology will come fast.

 

[SylviaB]

Re: What will happen?

Not only this, we have made this earth into a land fill, do we really need to make space into the next one...

Uh yeah, why not?

Unless doing so would threaten earth, there's no reason not to. There are no ecosystems to destroy or tourist spots to ruin and there's literally no chance of it ever possibly becoming full of garbage, so why not.

 

[Amundies]

Yeah, nothing wrong in chucking it into space (nothing of significance up in space which won't have its own way of dealing with small bits of junk). Of course there's the chance that the rocket might explode and crash and kill everyone in the area. There's also the chance that the plants creating parts for solar panels might explode and destroy everything in the area. My point is if you do it right, nothing bad will happen. The government is no longer the only investor in space, we now have private companies that are building rockets and sending objects into space.

This idea would also have a secondary positive effect, it might encourage governments to invest in the space industry to cheapen the cost of sending junk into space, therefore increasing rocket technology.

 

[Squar3root]

just make some more








































no srs

 

[Rhinoz8142]

just make some more








































no srs

Lel

Square knows best

 

[Speed6]

Lel

Square knows best

The Duke of Cambridge knows the best...

 

[SylviaB]

3d printing

/thread

 

[hypermax]

3d printing

/thread

takes forever to print something soo small

 

[Graney]

Re: What will happen?

Oil production will hopefully peak because humans start reducing consumption, hopefully peak oil occurs in our lifetime as a result of less consumption and nothing to do with diminishing supply.

It is and unless we have an infrastructure for electric cars it won't solve the oil problem.

Personal transport is the last thing oil is needed for I think, it's the easiest problem to solve. Freight, agriculture, and industrial use would be the main issues with rising oil prices I think? I don't think an electric combine harvester would work very well.

People think about personal transport in terms of oil price cause that's what they immediately use every day, people use oil burning cars while oil is cheap, but it would be pretty easy for most of the world's population to ride bicycles or catch public transport if oil became expensive I think. Billions of people still do, it would just be a culture shock for fat westerners.

Oil will never run out.

Agreed

there's no such thing as "peak" oil.

I've heard a number of people say this, what do you mean?

Are you under the misconception that peak oil actually refers to oil not being available at all at any price? That's not what peak oil means.

Peak oil simply refers to when the maximum rate of oil production is reached. Obviously on a finite planet, in an infinite timeframe oil production will peak eventually. If consumption continues to grow exponentially, then demand will seriously exceed production at peak, and prices will increase.

So I don't see how you can say there is no "peak" oil, the only possible debate is over when it may occur

In a peak oil scenario, oil doesn't become entirely unavailable at any price, it's not running out, it just becomes increasingly expensive, and you have to extract it from more complex reserves.

There are lots of reserves globally that are assessed as only viable at $X/litre oil price, and are being left in the ground for now until the price rises, or technology changes to make them recoverable at lower prices.

Oil is already plummeting as a commodity because there's an oversupply of it in the market

The reason production is booming and there is an oversupply is because of technological breakthroughs, fracking. And also for political reasons.

We would have a very different global economy and oil supply today if not for these recent technological breakthroughs.

The prediction of peak oil is evident in that the production methods have changed, traditional oil reserves in North America were run down until this new technology was discovered. Discoveries of new oil wells are far outpaced by growth in consumption.

Debate around when peak oil will occur are often complicated by the notion that at rising price points, more complex reserves become economically viable to recover, and different technologies become viable, so economically viable supply increases as price increases.

I don't know when peak oil will occur, peak oil seemed likely in our lifetimes before this technology, but perhaps supply limits are no longer relevant in our lifetimes.

cars are becoming more efficient.

In the 1950s, specially tuned Morris Minors were driving 100 miles on a single gallon of petrol (that's around 2.8 litres per 100 kilometres)

My 1995 mazda 121 did 5.4L/100km. A 2015 Toyota prius does 4.7L/100km. That is not a significant improvement on a population level.

As the world adopts western consumption patterns, and consequent thirst for oil, a billion more people driving Toyota prius instead of mazda 121 does not solve any problems.

 

[isildurrrr1]

In the 1950s, specially tuned Morris Minors were driving 100 miles on a single gallon of petrol (that's around 2.8 litres per 100 kilometres)

My 1995 mazda 121 did 5.4L/100km. A 2015 Toyota prius does 4.7L/100km. That is not a significant improvement on a population level.

As the world adopts western consumption patterns, and consequent thirst for oil, a billion more people driving Toyota prius instead of mazda 121 does not solve any problems.

And specifically tuned engineering cars can go hundreds of miles in a single liter. Car's on a whole are getting much much more efficient year by year. Even hypercars of today are moving towards hybrid technology that both save fuel and boosts performance. PHEV are the way to go for cars now. Toyota fucked up on the prius imo, the technology just wasn't there at the time and it rediculed hybrid tech for a long time since it wasn't even that fuel efficient and more damaging to the planet. If you want to rake up fuel efficiency, just change your driving habits.

The reason production is booming and there is an oversupply is because of technological breakthroughs, fracking. And also for political reasons.

We would have a very different global economy and oil supply today if not for these recent technological breakthroughs.

The prediction of peak oil is evident in that the production methods have changed, traditional oil reserves in North America were run down until this new technology was discovered. Discoveries of new oil wells are far outpaced by growth in consumption.

Developing economies are slowing down and their demand for oil consumption is dropping. Also the Saudis and US are essentially trying to bankrupt russia and ISIS.

Obviously on a finite planet, in an infinite timeframe oil production will peak eventually. If consumption continues to grow exponentially, then demand will seriously exceed production at peak, and prices will increase.

There are artificial methods of creating oil (no not biofuels), the canadians already do this with oil-sands. Sure its fucking dirty but it gets the job done and can be profitable at 40 dollars a barrel. The problem with oil around the world is supply logistics. No country is safe from energy shocks, look at what happened to the US during the oil embargo, their economy was practically crippled.

People think about personal transport in terms of oil price cause that's what they immediately use every day, people use oil burning cars while oil is cheap, but it would be pretty easy for most of the world's population to ride bicycles or catch public transport if oil became expensive I think. Billions of people still do, it would just be a culture shock for fat westerners.

People are selfish. Beijing used to be full of bikes now its full of cars. People love cars because it's a status symbol and it gives you the "freedom" of travel at your will. Bit off topic I find it funny the current gov harps on about infrastructure yet they're not doing much for public transport.

 

[Gary_Oak]

Hmm, there will be whale oil, and we can breed whales to make oil, lol

http://theinfosphere.org/Whale_oil

I think the future will be like futurama

 

[Speed6]

Hmm, there will be whale oil, and we can breed whales to make oil, lol

http://theinfosphere.org/Whale_oil

I think the future will be like futurama

Whale oil, hmmmm.

 

[softchillisauce]

This is what might happen if oil runs out, assuming if alternative fuels cannot be mass manufactured:

Any country which relies heavily on oil exports for their economy such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, Venezuela, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Bahrain etc will be bankrupted. The elite flee to the West whilst leaving the common people to fend for themselves. Riots and warfare begin.

America withdraws from the Middle East. There's no sense in staying. Why protect a non-existent resource?

In 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreement established the US Dollar as the preferred currency of international trade. It was a gold-backed currency. America had the vast majority of the world's gold in its vaults because of this. However, the US Federal Reserve printed more money than it had in gold. Inflation occurs. So in 1971, US President Richard Nixon removes the gold backing from the US Dollar. He negotiates a deal with the OPEC nations. They sell oil in ONLY US Dollars in exchange for US military protection and funding of its dictators and oilfields. Hence, this creates the US petrodollar. This has an effect of removing excess dollars from America and making the US dollar actually worthy.

However, when oil runs out....nations return their US dollars. What's the point of keeping it to buy non-existent oil? Massive inflation occurs in America. Riots occur. There's barely any fuel left, and everything is ridiculously expensive. America is bankrupt. The US Government uses lethal force to suppress the protests. Troops defect en masse to the civilians' side because of their unethical orders and begin the Second American Civil War.

The Middle East is even more backward as there is no oil and there wasn't much to begin with.

Europe and Asia have no fuel left. Poverty and rioting occur in every major city from London to Tokyo as all important services cease due to a lack of fuel.

Everything collapses.

I hope this won't happen. Thankfully, alternative fuels can be mass manufactured to prevent something like this from happening!

 

[Gary_Oak]

Everything collapses.

I hope this won't happen. Thankfully, alternative fuels can be mass manufactured to prevent something like this from happening!

Hmm, whale oil anyone?? Why can't our government learn from futurama and apply measures like those