Do you think that the world will have aulternative fuels when oil runs out?

Question

Hi there, i guess its the question that all of us have asked our self s at one point or another, i for one believe that the world , , all the countries are full aware that the world will not be able to provide alternative fuel that will cover all of our needs, and the optimists of this world are just kidding them selfs , living in hope that we will be able to come up with some miracle fuel , how many of you have given it a good thought, how many of you are being influenced by the big shining Malls with all the glitter and air conditioning, by the cheap as chips Chinese made products? by the supermarkets being full of everything that you could wish, how many of you are being brain washed by all the TV advertising ? showing you what a beautiful world we all live in and how all the bad thing s can only happen to the third world countries, how many have learned a valuable lesson from what can happen when things go bad like New Orleans? i wonder

Answer 1

The world already has alternative fuels.  Petroleum is just the least expensive and most convenient.

There is little chance petroleum will "run out" in our lifetime.

Another way of looking at it is that we are already out of petroleum at $2 a barrel.  At $100 a barrel there is a huge amount, and as the price increases the economics start looking good for enormous deposits like oil shale.

I don't know how Kyoto gets caught up in this question, but many Kyoto signatories have reneged on their promises (like Canada).

I guess making a promise and breaking it is somehow more noble than just saying no in the first place.

Answer 2

it will not run out for 50 to 100 years.so don't worry..when the price goes way up other types will take over...read today's wall street journal editorial for facts and figures on running out...it will be a long time off.

Answer 3

We already have alternative sources of energy, all we lack is the willingness of the people to pay for them. We all want everything for nothing.

If, as I would guess by your post, you are an American, then perhaps you could make a start in your own country by lobbying for American support of the Kyoto Protocol. Without one of the world's largest industrial nations putting across a concerned ecological stance, we are all stuffed.

**EDIT**

and I can see by the thumbs down that you Americans are deeply committed to saving the planet, unless it spoils your own life-style. Wake up and smell the roses - we can't carry on like this if we all want a sustainable future.

Answer 4

Yes.  In fact, some really good electric cars are right around the corner.

Available in California in October 2008, the Aptera typ-1e will cost about $27,000 with a top speed of 95 mph and range of 120 miles per charge.

http://www.aptera.com/details.php

Soon thereafter Aptera will introduce the typ-1h, a plug-in hybrid version of the typ-1e with a 40-60 mile range on purely electrical energy, and a range of over 600 miles total when in electric/gas hybrid mode, for around $30,000.  On a 120 mile trip, the typ-1h will get 300 miles per gallon.  The shorter the trip, the higher the efficiency.

http://www.aptera.com/details.php

Available in late 2009, the ZAP Alias will cost $30,000, have a top speed of 100 mph, and a range of 100 miles per charge.

http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/el...

Soon thereafter the ZAP-X will be available at a cost of $60,000 with a top speed of 155 mph and a range of 350 miles per charge.

http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/el...

Available in 2009, the Miles Javlon will cost $30-35,000 with a top speed of 80 mph and a range of 120 miles per charge.

http://www.milesev.com/index.asp#hsv.swf

Phoenix Motorcars will start selling their SUT to individuals in late 2008 or early 2009.  It will cost $45,000 and have a top speed of 100 mph with a range of 100+ miles per charge.

http://phoenixmotorcars.com/

Answer 5

well as of me friend,,yes!even nowadays scientist are now doing their research of what would be the alternative solution if ever we ran out of fuels..others call it as "biofuel" like what our country is now planning and starting to produce out from a "tuba-tuba" plant.so this just means that by the time the fuels ran dry...we could and should have an alternative,,and this is just a fresh beginning of ours..and someday it will be improvised and therefore became the alternative for fuels that we had used to...

Answer 6

Not sure how Kyoto got caught up in the answers, just as a note, Kyoto is pointless, it will (if it works) drop global temperatures 0.2 degrees, which as u can guess is useless.

Oil will not run out anytime soon. As said before, thanks to new technologies we are discover new oil fields (from space!) and there are some in Alaska and Canada that we haven't touched yet. Oil is the best product out there, and at the moment the cheapest and most efficient. When oil does start running out, the prices will go up and supplies we be limited. Then someone will invent a better cheaper method - or refine the methods out there that already exist. The new product will be cheaper and thus people will switch - this is how the economic world works.  

On a side note, most 'alternate' fuels around at the moment depend on oil at some stage of the process - how do you think wind tubines/solar panels are transported and put into place? Hybrid cars still use fuel, biofuel is just cleaner oil.

Answer 7

well, after the oil runs out, i thinkg we'll just ahve to start walking everywhere. or biking. and then we'll all shed a few pounds and won't be the fat *** country we already are.

Answer 8

Yes.  The "World's Cleanest Car" runs on compressed air.

"BBC News is reporting that a French company has developed a pollution-free car which runs on compressed air. India's Tata Motors has the car under production and it may be on sale in Europe and India by the end of the year.

The air car, also known as the Mini-CAT or City Cat, can be refueled in minutes from an air compressor at specially equipped gas stations and can go 200 km on a 1.5 euro fill-up -- roughly 125 miles for $3. The top speed will be almost 70 mph and the cost of the vehicle as low as $7000.

The car features a fibreglass body and a revolutionary electrical system and is completely computer-controlled. It is powered by the expansion of compressed air, using no combustion at all, and the exhaust is entirely clean and cool enough for use in the internal air conditioning system. "

Answer 9

It is not a question of running out of oil

but of not being able to extract & refine  it fast enough to meet increasing demand. the easy resources have been used already, aka Peak oil. result it becomes too expensive for individual use

The stone age didn't end because we run out of stones. Electric cars already perform better and provide a much more enjoyable driving experience than infernal combustion

BUT if we waste the oil driving around there will be none left for tyres (about 8 gallons each), to build tarmac roads (concrete is a huge source of CO2 so needs to be avoided) and all the other infrastructure currently reliant on cheap oil

Answer 10

By the time oil runs out in 200 years we will have a better energy source than converting food to gas.

  The US has proven reserves in Alaska, off the California coast, in the gulf are off Florida and off the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. We let special interest groups prohibit us from getting this oil and stopping our dependence OPEC, Mexico, and Venezuela. Why?

   Because all the Eco-freaks feel it is getter for us to pay $4.00 a gallon pollute the oceans with carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide from mega tankers bringing oil to the US. They force these alternate energy bills through Congress on us instead of seeing some red tailed nit-rat moved or their condo view spoiled by a temporary drilling rig. The US can become energy self sufficient in less than two years if we let the oil companies do their job. I hate to pay $4.00 a gallon for gas, who do you think will pay the oil companies taxes? The consumer of course, just like we pay their taxes now. Sure it cuts into their profit margin a little, but in the end the biggest company that get the most profit from a gallon of gas is the congress (Right now about 50 cents a gallon) and they spend that on bridges to nowhere.

   Maybe Congress does not want us to drill in the United States they keep the groups who finance their campaigns. All those big powerful Eco lobbies and foreign oil companies that pay them a lot of cash to back them have a bigger say than the voting citizens’ who don’t write their congressman telling them to open up these reserves.

  

    The fuel of choice in 200 years? I would think it may be the Hydrate deposits off the coasts  No research has been done on how to harvest it and OPEC has no control over it...Unless they get the Eco-freaks some more money to lobby congress to prohibit us from using it.

Answer 11

From what I read once before, much of the world is running on alternative fuels with places such as Canada, the US, and China being the furthest behind in that technology.  So it basically comes down to it's not like the world has a choice.

Answer 12

We will never run out of fossil fuels as the plants are making oil & gas from the plants. It is a continuos recycle system that does not need your help.

Answer 13

Since oil will not run out for many many years, I'm sure we will come up with something.

Answer 14

There already are alternative fuels.  Unfortunately, many of them are inferior when compared to traditional oil.  They are typically much more expensive, yield less energy than oil, and actually require more energy to produce than they yield.  They are counter-productive and inefficient in many ways.  Oil will not run out in your lifetime.  It won't run out in your children's lifetime.  We keep discovering more and more reserves that we didn't know about even 20 years ago because of better technology and fewer restrictions.  Jimmy Carter said during his presidency that we would run out of oil in 10 years.  That was almost 30 years ago.  Last I checked we're up to our eyeballs in oil.  The trick is to convince the government to allow companies to get at it.

Answer 15

The world already has alternative fuel/energy sources.  I say that not to be sarcastic, but to show that it has less to do with our options and more to do with how much pain/discomfort we are willing to endure to use them.

The world won't end when the oil runs out.  It's just that people find paying $3.50 for a gallon of gas less painful than buying a diesel and making their own gas, or spending $10,000 more for an electric car, or putting down the keys and riding a bike.

Have you thought about what price oil has to hit before you start spending more money on shoes and less on gasoline?

The change will be gradual, much like the gas prices that have doubled over the past 3 years.