Fossil Fuel Question...?

Question

A friend of mine said that America has enough fossil fuel underground to survive...If this is the case why are we so reliant on over seas oil?

Answer 1

There is more than enough fossel fuel. The real issue is designing well engineered systems to distribute energy to all who need it. At this time only poorly engineered systems are in use because energy has been abundant and low in cost. There was little reason to use good engineering what the current systems were designed and built.

Answer 2

There have been recent finds of oil shales beneath the Rocky Mountains and Canada that potentially have trillions of barrels of oil but recovering and refining would be more costly than conventional methods. For the immediate future, Middle East oil and other sources are the least expensive. Coal can be transformed also into synthetic fuel at a much higher cost and we have over 200 years of reserves of that.

Answer 3

We don't remotely have enough oil to not import it.

The most optimistic estimates of the oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are 6 months worth.

Mr Jello - enough to lower the price to $10 for many years?  That is by far the most ridiculous and non-fact based statement you have ever made here.

Answer 4

See Hubbards curve for US oil supplies. and transition town http://www.transitiontowns.org/ for answers

The issue is not that the oil runs out, but the easy/cheap stocks are used first and now it will be uneconomic to extract more.

There are other fossil fuels, shale coal.. but are expensive and inefficient to convert to petroleum.

And what do you want the fossil fuel for? in personal transport it is much more efficent to use electric vehicles that can burn coal cleanly and deliver direct to your home, and are far more pleasent/fun to drive than infernal combustion.

for heating it is better & cheaper to insulate properly and use coppiced willow in ceramic stoves or similar;

for agro-chemicals it is more sustainable & healthier and less destructive to farm organically. and switch to seasonal low input produce. eg hemp instead of cotton

save the oil for emergency uses like rescue helicopters where there is no viable alternative and cost is not an issue.

Answer 5

Survival and living are not the same thing. The rate at which we consume oil would use up our reserves in a matter of a few years. IF we were to cut back our consumption significantly, then we certainly could survive, but that would mean nobody would own cars, or if they did, they couldn't afford to drive them or wouldn't be allowed to drive them. Electricity would not be a 24 hour a day thing. Neither would heating/air conditioning. Our entire economy is based on having energy to produce and deliver goods to the market place.  We could survive, but we, as a nation, have become accustomed to living with the luxuries that oil provides. So if we don't import oil, kiss all of the luxuries we take for granted, as well as our enormous economy, good bye.

Answer 6

Surviving is not the same as thriving. It would take extremely strict rationing to survive on only domestic oil. And that oil would run out all that much sooner if we used it more than we do now. Better to import oil from elsewhere while we can and save a local reserve for emergencies.

Answer 7

Oil isn't the only fossil fuel. Your friend is probably including coal. We have a lot of coal.

Answer 8

The political left has no desire to drill for the oil.  It is in their best interest to keep the price of oil as high as possible to justify the development of costly alternative energy supplies.

There is plenty of oil in Alaska, off the California coast, and in the Bearing Sea to keep oil at $10/bbl for our lifetimes.