What's going to rock our boat when oil runs out?

Question

What's going to rock our boat when oil runs out?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, there are no alternatives mentioned here that are not a derivative of oil.  That is, without oil, we can't use or develop them.  

Without oil, you can't build nuclear power stations or mine the uranium or transport the materials you need to fuel and maintain it.  

Without oil you can't make photovoltic solar panels, maintain them, or mine the materials to make replacements when they eventually break down.  

Without oil, you can't make or maintain wind turbines.

Without some form of energy source you can't make the hydrogen to use it.  Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source.  

The most worrying aspect of oil depletion is the fact that modern agribusiness relies heavily on fossil fuels to grow crops.  For every calorie of food you eat, 10 calories of fossil fuel energy was used to sow it, fertilise it, spray pesticides on it, harvest it and transport it for processing before it gets to your plate.  1,500 miles for every meal.  

With so much oil going into the production of crops, the idea that agrofuels could ever replace oil for transportaton fuel is a joke.  There is also the ethical problem of using food in your petrol tank and leaving people to starve.  

As oil declines over the next 4 decades, the world is going to be a very different place.  We will have to abandon the car and the idea that driving 20 miles to pick up a container of milk as ridiculous.  

We need to re-establish agriculture, where farmers learn to look after the soil to get the best from it without fossil fuel based fertilisers and pesticides.

We need local power generation and local food production and an end to supermarkets.  

All the amenities and facilities for the local communtiy should be withihin walking distance.  

As much as possible, every home should be as energy efficent as it can be, built of brick and insulated.  Timber framed houses are too wasteful of heating energy.  

There will have to be a better public transportation system, so that more people can travel in far fewer vehicles.  

The only answer to oil depletion is conservation and efficiency.  James Howard Kunstler has written a book called 'A World made by Hand'.  His previous book, The Long Emergency, predicted, years ago, exactly what is happening now.  This new book will give you a good idea of what the challenges of the future are, and how we can deal with them.

Addition:  Raysor - Not a single barrel of commercially viable shale oil has EVER been produced, and industry chiefs admit that processing oil sands is too energy intensive, the oil is low quality and you need gas to heat it before you can liberate the oil from the sand.  What happens then, when natural gas also runs out?  No, not a viable, long term option at all.

Answer 2

I've thought about this quite a bit, the problem is oil has been a solve-all, so we're looking for another solve-all, that's the wrong way of looking at things.

Solar's not going to save things, neither is wind, or hydrogen.

However, solar (passives like hot-water, heat, and daylighting, then actives, photo-voltaics), and wind power, and hydropower (small & large scale), rain-harvesting, gray-water re-use, and recycling, and hydrogen, and research into even more technologies, and, and, and..., are all going to be "the" replacement.

Answer 3

The oil will not run out. Mother nature or plants are recycling fossil fuel's Just like they do our oxygen. This is why the Global Warming has scared the Left to hording fuel. It is why the cost of gasoline has gone so high. Fossil fuels Come from plant fossil not animal fossils. Global Warming is a scam and U fell for it.

Answer 4

liposuction.

the United States could get enough oil from fat people

to last another century.

Answer 5

Change all our lifestyles so we are less dependant on energy, this could make life much nicer.  More and more we will work from home, shop locally, grow our own veggies, talk to our neighbours - there are benefits to running out of oil!

Answer 6

We'll be fine.  Energy shortages bring out the best in human ingenuity.  The solutions are endless; don't look for just one.

Answer 7

things like this >

http://www.teslamotors.com/

there are clips of it on youtube also =)

no wonder the oil companies are worried..lol

Answer 8

cow sh*t seen the top gear vid?

if no then here it is,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1ILpB4VL...



and another one about cows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk_u4tIUc...

Answer 9

At least we won't have to worry about the big boats rocking and polluting the sea.

Answer 10

renewable resources and for cars - turn into bikes :P

Answer 11

Hydrogen

Answer 12

Sun power

wind power.

Answer 13

i think that biological resources are going to be used when oil runs out

Answer 14

nuclear power...love it or loathe it....or don't have power and return to candle power...thats what we have to decide

EDIT...a thumbs down...go on give an alternative?

Answer 15

Even though a lot of people won't admit it, it will ultimately be nuclear fission power.  There aren't enough available land resources to do it from wind, and the hard truth about solar is that it would currently take an area the size of Connecticutt to get rid of fossil fuel in just power generation plants, let alone powering all-electric cars.

Answer 16

Oil will run out obviously but not in our liefetime, nor our childre, or childrens' children. You just drill deeper. Or extract it from oil sands/shale. When it does run out technology will provide a relatively easy alternative. Maybe fuel cells, or more likely a tiny nuclear reactor.

Answer 17

I still say:  Drill here.  Drill now.  Pay less.