What if we had no more fuel?

Question

Imagine if all the Oil Feilds were to dry up and we had no fuel to power all our machinery......what do you think would happen?

Answer 1

The government would probably order people to walk, cycle or build electric powered cars..

Answer 2

I wish that was the case.

Answer 3

We'd have to walk ourselves,use bicycles,Tongas,Rikshaws & travelling from one country to another especially when they are'nt linked by the sea.....Everything would be as slow as a slug.....anyway it would be our fault for we only overuse fuel....

Answer 4

I would ride on my Donkey and laugh at all the cry babies in my town.

Answer 5

We would probably try to adapt. I personally had a way to use pollution out of the atmospher to clean other pollution out of the enviroment. Combining many energy source I find this path ( based on one or two natural paths)

2 H2 + O2--> 2 H2O

6 CO2 + 6 H2O --> C6H12O6 + 6 O2

C6H12O6 + 6 CH4--> 6 C2H5OH

use methane to form hydrocarbons or other alcohols.

6 full combustion/equivalent + 6 CO2 --> X+1 Glucose

X= carbon in hydrocarbon if an alkane branched or unbranched

you could use solar power to supply any energy needed.

Answer 6

people will have to learn to do without all this machinery and change their ways of living..it is our fault in a way..misusing it anyway...there are new ways of making fuel using other resources but still wouldnt excuse what effects it still has to our environment..

Answer 7

We would increase production and development of current alternative fuels, and also increase the research of other viable fuels which we are not already extensively educated on. We would manufacture and alter the machinery, equipment, automobiles, everything that need be, so that they operated efficiently on alternative fuels.

We are already slowly making this transition presently. Not only due to environmental and economic concerns, but because the oil fields are dwindling in supply fast. It's estimated that there is only enough oil left in the world's natural reserves to sustain our current rate of use for approximately another 40 years.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a war within the next 15 years over the untapped oil in the Arctic. As you may have heard recently, Russia is already claiming ownership of it.

Answer 8

We would find other ways to move our machinery.  If you think we will ALL sit around waiting for Something to happen, for Someone to do Something, you must think we are ALL subjects of a socialist nanny culture.  We aint.  We will develop new technology.long before the oil runs out.

Answer 9

If we don't wise up and start using ethanol instead of foreign oil that is exactly what will happen.

Answer 10

Imagine this time frame

1day-4 months widespread panic and chaos.

5 months to 2 years. going back to the stone age almost because most machines would stop working all together to include some of the extraction of other resources. Chaos would settle by the end of 3 years from day 1.

2 years +  many of our other resources would used IE wind,water and solar power would be able to create electricity bringing back the electric powered cars. Bio fuel would be used IE methane and what used to be the "Big OIL Companies" would find some other way to get rich exploiting the population. 30+years the earth may show signs of recovering from oil pollution. Space travel would be very hard to continue though.......

Just my theory.........

Answer 11

bush would know just what to do

Answer 12

Most of us would die, probably. Lots of stuff we need for a living will come to a halt. Many farms will no longer be able to keep up their production, the food that still is produced will not be getting to the stores, wars would be fought over the last reserves... our civilization would pretty much be doomed.

Answer 13

America's obesity population would go down low!

Answer 14

Before oil reserves drop to zero, there will be a period when oil becomes harder and harder to get, and oil gets more and more expensive.  At some point, say when oil hits $80-$100 per barrel, then other fossil fuel alternatives become viable.  At today's costs of $60+ dollars per barrel, then extracting oil from Canadian oil sands becomes profitable.  When we hit $90 a barrel then extracting oil from oil shale become economically profitable.  When we hit $100 per barrel then coal gasification becomes profitable.  At about $150 per barrel then converting methane hydrates from the oceans becomes viable.

This doesn't even touch biofuels and using ethanols as fuel.  Neither does it touch the major developments in solar and wind power, or the increased use of nuclear power.  But the point is there are many fossil fuels besides petroleum that we can use to power our vehicles.  Its all a matter of economics.  So we will always have fuel to power our machinery.

Answer 15

that will NEVER happen.

there wil ALWAYS be oil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_dep...

Answer 16

What would happen if the percentage of oxygen changes by 5%? What would happen if all the di-hydrogen-mono-oxide becomes dihydrogen-dioxide? Scarry if you think about it.

Answer 17

then i guess we're out of luck.

Answer 18

like     it would be baaad for everybody

Answer 19

Things would grind to a halt.

Answer 20

IF the oil fields and lets say Coal too magically disappeared the world would switch to mainly nuclear power.  Some places would be able to rely on electricity from Hydro dams, geothermal, wind, and in rare cases solar power.  Travel would switch to electric & alcohol power.  Personal vehicles would become electric and better batteries would be developed quickly.  Shipping and traveling long distance would be done by rail (using electric lines over the top of the train for power and ship (sails with a combination of solar)  Blimps would return to the sky.  Better ways to produce and burn alchohol would be developed but uses would be limited by the fuel capacity/wieght ratio.