Peak Oil= End of World?
By CraftyCorner
@CraftyCorner (5600)
United States
February 10, 2008 3:55am CST
Also known as Hubbert's peak, 'Peak Oil' refers to the peak of the entire planet's oil production. As you know, we use oil to do lots of things such as drive and operate most of the machinery that keeps our economy going. It is a key component of gasoline.
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We do have some alternative fuels. They aren't at the stage where they can take oil's job as primary fuel source yet. Some fear we are rapidly running out of the black gold. Some folks say this can cause the end of our civilization.
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http://www.theoildrum.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubbert_peak_theory
http://dieoff.org/
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Others say that we can gradually wean ourselves off oil in time from the black gold using alternative fuel as the oil peak or crash won't be a sudden brutal business. Oil will just get harder to find. Thus more expensive to obtain. That will force research into alternate fuel sources and conservation.
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http://peakoildebunked.blogspot.com/
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What's your take?
2 people like this
3 responses
@john_essex (199)
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1 Jul 09
Peak oil will certainly not be the end of the world, but the world which have got used to could look very different! The worst scenario is sudden peaks in oil price that causes instability, hopefully the price of oil will grow at a steady pace so that we have time to adjust and put replacement energy sources in place.
Recent studies have shown tha in the UK wind power alone could provide all of our energy needs. The problem is that our current infrastructure is oil based, cars that run on petrol or diesel, heating that runs on oil. This will take time nd huge investment to change over to electric cars. There are some technology limitations at the moment, a big one being suitable battery technology for electric cars. Current batteries still do not offer the same range as a petrol or diesel car.
@CraftyCorner (5600)
• United States
4 Jul 09
The largest guzzlers of oil and gasoline for non-critical use are planes and cars. (Home heating oil can be a critical for life use so I will not address that.) If there is an emergency, non-critical oil use get clipped back so critical uses can continue.
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As they are non-critical to existence, cars & planes can be hit with price spikes to get people to fly or drive much less to conserve oil for home heating use. The price spikes can create innovation from private industry to create new technologies such as better batteries for electric cars or expand conserving tech to where it's needed, such as sending the European Smart Car to the USA.
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Mopeds and electric bikes do very well during oil price spikes. They can be electric powered, or come with gas tanks so tiny they are a bargain except during the direst of emergencies.
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Trains will come back during an oil bust. Trains are open for innovation.
@rookiekan (882)
• China
10 Feb 08
it's awful.just these days,my bro always walk instead of car for going work cause of the expensive oil price.but i dont think that oil have been the dominant the fate of the world.human being always be aroused the huge potential by disaster.i think the sun will help us out of oil lack
@CraftyCorner (5600)
• United States
10 Feb 08
Solar power is improving as fast as computers were in the 1960's, and you know where they are now. Tiny appliances are going solar in droves because changing batteries isn't convenient.
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Don't forget wind power, it is becoming a real player for generating electric power.
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Electric power can get cars going now, as we get batteries to run longer the cars will become more attractive.
2 people like this
@drknlvly6781 (6246)
• United States
10 Feb 08
I believe that man will find a way. We've evolved up to this point, and if it comes to it, we will find a way to live without oil.
But I don't believe that we are running out of oil any time soon as long as it's more profitable for Bush to keep those oil rigs closed in the Gulf of Mexico.
@drknlvly6781 (6246)
• United States
12 Feb 08
Yeah, they did a report on the local news here when the price of oil was down, but we didn't see a real reflection in the gas prices. Experts said that gas prices won't go down until we see a halt in the purchasing. When gas gets so high that people start making changes in their lives on a wide scale, so that gas sales go down, then we will see a change in prices. I guess then we will also see the emergence of alternate fuels.
1 person likes this
@john_essex (199)
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1 Jul 09
The oil willl never run out! That's right, we will never run out of oil becuase there will always be some left in the ground somewhere. The problem will be the cost of extracting the oil. If those last few drops of oil cost $800 a barrel to extract, would anyone bother?
2 people like this
@CraftyCorner (5600)
• United States
15 Feb 08
There are alternate forms of private transport that are looking more and more attractive as gas prices climb. The private auto has the ultra tiny version called the smart car:
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http://www.pinklily.com.au/images/media/smartcar.jpg
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There is the moped, the traditional pedal bike, and the electric bike that are supplemented with car batteries for extra go power:
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http://urbanscooters.com/P/images/bikemania/ElectricBike_ChopperKit-2.jpg
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There are a dizzying array of scooters as well out there. Business is not paying any attention to government policy. The innovations in the garages are flying fast and loose.
2 people like this
