World Oil Reserves

[michel]

I think we have a while before we start to see a real scare on the oil...they are finding ways of extracting oil from places where 20 years ago it was more difficult, also with the advent of hybrid cars and things like that we may see oil going farther than it did before...
but we should all make an effort to conserve, not just in gas prices...look around you and think about all the things that are in your life which are connected to oil in one way or another...
oil was in the automobiles that delivered everything you own, they are in the plastics that are used for pretty much everything, they are in the machines in factories across the globe...
when we see a real problem w/ oil it won't just be at the pump you'll feel the burn, but in everything in your everyday life...

I think you are right Jewscout; but at what price?
There are 'pockets' of oil - there is one not so far from where I live - but to drill for it here would desecrate the land. There's also the questuion of cost; the more costly sites that have never been tapped are still there - but it will take a hike in oil prices, driven by scarcety, to make those sites viable.

 

[Druidus]

We have reached peak oil. There is an estimated 40-60 years of oil usage left, if the oil usage rate does not go up (which it will). Hopefully, by then, hydrogen fuel will be advanced enough to take over. But I doubt it, because no one ever really invests in it with such a purpose. Looking at it as a novelty now, and thinking that someone else will make it work by the time we need it.

Typical human procrastination (for which I do happen to be known by ).

Saddest of all, I believe, is that if we revert back to agrarian societies, the only fuel left will be coal. Since it will have to be stepped up in usage, that will run out within 100 years after oil is. After this, it's agrarian for a long time (you need fuel to build better fuel). If we were to go extinct, spacefaring, or even globefaring, intelligence probably could not evolve. Think about it.

We've used all the available surface metals (or almost all of them). An early intelligence couldn't dig deep for metals. We've used all the available surface fuels.

It would take millions of years for the fuels to come back, but the metal would be gone, barring a cataclysmic asteroid with huge amounts of metals on it.

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

Saddest of all, I believe, is that if we revert back to agrarian societies, the only fuel left will be coal. Since it will have to be stepped up in usage, that will run out within 100 years after oil is.

This is not true.
[size=+1]Hempoline - Hemp Biodiesel, Hemp Fuel[/size]
[size=-2]Hemp biodiesel has been proven economically feasible, in tests that have been going on since 1973.[/size]

 

[Druidus]

Do you think we could switch to that with no fuel to start with? I highly doubt it.

 

[Crystallas]

My house produces 4kw/h of electricity on a cloudy day. It costed me $7,200 for all the equiptment. The equiptment has a 30 year waranty and also can be upgraded. My house ambiently uses 5kw/h in spring and fall and peaks at 30kw/h in the winter and summer. 1kw/h costs me $2.40.
Thank you US Solar and thanks to the crazy weekend I had installing everything. Had this setup for 2 years now, and I still have a credit on my power bill that I can request as a check payable to me at any time.

Funny part about this is that solar powered machines made all the pannels. Plastic did make up a lot of the matierials too.
Hemp plastic solar pannels. Hmmmm? Yeah, for some reason I dont think that will happen anytime soon(atleast not mainstream), but it would be nice.

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

Do you think we could switch to that with no fuel to start with? I highly doubt it.

Hemp fuel can be used in the cars we have right now. There is no need to alter anything about our engines in order to use this fuel source.

It would only take 6% of our U.S. land to produce enough hemp, for hemp fuel, to make us energy independent from the rest of the world.

• [size=-2]Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel that runs in any conventional, unmodified diesel engine. It can be stored anywhere that petroleum diesel fuel is stored.[/size]
• [size=-2]Biodiesel is safe to handle and transport because it is as biodegradable as sugar, 10 times less toxic than table salt, and has a high flashpoint of about 300 F compared to petroleum diesel fuel, which has a flash point of 125 F.[/size]
• [size=-2]Biodiesel can be made from domestically produced, renewable oilseed crops such as hemp.[/size]
• [size=-2]Biodiesel is a proven fuel with over 30 million successful US road miles, and over 20 years of use in Europe.[/size]
• [size=-2]When burned in a diesel engine, biodiesel replaces the exhaust odor of petroleum diesel with the pleasant smell of hemp, popcorn or french fries.[/size]
• [size=-2]Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel in the US to complete EPA Tier I Health Effects Testing under section 211(b) of the Clean Air Act, which provide the most thorough inventory of environmental and human health effects attributes that current technology will allow.[/size]
• [size=-2]Biodiesel is 11% oxygen by weight and contains no sulfur. The use of biodiesel can extend the life of diesel engines because it is more lubricating than petroleum diesel fuel, while fuel consumption, auto ignition, power output, and engine torque are relatively unaffected by biodiesel.[/size]
• [size=-2]The Congressional Budget Office, Department of Defense, US Department of Agriculture, and others have determined that biodiesel is the low cost alternative fuel option for fleets to meet requirements of the Energy Policy Act.[/size]

 

[Druidus]

ES, besides the fact that it can be used, it combusts; it is a hydrocarbon. It will only help global warming.

Other methods that do not do that are required.

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

ES, besides the fact that it can be used, it combusts; it is a hydrocarbon. It will only help global warming.

Other methods that do not do that are required.

But how much of a decrease in global warming will there be if we stopped using petroleum fuels? And this is about oil reserves, not global warming, that's on the other page

 

[Druidus]

Yes, but it ties in. "Hempoline" produces global warming compounds, and besides this, uses up much arable soil. This is why I think it is not a long term viable option, especially when the droughts begin to occur from global warming.

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

Yes, but it ties in. "Hempoline" produces global warming compounds, and besides this, uses up much arable soil. This is why I think it is not a long term viable option, especially when the droughts begin to occur from global warming.

It would only take 6% of our U.S. land to produce enough hemp, for hemp fuel, to make us energy independent from the rest of the world.

[size=-2]When burned in a diesel engine, biodiesel replaces the exhaust odor of petroleum diesel with the pleasant smell of hemp, popcorn or french fries.[/size]
Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel in the US to complete EPA Tier I Health Effects Testing under section 211(b) of the Clean Air Act, which provide the most thorough inventory of environmental and human health effects attributes that current technology will allow.
And hemp does not depleat the soil of nuetrients like most other crops. Hemp would in fact be a perfect crop for rotation of food crops.

 

[Druidus]

Look, I'll agree that short term, it would be good. However, it is not a long term option. No matter what it smells like, it still pollutes and causes global warming.

 

[niceguy]

Biodiesel costs money, the problem with peek oil isnt that the the oil will run out, that isn't the problem at all. THe problem is that it will gradually be more and more expensive to pump up what's left. The economy cannot survive without an abundance of cheap fuel. A weak economy cannot afford to research for alternatives. What use do we have of bio diesel if it's to expensive to allow for an efficent economy?

Repeat: Peek oil is NOT about oil running out, it's about oil becomming increasingly more expensive up to the point when we have to invest more fuel then we can pump up. Peek oil are about the end of resonably cheap oil. Manufacturing oil in some industrial processes are of course an alternative but it will be prohibitivly expensive to do so.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I think the most frightning time will be when people know it is running out.
The readjustment will be terrible.
the unrest, lawlessness, Povertyand Death will hit everywhere.

I pity those who will be around at the time.

Terry
_________________________________________
Blessed are those who suffer in the cause of right, the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

 

[Valjean]

The age of wood gave way to the age of coal gave way to the age of petroleum. Clearly, petroleum reserves are finite, and demand is skyrocketing.

Ordinary internal combustion engines can be converted to (and many currently do) run on alcohol, propane, or vegetable oil. Electric motors are also very much in evidence.

The US, realizing its dependence on oil, is desperately positioning itself to monopolize access to dwindling reserves. This may buy it a few more years of affluence but, inevitably, everyone will have to convert to alternative sources.

 

[Crystallas]

Global warming is enevitable. It will happen no matter what we do(it may even happen at the same time as an Ice Age, so yay.) I dont know why enviromentalists think that we can so easily run before we walk. We cant just convert to Hamster Powered homes. Then the animal rights activists wont be to happy. How the hell do you please people? Well I for one think that every improvement that we make is important. If we switched to denaturalized alcohols from whatever source including hemp biproducts, it may do harm, but its still a move forward.
Its like with microproccessor technology. Companies announcing 32nm chips by 2007. Some people say "why not just jump to it when we were at 250nm? Well how would they know how to do it if they didnt take baby steps to know how to do it? Semi-conductor tech has moved quick because of competition and smooth progression. But when everyone wants to argue about the next standard and how we capitalize off it, we arent moving anywhere(something that will plague tech one day as it did every other industry.)

 

[Valjean]

There are numerous extant technologies we could use for our energy needs, Crystallas. There is no need to "run before we can walk." The jogging trails are there, and running shoes piled high. They're just underutilized, currently.

 

[niceguy]

There are numerous extant technologies we could use for our energy needs, Crystallas. There is no need to "run before we can walk." The jogging trails are there, and running shoes piled high. They're just underutilized, currently.

And many of us are overweight anyway...

 

[james dixon]

Hybrid Cars are filling the gap bringing us closer to no more gasoline powered cars.

If you want to burn less gas, you have to get your power from somewhere else. Hybrid cars combine battery-powered electric motors and gas-powered internal combustion engines to provide impressive fuel economy gains. Most hybrids are capable of running solely on electricity or combining both power sources to boost acceleration, depending on the situation. Plug-in hybrids have larger batteries that can be filled by plugging in at a charging station, allowing them to run for much longer, and at much higher speed, on electricity alone.

Best Hybrid Cars: Top-Rated Hybrids for 2018 | Edmunds

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