Peak Oil Doom and Gloom, or maybe not...

Quote from Pekelo:

Horses and walking worked just fine for centuries... :)

By the way peak oilers (which you also acknlowledge by indicating the needs for alternatives) are not necessery the same as doom and gloomers about energy....

And there is also politics...Hey, we had the electric car back in the 1990s. I just watched Futurecar yesterday, they had an electric sporscar that hit 60 faster than any Porsche or Lamborghini...

Its the atom I think, awesome machine. 0-60 in 2.9s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWoo82zNUA

Sorry that one's not electric, its this one the X1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fQLdfW6YT8
 
I never really understood the peak oil gloom and doomers either. There is plenty of oil in Canada and the US. Getting it isn't easy ... but it is there.

But even if we ignored those ... why does everyone discount deep-sea drilling? Over 99% of the ocean floor has never even been seen. To think their isn't some oil, if not more than on land, is just silly.

It is just too bad we won't truly make a change until it is economically viable ... we have a real chance to finally do some good with alternative energies.
 
I think the main mistake people make when talking about oil is thinking that so-called 'doom-and-gloomers’ (read – realists) predict that the oil will ‘run out’. It fact the opposite is truth. They are saying that the oil is relatively plentiful. However, we have passed (or close to passing) the peak of our capacity to produce oil, while our demand for it (due to economic growth) keeps on increasing. And the oil reserves remaining are harder to get to and the oil thus will become increasingly more expensive.

The problem here is not just cars. EVERYTHING you see around you is made using oil. Every single thing. Even scarier, those ‘alternative’ energy sources people are talking about are not ‘alternative’ at all – not a single one of those is oil-independent. You will still need oil to implement them. Not to mention that their efficiency is much lower than oil’s.

On the subject of cars, however…the ‘electric car we had in 1990s’ – GM’s EV1 had a real-life range of 30 (yes, THIRTY!) miles! And where do you think the energy comes to charge the electric car? In addition, if I recall correctly it takes over 2000 gallons of oil and twice as much water to PRODUCE an average
car.

In conclusion, if you are truly interested in what Peak Oil really is about, go to this website: www lifeaftertheoilcrash.net
 
Quote from Corey:

There is plenty of oil in Canada and the US. Getting it isn't easy ... but it is there.

But even if we ignored those ... why does everyone discount deep-sea drilling?

Oh, for fuck's sake, I already addressed those in similar threads. Educate yourself on the issues and you will see that those won't help.

Hint: Speed of recovery...
 
Quote from jficquette:

Why do you think China, India, Russia and the US are going back to the moon?

We will not use Oil for primary power within 30 years. The Arabs are screwed and they know it.

John
Haven't you noticed the spike in cheese futures???

sorry couldn't resist :)
 
Quote from BostonKiller:
On the subject of cars, however…the ‘electric car we had in 1990s’ – GM’s EV1 had a real-life range of 30 (yes, THIRTY!) miles!

True, but the point was, if instead of building Humvees the autoindustry concentrated more on economics and practicality in the last 15 years, we would be 5 years ahead of the game today. Poor Carter gets a bad reputation and he was the ONLY president who wanted to do something about energy independence...

Otherwise everything you said is right on the money...
 
More importantly, how did you get that little '3' to the left of the 'He'? Cool!

Quote from my2cents:

You are speaking of highly theoretical and undeveloped technologies at this point in time. In addition, ³He is highly unstable and actually very scarce on the lunar surface. Any mechanical disturbance releases the gas making transport problematic.

This is often the main problem with dreamy eyed optimists, too much faith in human ingenuity.

It's time to work on proven techniques and renewable resources. So pass the beans and let's get working on developing those methane reserves.

Just,
My2¢
 
Quote from Pekelo:

True, but the point was, if instead of building Humvees the autoindustry concentrated more on economics and practicality in the last 15 years, we would be 5 years ahead of the game today.

I see what you mean, but my point was that there is no 'game'.
I gotta work on being able to get my point across :(
Coherency, thy name...not me.
 
Quote from Pekelo:

Oh, for fuck's sake, I already addressed those in similar threads. Educate yourself on the issues and you will see that those won't help.

Hint: Speed of recovery...

Sorry, you aren't so important as I stalk your every post and hang off your every word.

And in my opinion, they are currently a better economic alternative than many of the 'alternative' energies. With an entire industry and pipeline already in place, it is much easier to change the source than to change the industry.

I took a quick looksie at your old posts ...
You don't seem to deny that there is plenty of oil left. Your main concern seems to be our ability to access that oil at a rate that keeps up with our growing needs (I believe you used the metaphor of having $100B in the bank, but only being able to take out $100k a year).

In my humble opinion, I don't think the solution is to increase our rates of removal -- nothing can move exponentially -- but rather find solutions that supplement our rates, and find more efficient ways of utilizing the oil that we can withdraw. There is an abundance of oil ... we just need to figure out how to use it more efficiently.

So I suppose you could say that I do, in a sense, believe in peak oil. I do believe that consumption has surpassed rates of production -- any ECON 101 student can look at that by analyzing price of crude barrels (supply and demand, supply and demand...).

But the way peak oil is defined and sensationalized in the media is not the same 'peak oil' theory you are discussing. Perhaps the original concept is the one you are talking about -- but much like Global Warming, the media has skewed the story to create fear and terror to make it more interesting. We are not running out of oil ... we just might not be able to keep up with oil demands
:D
 
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