What Happens When the Oil Runs Out?

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Originally Posted by schmenke

We should be more concerned about fresh water. The world will run out of fresh water far soon than depleting our petroleum reserves.

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The amount of water on the planet neither increases nor decreases. It is constant.

As far as fuel goes, I'm sure that some sort of biodiesel or even bio-jet technology could be employed as in the Jaguar CX-75 concept:
http://www.motortrader.com.my/news/w.../c-x75-(1).jpg
Petrol was always a by-product and can probably be replaced with some sort of constant renewable like Canola or someyhing - plant scientists, there's your job; off you go.

The real question is what happens about all the plastics, dyes and other chemicals which are produced?
Crude oil is useful because it contains very long chain hyrdocarbons. Those are the basis for all sorts of neat chemical things. It's far easier and efficient to crack hyrdocarbons than to add them together; in most cases by specific energies of at least twenty-fold.

Maybe we should be looking at coal-tar again. Perkin's mauveine dye was found by accident while he was looking for quinine, whilst looking at gunk made by coal-tar chemistry.

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Originally Posted by Rollo

The real question is what happens about all the plastics, dyes and other chemicals which are produced?
Crude oil is useful because it contains very long chain hyrdocarbons. Those are the basis for all sorts of neat chemical things. It's far easier and efficient to crack hyrdocarbons than to add them together; in most cases by specific energies of at least twenty-fold.

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this is how you partially solve the problem with plastics:

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Originally Posted by BleAivano

Some plastics items like plastic bags, pens and etc are also no longer being
made by oil but rather from Potato starch. So I think we will be able to function even without regular oil.

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Potato Plastic
Bio-plastics: Turning Wheat And Potatoes into Plastics - The Naked Scientists
Bioplastic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Read this on how to do it yourself: http://www.rsc.org/education/teacher...rces/3.1.7.pdf

Corn starch can also be used for the same purpose:

Corn starch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is a lot of promise in bio plastics, and I expect that interest will continue to grow as crude prices continue to rise.

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Originally Posted by D-Type

It appears that some posters on this thread have not read the article linked in post #1. I have, and have no reson to doubt the facts stated.

The reality is that oil and other fossil fuels are finite. The easiest reserves to exploit have been developed - British coal and Texan oil are two obvious examples. The number of places in the world where there might be oil reduces with each new find. The oil and coal will run out: the only question is "When?"

We have to do something before its too late. But what?

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All resources are finite, including energy harnessed from the sun as it also has a finite lifespan. Some resources just have a longer availability than others.

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Originally Posted by airshifter

There is a lot of promise in bio plastics, and I expect that interest will continue to grow as crude prices continue to rise.

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That's true .
In my coffee shop , we use scales that are made from hempseed oil plastic .

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Originally Posted by BleAivano

this is how you partially solve the problem with plastics:



Potato Plastic
Bio-plastics: Turning Wheat And Potatoes into Plastics - The Naked Scientists
Bioplastic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Read this on how to do it yourself: http://www.rsc.org/education/teacher...rces/3.1.7.pdf

Corn starch can also be used for the same purpose:

Corn starch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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That's true , too .
We also use knives forks and spoons , for the "to go" customers , made from potato starch .
Plastic "smoothie" cups are also starch .

Our coffee cups have a biodegradable coating on the inside as opposed to a regular plastic layer , so they are actually compostable . They were developed for the US navy , so that the zillions that get tossed off ships don't just end up in any of the big plastics gyres .

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Originally Posted by 555-04Q2

All resources are finite, including energy harnessed from the sun as it also has a finite lifespan. Some resources just have a longer availability than others.

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That statement is, to quote an earlier post, "A load of cr@p". The point is that we have already used up so much of the world's available hydrocarbons (coal, oil and gas) that we have a major issue. The fact that the sun will cool down at some point in astronomical or geological time is not relevant to our pr4esesnt problem.

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Originally Posted by D-Type

That statement is, to quote an earlier post, "A load of cr@p". The point is that we have already used up so much of the world's available hydrocarbons (coal, oil and gas) that we have a major issue. The fact that the sun will cool down at some point in astronomical or geological time is not relevant to our pr4esesnt problem.

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:erm: Ok.....You must be smoking your socks, so I'll give you a wide berth until tomorrow when you may, hopefully, be clearer headed.

The problem is one of greed .

The fossils flow , and the large money is made .
It's pretty understandable that big oil wants to keep that going , and therefore thwarts the rest of the alternatives . It's free enterprise .

They have the money , and can afford the propaganda machine .
And , big money spawns big ideas .