What Happens When the Oil Runs Out?

I would like to hear your opinion of this article, my dear friends:

What Happens When the Oil Runs Out?

I am not involved in the oil industry in any way, so some more insight from experts would definitely help. That said, I am more interested in far reaching implications of the decline in oil production. Cheap carbohydrates are the material basis of the modern day globalized society. Therefore, the human civilization will have to change as well. The author argues, that "a metamorphosis of human civilization from the global to the local, will be underpinned by building strong, resilient communities in which people share their skills and knowledge, to provide as much as possible at the local, grass-roots level." I wouldn't mind such a course of events at all but it sounds too optimistic for me.

Firstly the oil isn't going to 'run out' as such, in the way your car runs out of petrol, "that's it, there's none left". Instead it'll gradually get more and more expensive so you get to a point where normal people can no longer afford to run a car on it. Trouble is before you get to that point you have wars and unrest to deal with...

Having said that any notion that we're just going to go back to not using cars or public transport instead is fanciful. We will use alternative fuel sources, be they batteries, hydrogen, bio fuel or whatever.

Don't believe all the cr@p that people talk about regarding oil running out. There is more than enough oil to last another 100 years at least.

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Originally Posted by 555-04Q2

Don't believe all the cr@p that people talk about regarding oil running out. There is more than enough oil to last another 100 years at least.

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And your point is? It's still going to run out. Just that you and I won't have to deal with it.

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Originally Posted by Starter

And your point is? It's still going to run out. Just that you and I won't have to deal with it.

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By then we would have found a viable solution. Look what we've done in the last 100 years. From riding on horses to the invention of the motorcar to putting a man in space, a robot on Mars etc. Finding a solution to replace oil will only take will (the oil companies are obviously against alternatives for now), the science is already there to take us forward now someone just needs to perfect it and do it.

We will be fine without oil one day :)

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Originally Posted by 555-04Q2

...We will be fine without oil one day :)

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No we won't. Anarchy will ensue.
But as has been mentioned there are for more untapped petroleum reserves in the world than most people realise.

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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Originally Posted by schmenke

No we won't. Anarchy will ensue.
But as has been mentioned there are for more untapped petroleum reserves in the world than most people realise.

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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I don't see how anarchy would come about with the loss of oil if we have an alternative.

With regards to fresh water, yip, but if governments would stop wasting money the building of "expensive" desalination plants will resolve this issue.

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Originally Posted by Starter

And your point is? It's still going to run out. Just that you and I won't have to deal with it.

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There is a certain selfishness about the attitude opposing that view.

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Originally Posted by 555-04Q2

By then we would have found a viable solution. Look what we've done in the last 100 years. From riding on horses to the invention of the motorcar to putting a man in space, a robot on Mars etc. Finding a solution to replace oil will only take will (the oil companies are obviously against alternatives for now), the science is already there to take us forward now someone just needs to perfect it and do it.

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Well, they actually need to take the commercial risk, and that's what large companies in all sorts of sectors are often unwilling to do.

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Originally Posted by BDunnell

Well, they actually need to take the commercial risk, and that's what large companies in all sorts of sectors are often unwilling to do.

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Indeed. problem is the oil companies has squashed many attempts already at alternative solutions to oil (they must have a vault with patents they have bought people out for) and until they really start running out of oil, they wont look at alternatives for now either.