Can we exist without Oil? If so, how?

Question

I disagree with those who say we can exist without oil. We cannot at our present level of civilisation. I do agree we nneed to develop alternative energy sources. How about the Middle East using its sun resource (afterall there IS a lot of desert out there!), converting it to electricity and then tranmitting it via a big grid to Europe.

Answer 1

Absolutely. We could have been running on alternative fuels by now, but the oil lobby has such a strong influence on the government and american economy that we haven't gotten away from it. They are working on alcohol based fuels, but they haven't gotten very far yet. The number of facilities is growing though.

Answer 2

We sure can but are we ready to take the steps essential in that direction.
First, America has to drastically reduce the automobile population which according to some stats stand at 270 million against a population of 300 million (will be so in October 2006)! This implies there is more than one vehicle for every driving-age person in USA!
According to some reports, if man succeeds conquering other planets, we can explore and exploit the unlimited source of helium which can replace all current energy resources on Earth. Well, this is possible but may take a long time!
Nuclear energy should be promoted and further refined to minimize if not totally avoid the dangers posed to human by the nuclear waste. If the scientists can succeed in this task, then many oil-operated products can be replaced by an environmentally-friently energy source!

Answer 3

The problem is that the oil companies have had such a huge influence on government policy that research into alternative energy methods has been suppressed, or at least not funded to the extent it needs to be to become viable. The US is one of the countries with the lowest fuel efficiency standards in the world - it's only increased 5% since 1980! The powers that be WANT us to be completely dependent on oil so they can continue to reap the unimaginable profits. The technology and the brain power exists to overcome this ridiculous dependency. Let's hope this research becomes a priority with the next administration!

Answer 4

yes

we currently could in the next few years make enough energy through alternate means to provide 20% of the worlds energy needs. So all we have to do is heavily up alternate energy to get to this 20% mark and get rid of 80% of the people and we are good to go.

Why do you think the US does not want to tap very much of it's oil. When oil starts running out and the world has trouble running it's self we want fuel for the war that will happen. Always use other people stuff first if you want to be the strongest.

We cannot support the number of people we currently have without oil. Heck the world could not support the current number of people it has if we still used 1960's farming methods. We do have close to 7 billion people. in the 60's they had 2 billion.

We are way over what the world can support without oil. We can either keep ignoring it until there ends up being wars and famine that kill enough, or over then next few generations we can control birth rates like china for the entire world and get down to a sustainable population without war and suffering.
My money is on the war and famine, but china makes me think that we have a chance at being smart.

Answer 5

Without oil.. that will happen really soon. I think in about 6 years.
But hey. Think about it. Everything that is out of plastic, there's oil in it.. just look at the countless plastic bottles they create a day in the factories.. it's crazy....
I think we can exist withoul oil though. Cars can drive with other things.. water.. oil from plants.. etc..there are some other ways. You'll just need the motor for it. About the energy for heaters and such. Well I guess we'll have to use electricity.. solar energy or something else. I'm sure it's possible to survive though without oil.

Answer 6

Yes but it wont happen until the oil company's give us a alternative to there oil. That's what they are doing right now but they have to convert from a oil company to a alternative energy source company. You cant muscle out big oil they are too powerful so even if go to a alternative energy source it will still be coming from a prior oil company.

Answer 7

If we had of followed the dream of Dwight D. Eisenhower we would not have been dependent on oil. His dream was nuclear power generating electricity in such abundance it would be too cheap to meter. WE were so afraid of Nuclear accidents that we didn't follow that dream. We would all be driving electric cars and using electric for everything.

We have so much coal we could eliminate oil in a decade, but there again we don't want to face the challenges of learning how to burn it cleanly.

We have wind, solar, nuclear, ethanol, and many things we haven't thought of yet.

Answer 8

Apropos solar energy; if the Sahara desert were covered with photovoltaic cells, it would meet the current (no pun) energy needs of the the world. Apropos oil; during the embargo on aparthied South Africa, that country successfully synthesised oil products from coal.

Answer 9

There are quite a few uses for oil, here are some of the common ones and their alternatives.

Fuel - could be substituted with electric or hydrogen powered engines.

Lubricant - rape seed oil (or similar) can be used.

Plastics - sugar-based plastics.

Answer 10

At this point in time, no we cannot. A lot of our heating and modes of transportation rely on oil.

We can exist, and we have existed without the use of oil. If we were to do so in the near future, we could ride bikes to work, walk more, ride horses do a lot.

People have been doing it for thousands of years.