What do we do when the oil runs out?

Question

Oil runs our civilisation: Transport, Haulage, Shipping, Fishing Farming (pesticides allow us to grow the quantities required), Medicine and hygiene, packaging, the building industry, road building and repairs etc etc etc. With global oil production peaking in 2006 what are your ideas to save mankind?

Answer 1

There are plenty of ways to get energy without using oil. the reason we use oil now is because it is cheap, and the people that own the oil companies make payoffs to politicians to keep it as our major energy source. Hydrogen is an energy source that can be produced with water and electricity. Solar can produce electricity. Ethanol can be produced from corn, and other organic products. Methanol can be produced from human waste. If politicians were serious about changing our energy source it could probably be done in a decade. By the way those sources I stated do not pollute the way oil does, and would not create the green house gases that oil does.

Answer 2

Supposedly we are becoming more and more efficient all the time. Learning to use less oil to run more things but I feel that it's partially the truth.

The Human brain is grossly intelligent. As if the defining characteristic is focus on problem solving. Which if you are looking around and watching everyone sitting around and expanding their waist size you might disagree with me. I feel that once a real crisis of energy comes we will find out that many people have been working on this for a long time. That we might have to go without some of the conveniences we had, but others will pop up to replace them.

I am more worried about exactly where are we heading. There seem to be less and less of directed goal. Global peace, and an end to poverty seem unlikely but we need a collective dream. Such a flight was, faster travel, faster information, easier ways to connect with the world. We worked once without oil we can again. Even if it takes us steps back.

After all birds fly, fish swim, humans use their brains to make things easier. For a while we will probably use hybrid technology using less oil until we can find that next great energy. Maybe even cold fussion. Then again that just could be a white elephant.

Answer 3

I believe the Oil will run out, within the century. And I think some oil companies are suppressing alternative energy sources (like cold fusion perhaps) so they can produce them and make themselves out to be heroes despite hiking the price of oil so much recently.

Anyway, even if I'm wrong, there's been a lot of progress with alternative energy sources, like windmills and solar panels. Tony Blair has decided we all need more nuclear power plants, and electric cars have come a long way, at least in America.

So when the oil does run out, things really aren't going to change that much for joe public. Even if he works in a service station, the petrol pumps will be taken away and replaced with electrical outlets.

Answer 4

It won't run out. It might get harder to find and extract but we have reserves that will last hundreds of years. Reserves means it can reasonably expected to be removed at todays prices. When it gets scare prices go up and then more reserves will automatically kick in. Perhaps some day we have have developed nuclear fusion. IN the meantime, there are plenty of reserves of oil, coal, and possible sources of energy including oil shale, oil sands, methane hydrates, as well as non hydrocarbons to keep us going for thousands of years. The scare mongers don't like that message because they would rather try to convince us that we are all going to die if we don't immediately convert to some more primitive way of living. Don't buy into their paranoia.

Answer 5

We can make man made oil now,the only thing at present is the cost,however if there was no natural oil left then there would be no cost comparison so it would become less of an issue.
Mankind survived for millions of years before oil was discovered to be useful and we will continue without it too !

Answer 6

Electricity generated by coal or nuclear power should get us though and also hydrogen fuel cell cars are set to be the future. They may take some time to come but I think oil will last till then and of course we have the Bullock carts as back up though :)

Answer 7

Do you really believe what the politicians say?,, Oil will run out?,, See it is all about supply and demand, OIL COMPANIES, have to make this look like that we are running out of oil, which than gives the government its excuses to do whatever it wants to secure us oil. This is natural thing, and if it runs out in one place which takes hundreds of years to happen than there will always be a new place to find oil and explore it. It is like fishing, you fish one place and it doesn't run out over right, if it gets limited you move to another location. Alaska alone has an oil reserves that can provide oil for us for 300+ to come. Come on.

Don't always believe what you are told.

Answer 8

1]: I don't believe that it will in the foreseeable future (despite what the alarmists would have us believe)
2]: By the time it does (if ever!) I'll be long gone so I really couldn't give a toss!
3]: By that same time, something else would have been discovered/invented, and life will toddle on regardless.

Answer 9

Listen, research is already going on in the development of alternative sources of power. For example Nuclear power, solar power hydrogen fuels etc. It is almost certain that before that senario comes to be, we would already have developed another sustainable source of power - maybe plasma

Answer 10

Don't listen to these idiots. We're totally screwed. Years ago, people decided to build EVERYTHING out of one unrenewable and limited source. Most people have forgotten how to build anything without using oil. It's gonna cause major wars, but the good news in, there won't be any oil to build weapons with. Ha ha ha. Welcome back to the dark ages.