when the oil supplys are depleted, how will we get by without cars and home heating etc etc.?

Answer 1

You can be nearly independent of oil right now.

Install Solar Voltaic panels to generate your own electricity. Use a Geo Thermal Heat Pump to heat and cool your home/business that needs only the electricity made by your solar panels to run. Then use an Electric car to commute to work and back.

The cost of the solar panels is dropping rapidly because of the increase in competition. Geo Thermal heat pumps are an established industry that we only need to start using, ideally when the house is built. And even at the primitive state that most electric cars are at now (please accept my apologies to the several electric cars that are very refined but expensive) they can make the average national commute of 25 miles one way.

Using this three pronged attack would leave you independent of oil usage right now.

Answer 2

Energy companies are looking forward to alternative energy sources which are sustainable and at least have the promise of profitability. This is why they're against the popular windfall profits taxation being proposed recently. This money goes into research to promote new energy sources, rather than government coffers. Who do you think will spend that money more wisely? Companies interested in securing their own futures or the government, who answers to noone??

Hydrogen is a promising fuel for vehicles. The technology is extant, the problem lies with how to create the infrastucture necessary to make H cars a viable prospect. GE has been developing a hydrogen source that will allow us to virtually drive up to a station and fill, similar to the way we fill up at gas stations now.

Homes will be forced to switch from fossil fuels to other sources, the most likely of which is electricity. Since elctric power is so easily transported via power lines already in existence, creating hydroelectric stations, windmill farms and solar array farms will allow us to harness energy from the environment for the foreseable future.

As we approach the impending end of easy oil, 40 years at best guess, these technologies will rapidly come online and our switch will not be without pain and cost, but it will happen, since we don't really have a choice.

Answer 3

There are plenty of proven, off-the-shelf technologies. They just haven't been widely used because oil is still cheaper.

For automobiles, electric is proven, plug-in hybrid is trivial, and biofuels have been working for 100 years. People might need new cars though, most likely plug-in hybrid diesels or jet turbines.

For homes, the "off grid" or "home power" folks have mastered building hyper-efficient houses.

Railroads can switch to veggie oil very easily, and they're also very good at electrification. The French power their high-speed rail with nuclear, San Francisco powers theirs with hydro, and just yesterday I rode an electric train powered by wind.

Airlines need fossil fuels, but they can be replaced with electric high-speed rail.

By conservative estimates, we've used somewhat less than 50% of the available oil. If we burn it all, CO2 levels in the atmosphere will be much worse than they already are, and if the prevailing science is correct, the planet will have BIG problems.

The Shah of Iran, before he was deposed, said that he could not believe people burned oil for fuel. He thought it was much too useful for plastics, fertilizers etc.

Answer 4

Nobody knows, but they have been predicting it will run out in a few decades for many decades now. It seems that more oil is found every year, but each new find is deeper or in some hard to reach place like the ocean floor or whatever. Eventually, it will be so expensive to get the remaining oil that we will be forced to find alternatives. This, and not global warming, is the big reason we need to find other sources of power.

Answer 5

Alternatives would have evolved. Cars will probably run on hydrogen fuel cells. How long gas will last for heating I don't know but then there will be electrical heating either from nuclear power stations or wind farms or domestic solar panels.You will still get around and be warm.

Answer 6

There is alot of work going on right now to develop an enduring biofuel. A worst case scenario will be going back to our roots of Horses, donkeys, bicyles and foot. But we are a long way from an oil energy crisis as more recoverable finds are being discovered.

Answer 7

Don't worry, alternative fuels will be perfected. Made from renewable sources that won't run out.

OPEC's greedy price manipulation is driving counties to look for alternative sources of energy.

Who knows our dependence in oil will be totally lessened even before oil reserves run out.

Answer 8

we will switch to alternative fuels. we will most likely see an advance in hybird electric/alternative fuel vehicles. although power plants are sometimes powered by oil and gas they can be powered by nuclear,solar, hydro, coal. although coal is pollution there are many ways to make electricity and power vehicles. there will be advances in battery storage as well as promising fuels such as hydrogen, with honda getting read to launch a viable hydrogen car by 2010. the future looks to be an exciting one for automobiles and technology. i am not worried about oil running out, however i am worried about innovation and a switch to alternative fuels and viable fuel sources for the future.

Answer 9

Fossil fuel only came into use after whale oil supplies began to be depleted.

Free-enterprise capitalist markets and necessity are great mothers of invention.

Answer 10

Hydrogen, LPG, Biofuel

You can even make a car run on coconut milk if you so desire (and you have enough coconut milk of course). The fuel companies have hundreds of experiments ongoing and bought in for when this eventually occurs.