America consumes 50% of the worlds oil. When the worlds oil is completly depleted, and cars can no longer run, trucks can no longer deliver food to markets, would the country not turn into an anarchy people searching for food water? People would have to defend themselves? If this is likely to happen it would happen soon would it not?
Discuss
Not likely to happen.
A) The worlds oil reserves are not ever going to be depleted because eventually, the price will be so high that no one will be able to afford it. Gas at several hundred dollars a barrel will be availible, just not marketable.
B) The domestic and Canadian oil reserves are huge, in terms of oil shale. There are an estimated 3 trillion barrels worth of shale in Alberta, Canada, and 800 billion throughout the Southwest of the United States. In terms of sweet, light crude that comes in a liquid form (what you think of when you think Saudi Arabia) there are still 250 billion barrels left at least, if not more.
C) The technology for electric cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells exists, and is feasble. Right now the problem is makng batteries and fuels cells efficient enough to get more than the current 80-120miles per charge that you see with test vehicles from Mercedes, respectively. An average car gets 300-450miles per tank. Once the technology progresses to that state, gasoline cars will be effectively obsolete.
D) In terms of years, we still have several decades before oil will be at a state where it is impractical for widespread use. And, between the efforts of various entrepeneurs (or future entrepeneurs, like myself) it should never end up being a problem. I personally want to do what I can to make hydrogen cars a widespread, practical reality. Hopefully before I'm "middle aged." After business school, that's what I'll be doing.
Moved to War Board - despite its name, this is a forum for debate.
Ah, very interesting I appreciate the feedback.
The problem with oil isn't physically running out, it's the impacts of incresing price. We've got more known reserves than 20 years ago, but this is because there's many sources that are harder to get. "Tar sands", for example, only become viable to drill at a return of 80 dollars a barrel or higher because of the difficulties in extraction. It's harder to get at than easily drilled crude, but it's still getable. At a price.
The oil crisis is much more an economic one... the impacts of continually increasing oil proces flows through to everything. One of the most significant factors in economic production is increasing rapidly in price and will continue to do so. Everything is affected. Transportation of both people and trade, manufacturing (plastics are oil), even stuff like fertiliser, and so forth. It seems that we're looking at largescale recession and stagflation, certainly no picnic, but probably not really literal starvation and collapse. Just a loss of a bit of standard of living.
That said, Misoxeny is a little off in talking only about cars... cars seem one of the easier oil-related problems to solve, and they're not the major component of oil usage. Stuff like electricity generation, largescale transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing, are probably the bigger problems. We're kidding ourselves if we think our lifestyle and affluence isn't going to take a hit.
I know that my "solution" to this probablem is needless to even say, but I'll say it...
I think it would be alot easier to move on in renewable resources, for cars, trucks and things that demand oil use it rather than using it on transportation.Things like the military, would need fuel in bad times, and if we've used it all(lets say we do) then we'd be screwed our Military runs off of fuel, and computers. So another source to power cars, should be used here.
I can't say I know this for a fact, but I'm quite sure myself that most of our problems (oil being so expensive, not making more of an effort to switch to other power sources) arise from the fact that the big wigs of the oil industry are getting filthy rich from what everyone else calls a crisis.
The lack of oil will create anything but anarchy. The people who drive Toyotas and ethanol driven mini-cars will become the ruling class, and those that can afford Hummers and Lamborghinis will be forced to scavange for oil to fuel their rigs. Sure, your fire insurance will go through the roof (don't expect a 3 MPG fire truck to drive to your house), but in the end, this will be good for the economy. Also, Wings will have to rename his site to Anarchy Oil.
What you're all expecting (Except for Arwon, who grasps the situation perfectly) is that oil prices will stay roughly the same, until somehow all the oil reserves in the world vanish, and prices skyrocket. That sort of thing would not happen. WHen all the 'easy to obtian' oil is used up, people will turn to sources which cost slightly more, or 'mine' oil fields that were previously thought to be unviable. The price of oil will rise gradually, and by the time it has risen to impossibly high levels, everyone who is not stupid would have switched to an alternative energy source.
I think that the planet will become unable to suport life before we run out of oil, at the rate things are going.
The reason that better more efficient technology has not been relesed is because the oil comanies do not want it to. They buy out the patents and the rights. They spend lots of money so that these technologies will not be released.
Yes there is hydrogen and yes there are hybrids. They are not a threat to oil copanies because hydrogen technology is so expensive and there are so little hydrogen stations that no one would realy buy a car that uses hydrogen you would need to stay near one of the stations and you would not be able to go any were because there would be no place to refuel.
With a hybrid you are still buying gasoline,and think about it are you really going to save $20,000 on gasoline by buying a hybrd, in the end you are actually spending more money than you are saving when you buy a hybrid.
Unless you plan on keeping your hybrid for like 20 years