liberal1 said:Looking at the resources we use today, how much longer will they last. Oil, coal, lumber etc. are all being utilized much too fast, and will soon run out.
liberal1 said:. . . do we use birth control like China is doing, do we use alternate resources?
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Originally Posted by liberal1
Looking at the resources we use today, how much longer will they last. Oil, coal, lumber etc. are all being utilized much too fast, and will soon run out.
We're not running out of any of these resources.
Earth's population is an exponent, there is no stopping it.
As far as population control, I'm still not on board with the good old Chinese system. One child policy is a crime against humanity . . and murder.
I remember during the energy crisis of the late 70's, we were suppose to run out of oil in 25 years. Technology has allowed us to grab more energy than ever before and will continue to do so, it has only proven that fact every single year.
bazlyx said:And we will probably continue to do so (e.g. hybrids) but evenually the estimates will be right and we will run out. We need to consider alternatives. I suggest getting them sooner rather than later - not just to beat a possible loss of a resource but also free ourselves from foreign energy sources and become more self-sustaining.
liberal1 said:Looking at the resources we use today, how much longer will they last. Oil, coal, lumber etc. are all being utilized much too fast, and will soon run out.
liberal1 said:Earth's population is an exponent, there is no stopping it.
liberal1 said:The future looks bleak, do we use birth control like China is doing, do we use alternate resources?
liberal1 said:What do you think is a solution?
liberal1 said:Looking at the resources we use today, how much longer will they last. Oil, coal, lumber etc. are all being utilized much too fast, and will soon run out. Earth's population is an exponent, there is no stopping it. The future looks bleak, do we use birth control like China is doing, do we use alternate resources? What do you think is a solution?
Nice chart, but it doesn't tell the whole story. The rest of the world includes low and non-producer nations. We export a lot of food to the rest of the world, especially to places that don't have the right climate to produce adequate food crops for themselves. That takes oil to run the tractors, make fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, etc.Columbusite said:Take a look at how much the US consumes keeping in mind we have a population of 300 million out of 5-6 billion. Alternatives to oil isn't going to be enough. We need to change the way we live. New urbanism is going to have to be implemented all over the country otherwise we are going to run into a brick wall.
UtahBill said:Nice chart, but it doesn't tell the whole story. The rest of the world includes low and non-producer nations. We export a lot of food to the rest of the world, especially to places that don't have the right climate to produce adequate food crops for themselves. That takes oil to run the tractors, make fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, etc.
Our midwest portion of North America is one of a few "bread baskets" in the world. Ukraine is another.
It is much more complicated than that, but still, the chart only tells a very small part of the story.
Europe is very densely populated compared to the USA, so the average American travels more to go to work, shop, etc. And most of Europe's villages were built long before oil became in short supply. A lot of Europe is the same as it was 100 years ago, excepting the portions that had to be rebuilt after a few major wars.Columbusite said:The chart is basic but does that matter? We aren't going to be exporting like we are now and we are going to have to go back to trains instead of trucks hauling goods across the country. Without the cheapoil none of that is possible and add to that all the driving that Americans do compared to other countries. Go to Europe for example and you will find they build their city "suburbs" (different than the American version) smarter than we do.
UtahBill said:Additionally, there are NO large volume alternatives to oil on the horizon, except for that part of oil that is used to produce electricity, which is minimal.
We have to firstly use less where we can, then increase the amount of oil we extract from coal.
Or more like realistic? Emerging countries like China and others are now serious competitors for oil, so the price is not likely to ever be low again. The good side of that is that it may just get us off our complacent butts and find ways to use/need less of it and at the same time find alternative sources.kcasper said:You need to stop being so depressing.
Loxd4 said:here goes the alternate....people need to walk more...there you go....:2wave:
We're not running out of any of these resources.
I've read that at our current rate (and rate of increase I believe) that our oil supply will not last til 2100.
Coal I'm not sure about supplies but it is a non-renewable resource so eventually it will be gone.
Some companies are investing in alternative (renewable) energy sources (corn oil, hydrogen) which makes me optimistic... though we can't efficiently utilize it yet.
I remember during the energy crisis of the late 70's, we were suppose to run out of oil in 25 years.
Technology has allowed us to grab more energy than ever before and will continue to do so, it has only proven that fact every single year.
Coal is a huge asset of the midwest and eastern mountain states, and with the newer clean burning technology, we get more btu's per pound of coal than we ever have. Expect technology to keep advancing clean burning coal in the future.
None of those will "soon" run out, and none of them are fundamentally essential to our continued economic progress anyway.
Umm, if you had bothered to research any statistics at all before making this assertion, you would see that population growth reached a peak in the mid-70s and has been leveling off ever since.
What are you talking about? The population growth from births in the United States is virtually zero. Why would we have to implement any draconian measures?
Conservation is the first alternate "resource" that should be implemented. We can do it now, for cheap, and sometimes even for free, but most of us don't. Why is that? We don't feel the financial pinch required to force a lifestyle change on us, not yet.
Brazil has an ideal situation for alternate fuel for vehicles. They are in a milder climate with lots of rain, and have more than enough green stuff to convert to ethanol. Their sugar cane crop waste products get used to make ethanol and they even use the stalks for fuel to power the process. They also make biodeisel from soy beans.
We don't have the best climate and the millions of extra acres of land, so it is a given that the more land we use for fuel, the less we will be able to use for food
Thermal Conversion, my favorite topic, takes any carbon based material and turns it into crude oil and natural gas.
Actually the oil industry has choosen another direction. There are no large volume alternatives to oil on the horizon, but there is another very large source of crude oil. Oil Shales are getting new attention. The US has a trillion barrels of oil in shales and Canada has nearly 200 billion barrels of crude oil in oil shales according to wikipedia. At our current usage rate that adds 30 to 40 years of oil to a market that has around 30 years after the drilling crude oil industry peaks.
As shown with recent advances in oil shales research, each of these technologies will suddenly find ways to become less expensive just a few years before they are needed.
I know TCP research is claiming it will come down in cost over the next two decades significantly. I would bet coal to oil is also.
There is likely enough oil for the rest of my life (I'm 28 by the way)...
...and more than enoungh time to switch to other technologies such as hydrogen over the long term. I would rather focus on switching to new technologies for their enviromental and long term benefits rather than worry about how soon we will run out of oil.
I believe that hydrogen is the is the best alternative to gas. Isn't the problem with hydrogen that it is extremely explosive and that they are trying to paccify it and turn it into a solid?
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