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Commenters so far are talking about oil as a fuel. Petroleum is spread throughout our lives. Agriculture is driven by it (fertilizers). We use it to make pla
by dfrankow 16y ago
Commenters so far are talking about oil as a fuel.
Petroleum is spread throughout our lives. Agriculture is driven by it (fertilizers). We use it to make plastics.
Moving our economy from oil looks to be a major undertaking.
Read this book by a petroleum geologist for a sobering view: http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Oil-View-Hubberts-Peak/dp/product-description/080902957X http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Oil-View-Hubberts-Peak/dp/produ.... He is most convincing about why we won't find more oil, less so about economics (because he's not an economist, presumably).
- nostrademons 16y agoRight, but oil is also fungible. If you remove the portion of it that is used as fuel, you have much more left over to supply the chemical, plastics, and fertilizer industries. 72% of domestic oil consumption is for transportation [1]. If we eliminate that use, then the amount of oil needed to power all other usages is less than 1/3 our total oil consumption. You can get pretty far down the Hubbert curve before total production is less than 1/3 what it is today. [1] http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pecss_diagram.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pecss_diagram.html
- dnautics 16y agoalso fertilizers don't come from oil per se, but from energy (mostly the haber process, but also transportation of phosphates, etc), so that's definitely fungible.