4 ms·

Just a quick nit, but we make a lot of plastics and things out of oil, and iirc it’s still the most dense and stable form of energy we have. Far more so than an

Just a quick nit, but we make a lot of plastics and things out of oil, and iirc it’s still the most dense and stable form of energy we have. Far more so than any battery technology even on the horizon. Even if renewables were 100% perfect tomorrow, there will still be people / groups / applications for that oil. It’ll just last much longer before we run out.

TOGoS 7y ago
Yep. Even more reason to conserve it for cases where we actually need it. Plastic is tremendously useful, though we could probably use a lot less of it, too. Particularly in the ocean.
jacquesm 7y ago
One more reason to not burn it.
- zdragnar 7y ago
  Crude oil is distilled (refined), not generally burned. The result is several products, all of which are used for different purposes. Naptha is best suited for plastic production; gasoline is a different chemical makeup. Also, a good chunk of plastic can be produced from natural gas, using ethylene instead of the naptha from crude oil.
  - wilg 7y ago
    One more reason to not refine then burn it!
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
  Yea, I agree. But what about the FACT that it's so much denser of an energy source than any battery we have? The straight up truth is that right now, unless there is so amazing innovation, we are going to use every drop. In the short term at least the world's militaries will burn as much oil as they can. Regardless of what you hear in press releases, major industry, military, aerospace will not move from oil until there is a performance reason, not ethical not cost reason to do so.
  - erikpukinskis 7y ago
    Batteries aren’t an energy source, they’re an energy storage device.
    - SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
      Guess what? We use oil as an energy storage device. So are you making the argument that fuel/oil is a battery or are you just being pedantic and don’t have a counter the truth that we’re going to use it all - the only question is over what time period.
  - erikpukinskis 7y ago
    If we introduce a carbon tax, militaries would have an economic incentive to reduce carbon, just like everyone else.
    - SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
      You believe that? You don’t know that the first exemption would be military and national security?

TOGoS 7y ago

Yep. Even more reason to conserve it for cases where we actually need it. Plastic is tremendously useful, though we could probably use a lot less of it, too. Particularly in the ocean.

jacquesm 7y ago

One more reason to not burn it.

zdragnar 7y ago
Crude oil is distilled (refined), not generally burned. The result is several products, all of which are used for different purposes. Naptha is best suited for plastic production; gasoline is a different chemical makeup. Also, a good chunk of plastic can be produced from natural gas, using ethylene instead of the naptha from crude oil.
- wilg 7y ago
  One more reason to not refine then burn it!
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
Yea, I agree. But what about the FACT that it's so much denser of an energy source than any battery we have? The straight up truth is that right now, unless there is so amazing innovation, we are going to use every drop. In the short term at least the world's militaries will burn as much oil as they can. Regardless of what you hear in press releases, major industry, military, aerospace will not move from oil until there is a performance reason, not ethical not cost reason to do so.
- erikpukinskis 7y ago
  Batteries aren’t an energy source, they’re an energy storage device.
  - SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
    Guess what? We use oil as an energy storage device. So are you making the argument that fuel/oil is a battery or are you just being pedantic and don’t have a counter the truth that we’re going to use it all - the only question is over what time period.
- erikpukinskis 7y ago
  If we introduce a carbon tax, militaries would have an economic incentive to reduce carbon, just like everyone else.
  - SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
    You believe that? You don’t know that the first exemption would be military and national security?