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Nope, the whole point of oil is that is has a VERY low value. Even "very expensive" oil at 140$ per barrel (that was the peak I think) makes $0.875 dollar per l

Nope, the whole point of oil is that is has a VERY low value. Even "very expensive" oil at 140$ per barrel (that was the peak I think) makes $0.875 dollar per liter of crude oil, about 30 MJ worth of energy. Additionally you can make plastic, and ... out of it. But it's far cheaper than the cheapest brand of bottled water, which apparently comes in at about $1.4 per liter, a little under double the price of the most expensive oil we've ever had. The normal price say $60-80 per barrel these days, is 0.4$, or about 1/4th to 1/3rd of the price of bottled water.

erikpukinskis 5y ago
Oil’s value is not just economic, but military. If you don’t control a pretty large source of oil, you won’t win the war.
- eggy 5y ago
  Unless soldiers carry solar panels as suggested by VP Kamala Harris into the field. I guess night combat will be called on account of no sun ;) Gas still has a high energy density, so it will be important for the foreseeable future, military applications or otherwise.
  - jeremysalwen 5y ago
    That's actually a pretty interesting idea! The commercially available panels with the highest specific power are about 700 W/kg (with an estimated upper bound of 1.2 W/kg) [1], in comparison to gasoline which is 12.5kWh/kg. Solar exposure can be about 5-6 hours of full sun equivalent per day. So the breakeven point would be about two to three days of charging! [1] https://www.osti.gov/pages/servlets/purl/1485564 https://www.osti.gov/pages/servlets/purl/1485564)
kingofpandora 5y ago
How about you compare the bulk price of untreated water to barrels of oil? I've no idea which will come out on top but at least the comparison will be fairer.
29athrowaway 5y ago
1) oil sales are denominated in US dollars 2) most countries import oil 1 + 2 = ??? Answer: most countries need dollars, because they need to import oil. If oil was not sold in dollars, the demand for dollars would be much lower. Therefore, the US needs to control oil producers. If one producer gets out of line and decides to sell oil in another currency, the US will attack them.

erikpukinskis 5y ago

Oil’s value is not just economic, but military. If you don’t control a pretty large source of oil, you won’t win the war.

eggy 5y ago
Unless soldiers carry solar panels as suggested by VP Kamala Harris into the field. I guess night combat will be called on account of no sun ;) Gas still has a high energy density, so it will be important for the foreseeable future, military applications or otherwise.
- jeremysalwen 5y ago
  That's actually a pretty interesting idea! The commercially available panels with the highest specific power are about 700 W/kg (with an estimated upper bound of 1.2 W/kg) [1], in comparison to gasoline which is 12.5kWh/kg. Solar exposure can be about 5-6 hours of full sun equivalent per day. So the breakeven point would be about two to three days of charging! [1] https://www.osti.gov/pages/servlets/purl/1485564 https://www.osti.gov/pages/servlets/purl/1485564)

kingofpandora 5y ago

How about you compare the bulk price of untreated water to barrels of oil? I've no idea which will come out on top but at least the comparison will be fairer.

29athrowaway 5y ago

1) oil sales are denominated in US dollars 2) most countries import oil 1 + 2 = ??? Answer: most countries need dollars, because they need to import oil. If oil was not sold in dollars, the demand for dollars would be much lower. Therefore, the US needs to control oil producers. If one producer gets out of line and decides to sell oil in another currency, the US will attack them.