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The supply of oil is effectively infinite because it can be derived from things that exist in extreme abundance. This doesn’t necessitate oil being cheap, just
by spacebanana7 2y ago
The supply of oil is effectively infinite because it can be derived from things that exist in extreme abundance.
This doesn’t necessitate oil being cheap, just that we’ll never realistically be at a point where we’ve used up all oil.
- BriggyDwiggs42 2y agoBut wouldn’t deriving oil from other things be drastically less energy efficient than current day oils, and isn’t that the problem with current day forms running out?
- spacebanana7 2y agoIt's more difficult than current day oil forms, but not necessarily less energy efficient. The same amount of solar energy would be required, but it'd be gathered through solar panels rather than prehistoric plantation. Humans have made pretty steady progress in getting in ever more difficult forms of oil. Originally we found naturally near surface reservoirs, then started drilling, then deep sea drilling, and then fracking. Each phase was more technologically difficult. To be clear I think a lot of technological progress is required for synthetical oil to be economical, but in a discission of resource limits across decades, centuries or millennia it's an important escape path.
- BriggyDwiggs42 2y agoWell i guess i just don’t know what the incentive would be to convert solar energy into oil. By the time thats super feasible, shouldn’t batteries be a better option?