3 ms·
Indeed, the very fundamental underpinnings of the overwhelming preponderance of the US economy, as well as that of other First World countries. Just about ever
by abalashov 17y ago
Indeed, the very fundamental underpinnings of the overwhelming preponderance of the US economy, as well as that of other First World countries. Just about everything requires oil, and just about any growth requires more oil.
- Retric 17y agouses != requires Oil is used for peak power generation that can quickly adapt to chaning demand, however, hydroelectric energy storage is used to do the exact same thing.
- abalashov 17y agoUses = requires right now. Uses also = requires in very massive quantities in order to produce and deploy whatever is going to (partially) replace it. Do you really think wind turbines, solar panels, hydroelectric dams, and nuclear power plants don't require oil to build, construct and, to a nontrivial extent, operate?
- Retric 17y agoWe use Oil for a huge number of things when there are direct substitutes, because it's incredibly plentiful and cheep. EX: Roads. Even in cases when you need Oil due to its chemistry, it's just long chain hydro carbons. And, you can make long chain hydro carbons from many things including Coal and water which are indistinguishable from Oil. The only real question is how fast the price of oil increases, and how long it takes to switch to other substitutes or synthesize it. PS: Even the worst case estimates say the supply will gradually decline over decades so there is going to be a long time to find substitutes. (Less than 25% decline in supply per decade is slow.) What happens to Oil’s price is a separate issue, but that’s far less important than you might think.