3 ms·

There is also oil which requires more energy to extract than it contains (beyond which you'd only do it because you need some energy stored in liquid form).

• barry-cotter 17y ago
  No, you wouldn't. At current energy use levels Nort America contains enough coal for 200 years at the current population, and you can make liquid fuels from coal by gasification. http://aaenvironment.com/CECE/SynthesisofHydrocarbonFuels.pdf http://aaenvironment.com/CECE/SynthesisofHydrocarbonFuels.pd... I can't find the reference, but I think there was a French study in the 80's that claimed at $200/barrel it'd be economical to make liquid hydrocarbons for energy using air and nuclear power.
  • tome 17y ago
    That's a extreme, and highly interesting claim, and I'd appreciate a reference if you can find it.
  • icefox 17y ago
    Using the current population numbers always seems odd. At the current population growth rate does that mean we have only some much smaller amount, say 40 years left?