Confused about Peak Oil? I certainly am.

All this talk of Peak Oil and the problems asscoiated with it leaves me very confused. Let me explain:

I live in the 21st century surrounded by technology that years ago would have had people diving for their bibles and calling us demons. The age we are in is without a doubt the most advanced in conventional human history.
What we are able to do and what we have the potential to do is almost limitless. Coupled with the technological potential are the vast resources we have not just on planet but in the larger environment ie the universe are amazing.

When we have such a wealth maybe even an embarassment of intellectual and physical resources why is the lack (or as some argue great deal) of oil a problem? It just should n`t be.

The current capitalist global structure is in my mind the answer but hey I`m just a confused little bod in all of this.........



[edit on 2-5-2005 by cassini]

The problem is that we can not sustain our current technological advances and production without oil.

Without oil much of our technology is useless because it can't be powered to work

[edit on 2-5-2005 by Onewingeddemon]

not only that, crude oil is the basis for petrochemical and plastic production. It's everywhere in our lives and we need it. I for one believe too that it has a lot to do with capitalism and the wealth and power of oil corporations to why some incredible engine's and machines have been silenced.

Originally posted by drfunk
not only that, crude oil is the basis for petrochemical and plastic production. It's everywhere in our lives and we need it. I for one believe too that it has a lot to do with capitalism and the wealth and power of oil corporations to why some incredible engine's and machines have been silenced.

Blaming this matter on Capitalism is way too simple to such a complex problem. The main problem that this has to do with Capitalism is the monopoly on oil, but eventually some oil companies will get smart, realize that their product has a limit and will help produce new technologies to keep up with the marketplace.

When oil does run out, their will be some good things to come out of it, for example, oil companies will lose their monopoly on the production of pretty much everything.

i said had a lot to do with capitalism, i didnt blame capitalism for it all

We should be putting our collective energies into finding a free or very cheap, limitless and clean source of energy. However, those who "run" the world would find it very difficult to make money out of this and therefore prefer to drag out the status quo and grab as many dollars as we and the earth will offer.

If it don't make money, it ain't worth considering.

Stupid isn't it?

There is no limitless supply of energy as there is only a finite amoutn of any energy in the universe. As we all know energy cannot be created nor destroyed. The only problem we have is finding another viable means of producing large amounts of energy to use in all of our endeavours

Whilst the energy in the universe is finite it is incomprehensible in size and as such would certainly serve the human race well for an equally incomprehensible amount of time.

In this forum we have already seen people mention several alternatives, geothermal, fusion, solar, wind. The list is really quite long. Heres a link to what I think is one of the cooler projects underway

news.bbc.co.uk...

By now it should be obvious, especially for far-out websites such as this one, that the people who go back and forth in their Black Triangles will presently approach and solve all our problems, including the energy problem. All we have to do is sit back, relax, and wait. On the other hand, there might be strings attached to their aid, but this might not be initially apparent, and so there could be a bloody uprising in our future. Remember, history teaches a single lesson: ALWAYS EXPECT TROUBLE AHEAD.
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The green house effect is basecily a over heating of the earths air right. Well that soler collecter is nothing but a Giant Soler HEATER 4.5 square mile glass roffed building with a center tower to alow the HEATED 4.5 miles by how ever many feet high .Air go up creating a wind turbine.
How manny cubice feet of HOT 100% f or over heated air is this thing going to produce a day? then on top of it give this Super heated air a SHORT cut to the upper atmaspher . Take the green house effect to a whole new leavel . not a goo plan in my oppion.
Ps ever notice how the inner citys are 10 to 15 % F warmer the the surounding country side. Creating a lovly up draft and a hot spot over the citys . This is the same thing made to order.

I'm starting to be split in tow on this.

1. We're running out of oil... which sux coz the world runs on the stuff... no cars, no plastic, no synthetics... it is literally the lifeblood of our society.

2. We have plenty but the people who sell the oil realised that by saying we're running low, they can jack the prices up.

Either way its not good at all my fellow ATSers

" the people who go back and forth in their Black Triangles will presently approach and solve all our problems, including the energy problem"

I`d been wondering what those guys were upto but do you really think the US Air force really has all the answers

Seriously though even if those guys are out there I would n`t expect them to solve sontheing which we are more than capable of resolving. I`m sure that the answer is there and waiting in some R&D lab of the big multinationals but before being released they will extract every last bit of money from oil.

There are other sources we can use for energy and we still have the ability to think so I am at this point still left most confused by the fuss over peak oil (and I using the assumption that the oil will not run out over night, as neither will Gas, Coal, Wind, the sun blow up and deprive us of solar power, nor the vast amounts of lava under the earth suddenly up and leave for mars, nor the moonleave camp and deprive us of tidal flows and apart from anything else that we will not lose our collective brains and find answers to the problems we have, although I do wonder)