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Originally posted by Tommio
Even if that was possible imagine how much damage would be done the earth after 50,000 years of using fossil fuels... Global warming gone crazy. Money should be put into deveolping alternative fuels not developing new way to drill for oil.
Originally posted by malagant
You have to admit, it would be fun to look at the earth after 50,000 years of fossil fuel use; it would be similar in appearance to a larger moon with alot less craters and a dirtier surface.
Posted by Rizien: “I have been thinking about this and I was wondering, even if (1) the article held some truth, who would claim the rights to drill the ocean's oil? I could be wrong but, isn't the ocean (2) free of a government so to speak? If so, it would be a rather interesting situation to watch play out. [Edited by Don W]
"What About Biofuels Such as Ethanol and Biodiesel?"
Biofuels such as biodiesel, ethanol, methanol etc. are great, but only in small doses. Biofuels are all grown with massive fossil fuel inputs (pesticides and fertilizers) and suffer from horribly low, sometimes negative, EROEIs. The production of ethanol, for instance, requires six units of energy to produce just one. That means it consumes more energy than it produces and thus will only serve to compound our energy deficit. There is the problem of where to grow the stuff, as we are rapidly running out of arable land on which to grow food, let alone fuel. This is no small problem as the amount of land it takes to grow even a small amount of biofuel is quite staggering. Relying on corn for our future energy needs would devastate the nation's food production. It takes 11 acres to grow enough corn to fuel one automobile with ethanol for 10,000 miles, or about a year's driving. That's the amount of land needed to feed seven persons for the same period of time. If we decided to power all of our automobiles with ethanol, we would need to cover 97 percent of our land with corn. Biodiesel is considerably better than ethanol, (and probably the best of the biofuels) but with an EROEI of three, it still doesn't compare to oil, which has had an EROEI of about 30.
"What's Going to Happen to the Economy?"
The US economy is particularly vulnerable to the coming oil shocks as we consume a greater proportion of the world's oil than any other nation. The unparalleled prosperity experienced in this country during the last 100 years was built entirely on cheap oil. The mass production of automobiles became a cornerstone of the US economy while allowing people to move out of the cities and into the suburbs. The expansion of the suburbs fueled the real estate and housing booms of the 20th century, which in turn fueled the US steel, copper, construction, etc. industries. A system of finance sprung up that facilitated these booms while becoming dependent on them. The affordability of the individual automobile and petroleum based fuels combined with the growth of the suburbs contributed to the destruction of the US mass transit system.
How Are People Likely to React to This?
As the US economy begins to disintegrate, civil unrest may become increasingly violent and widespread. Each faction of the American body-politic will likely rally around reactionary political demagogues/movements who promise to bring back the good days by eliminating whatever domestic or foreign group(s) they have decided are at fault for the economic and geopolitical unraveling. Liberals will blame "Bush, Big-Oil and the Hard Right Neocons" while conservatives will blame "Bin-Laden, Big-Government, and the Extreme Left Environmentalists." The anticipation of massive unrest may be the real reason why the Department of Homeland Security has contracted with a Halliburton subsidiary to build massive new domestic detenetion camps. In 1985, the authors of Beyond Oil: The Threat to Fuel and Food in the Coming Decades, warned us of such possiblities: From oiltruth.com...
Originally posted by Phre0nBurn
Here is a story, not sure how true it is, but its something a friend of mine told me, a good friend of mine...
About a year and a half ago, my friends dad had a good friend that bought a Honda Insight, brand new from the dealer. He bought i beleive a 2006 when it was FIRST released. Fresh out' the oven, if you will.
Well, he loved the car. But yea, who doesnt love theyre new car?
I guess he figured, I should buy this thing its it gets insanely good mileage.
Well, anywhoo, the dealer called like 2 weeks or so after he bought it, as lots of dealers do, just to check up on him, see how he liked the car, etc etc.
Well, he said he loved the car, had no problems with it, and was so glad that he bought a car that gets 210-230 miles per gallon.
So, about a week later, this man wakes up, around 4 in the morning, puts on his casual cup of coffee. It is still dark out around a half an hour later after he puts some clothes on and goes out to get the paper out of his driveway...
He walks out of the house, to see a van parked in front.
He turns the corner of the garage, and low and behold, he sees 5 men, in black mechanics jumpsuits, diggin throughout his vehicle.
He says "What the **". The men look up at him, very camly pull themselves out of the vehicle in a calm, harmless manner, proceed to close the hood of his car, close the doors, lock the car (after they closed the doors), walk casually over to the van, and drive off.
Nothing was taken from the car. And they didnt break into it.
According to him, he now gets around 70-ish miles to the gallon.
Who knows if this story is true or not, but I completely beleive it.