Peak Oil

The Peak Oil theories have been around for a long time. There's nothing new about the idea, and nobody is certain whether or not we've hit the peak yet. As for alternative sources, they probably would be adequate if the world was really committed to the idea of using them.

We're probably going to have to give up some of our energy-expensive habits, though. I can't imagine that the brave new world of post-peak oil will permit us as much energy to use for recreational purposes as we currently have. I think we'll have to give up a lot of our fun and cool devices to keep going.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Eleo

That's a small price to pay for life not sucking ass 100%.

I never said it wasn't a small price to pay. In the event that it does happen within my lifetime, I shall adapt. I just wonder what exactly will be sacrificed. I can't help thinking that broadcast TV would be the first thing to go, which I wouldn't even miss.

Originally Posted by Gechmir

Remember -- necessity is the mother of all invention.

Naturally I'd like to believe that... however there are limits to the concept. If I fell from a tall building, it would be necessary for me to invent some way to save myself, but most likely impossible, due to a lack of material and resources on hand.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Gechmir

Solar, electric, and various types of renewable sources of energy stirred up initially during the Oil Crisis our parents had to deal with. They're dormant on the surface but things are churning underneath. The mass amount of America and other nations may seem "dumb" about this, but the powers-that-be know about peak oil. Things are being created and tested, but the majority is concerned about maintaining the status quo. Just because you don't see/read about it much doesn't mean that it's dead-in-the-water.

Like I've said, I want to believe that. However, you must admit that since we aren't hearing about it, I have no basis on which to know that it is actually happening. I'm not challenging you to cite a source, but I've heard very little about alternative fuels recently, and I look in what I would have thought were the right places.

Originally Posted by Dullenplain

Of course, there are some issues that counter the Peak Oil argument, such as the presence of sources that were once economically unviable but now feasible once oil prices got higher (e.g. Alberta oil shales, Colorado tar sands). So in essence, we may have mapped nearly all potential sources, but not all potential sources have been tapped and depleted.

Yeah, I've heard of such things as oil shales, but I was under the impression that it was still economically unviable to extract them. If it costs more fuel to extract this oil than eventually will be derived from the process, then it's a waste of time. Do you have any reputable sources outside the oil industry that can clarify this matter?

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Gechmir

If you haven't heard about alternative fuel sources lately, pardon my rudeness as it may sound, but you must've been under a rock. I don't think I even need to point to an article on this... It's happening but it doesn't score news. Bad news sells and the media reports on things such as gas prices spiralling out of control or scandals or war coming soon, etc.

It's not that I haven't heard about alternate fuel sources, rather that I've only heard about hydrogen, which is a technological dead end, and other things similar to it, which are equally a dead end, and for the same reason. Hearing about so-called solutions which aren't even remotely viable is the same as hearing about nothing, in my book. Somewhere down the line, they still require fossil fuels in order to be viable, because that's the only way we have of generating the electricity that is involved in the process of manufacturing these new fuels.

That's not what I call a sustainable solution. I'd agree with you, if I'd heard even the slightest mention of anything that could actually generate the electricity that these processes clearly require. Solar power, along with wind and wave power seems to have fallen right off the map. Nuclear fission carries with it a collossal waste management problem, and fusion has never been proved to be viable.

To judge from your posts, I'd say that you are probably more capable of recognising these shortcomings than I am, so you must understand where I'm coming from. There has been lots of news about grand, glorious follies of science, but almost nothing that was even remotely credible. We're still in the same position. There's nobody who is visibly working on anything that seems likely to solve this problem. If for some reason Aquygen isn't really the dead end that it seems to be, then I'll eat my words, but I'll need you to explain why, since I fail to see it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?