Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was having a discussion with a co-worker the other day, and he brought up investing/stocks. He told me he likes cryptocurrencies, and that he's avoiding "boomer stocks." Out of curiosity, I ask him what he means by "boomer stocks." In his answer, he mentions oil stocks. I stop him and say "you do realize that without oil, there is no economy, right?" He says something along the lines of "yeah oil is important, but we'll soon be 'moving beyond' oil." I say "moving beyond oil, and replacing it with what?" He has no answer. Surprisingly, the young 20yo guy who was listening to our conversation brought up a good point that electric cars are still dependent on fossil fuel generated electricity.
People have no idea whatsoever what it takes to run a hyper complex, hi-tech economy and society. For all intents and purposes, it might as well be run by magic fairies. Here's the reality- it's energy, particularly oil.
Oil depletion is the most dire problem facing the economy today, and yet everyone's completely oblivious to it. Everyone seems to think that Peak Oil is either outdated, or a crank conspiracy theory. Nothing could be further from the truth. Peak oil is absolutely real, and it is a bigger problem now than ever.
We are never "moving beyond" oil. There is no combination of solar, wind, geothermal, used french fry potato oil, dark matter of the universe, that will allow us to run the following: car dependent suburban sprawl, the US military, the space program, the interstate highway system, Walmart, Disneyworld, commercial aviation, food production for 8B people.
Oil depletion is the reason why the economy is so rickety, so fragile. It is the reason why it takes more and more debt to get less and less GDP growth. It is the reason why we will have no "recovery," not even an illusory one, this time around. Peak conventional oil was reached in 2006, and peak general oil was reached in 2019- most likely global oil production will never again reach 2019 levels. Unlike the aftermath of the '08 crisis, there will be no "shale oil boom" (shale oil is what really bailed us out of that crisis, not government "stimulus" or Federal Reserve funny money printing).
Peak oil is not and never has been about running out of oil. Peak oil is about the declining net energy of oil as oil depletion causes it to become increasingly labor, capital, and energy intensive to extract. As oil production falls off a cliff, there will still be hundreds of billions of barrels still in the ground, it's just that the oil still in the ground will be far too thermodynamically costly to extract.
Old oil: back in the early 20th century, the oil would be literally seeping out of the ground. You would drill a hole in the ground and the oil would come gushing out under its own pressure. The oil well would produce thousands of barrels a day for decades.
New oil: ie shale- you spend $12M per oil well, you must crush and destroy a ton of rock to extract enough oil to power an average American car for a measly two weeks, the well produces 200-300 barrels per day, and the well is exhausted after 2 years.
Peak oil is not and never has been about running out of oil. Peak oil is about the declining net energy of oil as oil depletion causes it to become increasingly labor, capital, and energy intensive to extract. As oil production falls off a cliff, there will still be hundreds of billions of barrels still in the ground, it's just that the oil still in the ground will be far too thermodynamically costly to extract.
Old oil: back in the early 20th century, the oil would be literally seeping out of the ground. You would drill a hole in the ground and the oil would come gushing out under its own pressure. The oil well would produce thousands of barrels a day for decades.
New oil: ie shale- you spend $12M per oil well, you must crush and destroy a ton of rock to extract enough oil to power an average American car for a measly two weeks, the well produces 200-300 barrels per day, and the well is exhausted after 2 years.
your stats about oil welll output are incorrect.I am a independent oilman in Texas.I have drilled some frack wells in Texas.I drilled one well about a decade ago and it is still producing.I have some more oil wells that are still producing that are older than 24 months.Most of my oil wells came in producing quite a bit more than 200 to 300 barrels per day.
I think a lot of frack wells could last at least 20 years after they are drilled and fracked.You are right that fracking takes more money.I dont think Texas will run out of petroleum in any of our lifetimes.They thought that oil would run out in the 70's but that did not happen.However, like you said the easy oil and gas is mostly played out here in the states.
There is a poster here named Philip T that states we can indeed run transportation on electric. Id like to hear his take on this. I think he is a scientist/engineer. He says our solar tech is good enough to take ur off oil.
There is a poster here named Philip T that states we can indeed run transportation on electric. Id like to hear his take on this. I think he is a scientist/engineer. He says our solar tech is good enough to take ur off oil.
How do I summon him?
The idea that we can electrify all of our transportation and switch to "renewables" is just another symptom of "magic fairy" thinking. All of those things are oil derivatives, they are not possible without an underlying abundant oil economy.
The idea that we can electrify all of our transportation and switch to "renewables" is just another symptom of "magic fairy" thinking. All of those things are oil derivatives, they are not possible without an underlying abundant oil economy.
I thought the whole point of the Green economy or going green was to lessen our oil usage, not get rid of it entirely.
If we only bring the oil to power plants to burn, that is less fuel used up delivering to gas station, and less fuel used by all the other transportation vehicles like buses, cars, and planes.
And then I can supplement that with some renewables, ought to lessen our carbon footprint by a lot, without actually getting rid of oil altogether. That is still a worthwhile endeavour.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
