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Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Where have all the "ANWAR" buffoons gone?
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I'm one of those buffoons. We should tap ANWAR the moment fuel prices are highest... somewhere in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sid
...we will probably never find an alternative fuel that is as cheap and versatile as oil was in the last century. Oil will just keep rising in cost until other fuels start to appear more practical. We will also change our lifestyles accordingly, and we will probably feel then that we have made a lot of progress and question why anyone would have even considered using such a primitive concept as private internal combustion vehicles in the first place.
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Perhaps in the short-term (one lifetime?) the standard of living will contract, but in the long-term, alternative fuel sources will expand the standard of living and open up further possibilities.
There is no way that fossil fuels are the cheapest form of energy. It was just the low hanging fruit that we could exploit using the relatively primitive technology of the day. No doubt there will be better and cheaper sources of energy in the future as technology improves. With just .000000045% of the Sun's radiation hitting the Earth, the potential usable energy is unfathomable.
The thing is, conservation doesn't bring innovation. It's the exploitation of resources that have allowed humans the free-time to make scientific discoveries, implement it in technology, and innovate. Consumption of energy and technology use allows us the excess time required to think of the next way to harness energy and how to use it. Some of us use the excess time to watch Jersey Shore, and some of us use that extra time to discover the photovoltaic effect.
Almost nobody will voluntarily live at a lower standard of living. Only people that are arrogant enough to believe they can save the world would volunteer for such a thing.
Human history being as short as it is, we will no doubt solve today's problem and move on to tomorrow's.