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Originally Posted by sendler
The problem is that it takes affordable energy and liquid fuel to build big things out of concrete like reactors. Or even to clear land for more efficient home units in temperate climates and to build solar and wind installations and new alt energy factories and mine battery materials. If we wait until fossil energy pricing forces us to consider replacing it, it will be too expensive and fully committed to spinning plates to use to replace it. Energy trap.
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https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2011/10/the-energy-trap/
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Why do we think this fossil fuel is totally ours to just completely exhaust as if current market forces are the only consideration. What about them. It would nice to have a little left for important uses such as medical, pharma, paint, plastics, in 1,000 years.
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We need to wake up now. Look down the road 200 years. And use our cleverness and remaining energy surplus and focus to aim for something that will work for them in a time after fossil fuel. |
I've read and enjoyed the link above before. I think we're in agreement about most things except for the rate of fossil fuel depletion. As I've said before, there is no such thing as running out of fossil fuels; only fossil fuels that become more expensive to extract. As they become more expensive, we'll transition away from them in areas that consume large quantities, such as electricity generation, heat, and transportation. We will ease demand as supply becomes more difficult.
There will be peak oil, it will just be more gradual, and won't cripple society as the doomsday profits predict.