Oil Prices at new high!

[[TW]Fox]

Costs is irrelavent when year on year you are physically extracting and refining less and less oil!!

No it isn't. It isnt running out of oil thats the problem, its increasing cost. We will NEVER run out of oil in our lifetime, it will simply become harder to extract, less in volume, and when supply is restricted but demand remains the same, price rises.

Oil will be priced so high people cannot afford it long before it ever runs out, if it ever runs out.

 

[Sharknose]

No it isn't. It isnt running out of oil thats the problem, its increasing cost. We will NEVER run out of oil in our lifetime, it will simply become harder to extract, less in volume, and when supply is restricted but demand remains the same, price rises.

Oil will be priced so high people cannot afford it long before it ever runs out, if it ever runs out.

I'm not saying it will run out in our lifetime. Whether it ultimately runs out doesn't matter.
When oil prices get high at the moment, people cut back on excessive usage of oil based products. We all agree on that?
However, what happens when the amount of oil being produced OR the cost is so high that we cannot get enough oil to maintain current lifestyle.
The obvious answer... we cannot maintain our current Western lifestyle. It will either become too expensive, and if we ignore the cost anyway, it will be physically/geologically impossible to support our lifestyle.

And that's what so horribly uncomfortable about it... ultimately, we there are too many people. Either we have a lot less people, enjoying higher quality of life, supported by what resources the planet provides. Or we have more people, enjoying less quality.

 

[jpmonkey69]

I think I did the sensible thing and invested in Oil.

I bought 5l of oil for my car.

If anyone wants any, they'll have to be prepared to pay through the nose... and bring their own cup.

 

[MookJong]

I think population groth is often overlooked in this subject but it is a very important issue.

Have a look at this, if you havn't seen a world population groth graph before you may find it quite scary. (sorry for small image size)

I was introduced to the population groth issue in a book called Crossing the Rubicon - The decline of the American Empire at the the end of the age of oil.

It's an amazing read if your intrested in Peak Oil and Geopolitics.

 

[iraiguana]

i must point out that not only Pt is being used as the cat for the membrane but also Rh and Ru have been shown to be viable alternatives, also that it is possible to use these in conjunction with Pt as it makes them last longer than the perivouse thought limit on the catalyst.
Phosphoric acid, Molten carbonate and solid oxide fuel cells also can be used in the replacement of generators.
Reformer tech has also improved to the level where the fuel cells can be run in reverse to produce hydrogen in a similar efficiency to that of it being used.

biggest problem we have is the storage here, where do we put all the hydrogen that would be needed day in day out?