So what will you do if the oil runs out?

[bulldogeagle]

My point is the oil won't run out, and I think there is more chance of the infrastructure of oil supply breaking down rather than the oil actually running out, and the law of supply and demand will mean people will continue to get along with ever increasing prices until it is economically infeasible for them to continue to use it.

Basically it won't run out, but are you prepared to pay the inflated costs of buying the stuff???

People that say oil wont run out do make me laugh talk about living in cuckoo land, as i have said before oil is a finite resourse and when its all used up there is no more..not for millions of years anyway, there wont be any more in our lifetimes, with China and India taking more and more as they industrialise their nations the oil will run out faster. we should be thinking about what we will use instead, its not so much the obvious things like petrol, diesel and heating oil, everything made of plastic is made from petrochemicals and so are most of our drugs and medicines, have a think what you have in your house made up from these and what you would do if they were no longer available??

[Malamute Mitch]

I think just saying oil will/wont run out is just too simplistic,

Firstly we can grow oil and there are several substitutes for nearly everything we use it for. Replacing it in some chemical processes in manufacturing pharmaceuticals and electronics would probably be the most difficult along with the manufacture of several plastics that cannot be recycled (that’s if we really need plastic s but that s a different argument.) and yes people would have to eat real cream donuts rather than synthetic ones!! Yuk!!

So taking it there is no TEOTWAWKI in the immediate future, ( and that’s also a different argument) As oil becomes more scarce and expensive humans will move more towards other sources of motor fuel and heating fuel and try probably vainly to compensate for over demand by improving the fuel economy of cars and moves to hybrid electric s etc and not reducing the population while industry try s to eeeck out the remaining reserves. The in s and out s of this can be argued forever which I don’t think helps in anyway, its just wasted energy.

Why ?

Simply put which ever way you see it there s going to be massive fuel shortages in the future with ever increasing prices. More people, more fuel required and less land to grow it on, as mineral fuel runs out. Please I’m not going to get into a debate about nuclear as simply put I personally don’t see we have the right to poison the planet and leave that level of waste to be cleaned up and looked after for the next hundred thousand years by successive generations of my children just because we (as a generation) could not get our s**t together. And yes I have looked at the at the studies into long term repositories and the plans of the finish repository but again putting it simply we do not/cannot fully understand plate tectonics and predict even fifty thousand years ahead. So it should not be continued it was simply one of man s biggest mistakes. Imagine taking out a bank loan today to buy a new car but your offspring will be saddled with that debt for the next hundred thousand years and that’s progress. Unmm! More like the ultimate Darwin award!!

Many countries are now coming to the conclusion for successful economies they have to move away from fossil and nuclear fuel. Denmark recently had cross party support for being totally renewable by 2050 not just on environmental grounds but economic. Ie while the rest of the world is still scrabbling around for the last of the dregs of fossil fuel and ever increasingly expensive nuclear fuels ( also a finite resource ) they’ll be sitting pretty with comparatively cheap renewable’s.

How does this affect prepping, well I’ve made sure all my vehicles run on 100% vegetable oil. Truck can carry a 1000ltrs of fuel giving a 2000 mile range. Alternately if I needed to I could use this fuel for heating cooking in winter. (filtered stored properly with additives it’ll last several years) also I have a long term revolving store to ensure fuel for a year, if the SHTF, this is primarily for farming (tractors etc) to get the cycle going again and grow more fuel. In the short term it also has massive benefits, as it costs me about ten pence a litre for road fuel! The savings I make can then be put back into more prep . I’ve found this has worked in many area s and would advise people when prepping to look at things that will save them money now as that saved money can go into more prep stuff. Its turns into an exponential curve . Ie now my fuel costs are about ten pound a week, petrol most expensive at about a gallon a week. Chainsaws etc, (I’m currently experimenting with bio substitutes) my heating and cooking is free, my food and alcohol cost is about £10 a week. Learning to store foods without a fridge or freezer can save £25 a month in electricity costs alone.

“ Bazonbeleza” love the yacht !! do you ever get to uk waters? Did consider going that way myself but difficult with dogs, kids and parents !! lol

[bazonbeleza]

Quote by Mitch 'I think just saying oil will/wont run out is just too simplistic,'

I agree entirely, when I say oil won't run out, I mean the supply will gradually get smaller and the price will of course rise as it does to the point that you, me and most of the rest of us will not be able to or prepared to pay for it. There will always be oil for the seriously rich. You cannot say it will actually run out, but it will have effectively run out for the majority of us poor oiks.

I believe there is also some scientific evidence that some wells that have been declared dry after long periods of production, have started at produce significant quantities of oil after a period of dormancy. When I track down the source I'll post it.

Mitch, a lot of yachties have dogs, cats and ferrets, I had two tripe hounds that loved the life. Kids love it and would live with me full time if not for the ex and schooling!