[RightWhale]

Right. The alternatives will come into use as the cost of oil rises. The problem is that the alternatives cost more than oil now, so energy will cost more. Cost increases will spread throughout the economy to the point that the economy will be driven to a lower level. Peak Oil.

[hopespringseternal]

The problem is that the alternatives cost more than oil now, so energy will cost more.

Not necessarily. Most of the cost and difficulty with nukes is political. Technically, it can be very cheap, and quite a bit safer than the industries it replaces. With sufficiently cheap nuclear energy, all sorts of options open up for powering our cars. If electricity is cheap enough, even hydrogen fuel cells may become economically viable.

In addition, you have to remember that most of the oil ever found is still in the ground. As technology increases, we go back to those old reserves and pump more out.

Rather humorous that right now, oil price and production is more dependent on technological progress than nuclear (fission) energy is.

[MrB]

I was looking for the correct basic economic evaluation of this story, and you're the first!

The author is an economic ignoramous. Oil does NOT "run out" - it gets more expensive. Then new finds occur because they are now economically feasible.

Then, when alternatives become MORE economically feasible than finding more oil, the alternatives will be developed and used.

The problem with these lefties is that they are ignorant of or despise the free market so much that they can't see its reality and implications.