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To: Ancesthntr
We’re not just powered by oil.

The lifeblood of our modern world is oil

We have abundant natural gas and coal, plus safe nukes

If world GDP grows 3% yearly for 30 more years, we will use more energy than we have since the dawn of humanity.

40 posted on 08/27/2022 7:11:59 AM PDT by Poison Pill
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To: Poison Pill

I don’t denigrate the importance of oil, not in the past , the present or the future. But there are other, very significant, sources of energy, and many ways to cut back on oil consumption. For example, no power should be produced using oil, save for that produced by emergency or remotely-located generators. Use nukes, coal, natural gas and even some renewable sources for that (the latter only as a supplement, as it is not dependable and is incredibly inefficient in most circumstances). As for reducing oil consumption, increased vehicle and housing efficiency, combined with more business being done via Zoom, etc. instead of in-person will help.

WRT increased energy consumption as the world’s economy grows:

1) It isn’t going to grow much in the next decade, as we’re in or on the precipice of another Great Depression for the same reason as we got into the first one - too much debt to possibly repay. We’re also increasingly likely to have the historically-normal companion of economic hardship, war, and have it on a global scale. This will likely stop population growth, and possibly reduce it by a fair amount. Neither is a good thing at all, of course, but oil consumption will NOT be growing at previous rates over the next several years, if not longer.

2) Even if it does (or does so later), we can and should be diversifying into other forms of both energy supply and consumption. More nukes, for example - especially those powered by thorium, which is both more abundant than uranium and cannot be used to produce nuclear weapons. A crash program to develop fusion (we are legitimately fairly close to commercial viability), as well as far more efficient solar power generation, batteries and capacitors. Yes, oil is a limited resource, and even if there were no real physical limits to its supply, the cheap oil of the past is basically gone - but we have options, many if them.


73 posted on 08/27/2022 8:51:13 AM PDT by Ancesthntr (“The right to buy weapons is the right to be free.” ― A.E. Van Vogt, The Weapons Shops of Isher)
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