An interesting read...
In my opinion, if there was never such a thing as oil, humans would still be driving and heating their homes.
We are very inventive. Maybe our vehicles would be running on solar power, or some sort of wind technology, or a fuel developed from plants, or maybe we would still be driving electric cars, but no matter what, we would certainly still be driving! Our homes would maybe be heated by solar panels, or by any number of innovative inventions humans would have developed by now, simply out of necessity.
We let the big oil companies rule our world, and it is just such a huge mistake. How did the Bush family make their fortune? Why are we fighting in the middle east? What is the root cause of the biggest troubles on this planet?
Did you know that we used to drive electric cars BEFORE the first gas powered cars were rolled out in the early 1900s? And did you know that the first Ford got around 25 miles per gallon? Are you telling me that 100 years of technology later, we have yet to increase that rediculous gas mileage standard?
In under 30 years we have managed to develop computers that can fit in our pockets, but 100 years later our cars are still burning polluting fossil fuels.
How about a televised show devoted to saving the planet? A competition of sorts, where the contestants invent and explain new technologies every week to win the game. Would the networks have the power to air such a show? Once contestants begin to introduce the world to credible alternatives to oil, blatently and credibly on public TV, will things finally change?
My guess is big oil has so much influence over everything, that such a program probably wouldn't ever see the light of day.
That's my take on this stuff anyway... not that anyone asked...
A World Without Oil?
Re: A World Without Oil?
You make a very good point. Computers have changed beyond recognition in 30 years. Yet the automobile industry has been dragging its feet for decades, particularly in the States. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that a cartel of major manufacturers have quietly shut down research into cleaner, more efficient forms of transport, or that the Saudi royal family have been throwing money around to discourage same.
I sincerely hope that in the end the car industry pays the price for its criminal greed.
I sincerely hope that in the end the car industry pays the price for its criminal greed.
Pervert
The Worlds Biggest Collector Of Ben Dover DVD`s
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The Worlds Biggest Collector Of Ben Dover DVD`s
Koppite Till I Die
Remember - You`ll Never Walk Alone
Re: A World Without Oil?
God bless the wonderful Thatch.
Pervert
The Worlds Biggest Collector Of Ben Dover DVD`s
Koppite Till I Die
Remember - You`ll Never Walk Alone
The Worlds Biggest Collector Of Ben Dover DVD`s
Koppite Till I Die
Remember - You`ll Never Walk Alone
Re: A World Without Oil?
"We let the big oil companies rule our world, and it is just such a huge mistake"
We didn't "let" them do any such thing. Oil is simply a cheap and very efficient way of obtaining energy, that's all. Any company which can supply such an energy source should be successful.
We are probably at or near peak oil. As it begins to run out, we will indeed have to seek other ways to obtain energy. They will probably not be as cheap or as easy to obtain as oil, but unless we plan to go back to using horses and lighting our houses with candles, then that's what we'll have to do.
We didn't "let" them do any such thing. Oil is simply a cheap and very efficient way of obtaining energy, that's all. Any company which can supply such an energy source should be successful.
We are probably at or near peak oil. As it begins to run out, we will indeed have to seek other ways to obtain energy. They will probably not be as cheap or as easy to obtain as oil, but unless we plan to go back to using horses and lighting our houses with candles, then that's what we'll have to do.
Re: A World Without Oil?
Yes, you are probably right. Oil is much cleaner and cheaper than sunlight for example. What was I thinking? I think someone on this forum may have a few shares of oil stock, hmmm?
To defend this antiquated method of power is absurd, especially considering the current issues the planet faces.
If you don't believe big oil and the auto industry (and many governments) have been squashing alternative fuel options for years, then you are living in a very special fantasyland.
We have been getting done over for certain, and now it is just a race to the finish. Do we continue to allow this nonsense to continue, or do we bring the corruption to the surface, where it can finally be revealed?
The electric car has been blatently squashed numerous times now. It is time to wake up and change the status quo.
The powers that be explain that electric car (for example) are too difficult to produce - that they are inefficient, because the charge only lasts a few miles - that the power is not there, so they are not fast enough - that the batteries technology is not there yet, and on and on. Of course it is all a load of crap, but we all just accept these lies as fact, and go about our day.
Read about this vehicle right now, before it becomes the next victim to big oil... I know it's a bit expensive on the surface, but the technology is there. The only reason it is so expensive is that the "status quo powers that be" do not care to back them. They prefer to hide these ideas under the rug, and roll out pathetic hybrids that still require gas mixtures, and still get rediculous mileage. GM for example, is boasting about the eventuality of a futuristic electric car that may be able to achieve 40 miles before requiring a charge. That's odd, as Tesla Motors already achieves in excess of 200 miles on a charge, and they are just a small start up company!
I don't pretend to know how to fix the world, but hiding facts under a rock certainly can't help...
To defend this antiquated method of power is absurd, especially considering the current issues the planet faces.
If you don't believe big oil and the auto industry (and many governments) have been squashing alternative fuel options for years, then you are living in a very special fantasyland.
We have been getting done over for certain, and now it is just a race to the finish. Do we continue to allow this nonsense to continue, or do we bring the corruption to the surface, where it can finally be revealed?
The electric car has been blatently squashed numerous times now. It is time to wake up and change the status quo.
The powers that be explain that electric car (for example) are too difficult to produce - that they are inefficient, because the charge only lasts a few miles - that the power is not there, so they are not fast enough - that the batteries technology is not there yet, and on and on. Of course it is all a load of crap, but we all just accept these lies as fact, and go about our day.
Read about this vehicle right now, before it becomes the next victim to big oil... I know it's a bit expensive on the surface, but the technology is there. The only reason it is so expensive is that the "status quo powers that be" do not care to back them. They prefer to hide these ideas under the rug, and roll out pathetic hybrids that still require gas mixtures, and still get rediculous mileage. GM for example, is boasting about the eventuality of a futuristic electric car that may be able to achieve 40 miles before requiring a charge. That's odd, as Tesla Motors already achieves in excess of 200 miles on a charge, and they are just a small start up company!
I don't pretend to know how to fix the world, but hiding facts under a rock certainly can't help...
Re: A World Without Oil?
"Yes, you are probably right. Oil is much cleaner and cheaper than sunlight for example. What was I thinking? I think someone on this forum may have a few shares of oil stock, hmmm?"
The fact is that the 20th century was the oil century. Oil was much cheaper to obtain than coal, and far easier to use in ships, cars and planes. You can convert coal to oil using the Fischer-Tropsch process, but it's a pain, and there's no point if you can just pump oil out of the ground.
The other fact is that we are at or near peak oil. The precise date will only be clear in retrospect, but it will come. The question will be what happens then? As I said, short of going back to horses and candles, we will have to develop new technologies, but I am sure it will happen. Maybe one day scientists will even manage fusion power? Only joking.
The fact is that the 20th century was the oil century. Oil was much cheaper to obtain than coal, and far easier to use in ships, cars and planes. You can convert coal to oil using the Fischer-Tropsch process, but it's a pain, and there's no point if you can just pump oil out of the ground.
The other fact is that we are at or near peak oil. The precise date will only be clear in retrospect, but it will come. The question will be what happens then? As I said, short of going back to horses and candles, we will have to develop new technologies, but I am sure it will happen. Maybe one day scientists will even manage fusion power? Only joking.
Re: A World Without Oil?
I agree with most of what you are saying, but the idea that one day we will have to face this problem is where we seem to differ.
As it is inevitable that "that day is coming" then why are we waiting? With constant battles in the middle east, amazing levels of current pollution, the earth's very atmosphere at stake, etc... I argue that perhaps "that day" has already come.
Maybe all new cars should be hybrids by 2010, followed by 100% electric cars by 2015 for example, so the transition can begin sooner rather than later.
Politicians are now making statements along the lines that cars need to average 40mpg within the next 10 to 20 years, and as pathetic as that goal is (and it is pathetic) just last week the top CEOs of the US auto makers were crying to the congress that that goal will kill their business.
If that's the case, then maybe it IS time to kill their business, and roll out a more efficient car company that does not answer to big oil's greed.
I am not suggesting the horse and buggy - I am suggesting we evolve as a species, and protect our future, before it really is too late.
Thomas Edison is credited for inventing the lightbulb. Do you think if he had never invented the lightbulb that we would be living in the dark? Of course not! A year later someone else would have developed an alternate light source for sure, so just because the gas based combustion engine was invented long ago, does not mean we have to stick it out to the end.
As it is inevitable that "that day is coming" then why are we waiting? With constant battles in the middle east, amazing levels of current pollution, the earth's very atmosphere at stake, etc... I argue that perhaps "that day" has already come.
Maybe all new cars should be hybrids by 2010, followed by 100% electric cars by 2015 for example, so the transition can begin sooner rather than later.
Politicians are now making statements along the lines that cars need to average 40mpg within the next 10 to 20 years, and as pathetic as that goal is (and it is pathetic) just last week the top CEOs of the US auto makers were crying to the congress that that goal will kill their business.
If that's the case, then maybe it IS time to kill their business, and roll out a more efficient car company that does not answer to big oil's greed.
I am not suggesting the horse and buggy - I am suggesting we evolve as a species, and protect our future, before it really is too late.
Thomas Edison is credited for inventing the lightbulb. Do you think if he had never invented the lightbulb that we would be living in the dark? Of course not! A year later someone else would have developed an alternate light source for sure, so just because the gas based combustion engine was invented long ago, does not mean we have to stick it out to the end.