Comments on: Peak Oil: Are We Running Out Of Black Gold? http://weakonomics.com/2009/09/14/peak-oil-are-we-running-out-of-black-gold/ Everything That's Wrong With You And Your Money Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:59:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Chris http://weakonomics.com/2009/09/14/peak-oil-are-we-running-out-of-black-gold/comment-page-1/#comment-3043 Chris Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:25:02 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=3016#comment-3043 The worry I have about peak oil, has nothing to do with driving, as the technology will develop once people are priced out of the market. My concern is not only the plastics but just how much we use oils for. Paint Fertilizer Seals Clothing Etc. Oil is in everything and while most people think about driving its all the things that no one realizes has oil in it that will cause the sh1t to hit the fan. .-= Chris´s last blog ..<a href="http://followmybusiness.blogspot.com/2009/09/5-minute-business-lesson.html" rel="nofollow">5 Minute Business Lesson</a> =-. The worry I have about peak oil, has nothing to do with driving, as the technology will develop once people are priced out of the market. My concern is not only the plastics but just how much we use oils for.

Paint
Fertilizer
Seals
Clothing
Etc.

Oil is in everything and while most people think about driving its all the things that no one realizes has oil in it that will cause the sh1t to hit the fan.
Chris´s last blog ..5 Minute Business Lesson My ComLuv Profile

]]> By: Josh http://weakonomics.com/2009/09/14/peak-oil-are-we-running-out-of-black-gold/comment-page-1/#comment-2979 Josh Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:11:14 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=3016#comment-2979 Good article Philip, I was interested to hear your thoughts about Peak Oil. Most of the reading I've done about Peak Oil and the documentaries I've seen all point towards a doomsday scenario, where most of us will be priced out of the oil market. Only the super rich will be able to afford cars and air travel, with the rest of us plebs reverting to a mid-1800's type existence. At the worlds current use of 80 million barrels of oil a day (the USA uses 20 million barrels) and a reported trillion barrels of oil left in the ground, that equals to roughly 35 years of supply left. That's assuming that all the oil in the ground can be economically extracted, and it's widely known that OPEC countries overstate their reserves to keep their production quotas. And of course demand will keep on rising, especially with China coming online big time, so prices will likely increase significantly. I also read that for us in developed countries, for each calorie of food we eat, it takes 10 calories of fossil fuels to produce that food. This is in the form of petroleum based fertilisers, transportation, packaging, cooking, etc. So high oil prices will mean a big increase in food costs. I hope you're right that the laws of the marketplace will come into play, and the high price will drive innovation. I'm not really ready to go back to using a horse and cart again. Good article Philip, I was interested to hear your thoughts about Peak Oil. Most of the reading I’ve done about Peak Oil and the documentaries I’ve seen all point towards a doomsday scenario, where most of us will be priced out of the oil market. Only the super rich will be able to afford cars and air travel, with the rest of us plebs reverting to a mid-1800’s type existence.

At the worlds current use of 80 million barrels of oil a day (the USA uses 20 million barrels) and a reported trillion barrels of oil left in the ground, that equals to roughly 35 years of supply left. That’s assuming that all the oil in the ground can be economically extracted, and it’s widely known that OPEC countries overstate their reserves to keep their production quotas. And of course demand will keep on rising, especially with China coming online big time, so prices will likely increase significantly.

I also read that for us in developed countries, for each calorie of food we eat, it takes 10 calories of fossil fuels to produce that food. This is in the form of petroleum based fertilisers, transportation, packaging, cooking, etc. So high oil prices will mean a big increase in food costs.

I hope you’re right that the laws of the marketplace will come into play, and the high price will drive innovation. I’m not really ready to go back to using a horse and cart again.

]]> By: Craig http://weakonomics.com/2009/09/14/peak-oil-are-we-running-out-of-black-gold/comment-page-1/#comment-2978 Craig Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:49:05 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=3016#comment-2978 Like anything else, innovation will develop if there is a time and need to replace oil. I am sure those technologies already exist, but with a multi billion dollar industry at hand, nothing is changing any time soon. Like anything else, innovation will develop if there is a time and need to replace oil. I am sure those technologies already exist, but with a multi billion dollar industry at hand, nothing is changing any time soon.

]]> By: Alexandra http://weakonomics.com/2009/09/14/peak-oil-are-we-running-out-of-black-gold/comment-page-1/#comment-2975 Alexandra Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:00:07 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=3016#comment-2975 Great article. What I love about it is that it highlights that the great big evil oil companies are the ones putting their profits into "green" research and development. I too believe that we will engineer ourselves into solutions that will be greener in the near future. Great article.

What I love about it is that it highlights that the great big evil oil companies are the ones putting their profits into “green” research and development.

I too believe that we will engineer ourselves into solutions that will be greener in the near future.

]]> By: Philip Brewer http://weakonomics.com/2009/09/14/peak-oil-are-we-running-out-of-black-gold/comment-page-1/#comment-2974 Philip Brewer Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:40:57 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=3016#comment-2974 Worrying about "running out" of oil is silly--there'll still be oil produced in 150 years, even if they're spending small fortunes to extract fractions of a barrel for pharmaceuticals and boutique plastics. Worrying about oil becoming too expensive to use the way we're using it, on the other hand, is a much more real and urgent problem than most people give it credit for. Very high prices make it practical to use unconventional sources, but it doesn't make it cheap. I rather expect that high oil prices will become a defining characteristic of our economy, because high oil prices change everything: Whether we can afford to drive, how we get around if we can't, where we live, and what we eat. .-= Philip Brewer´s last blog ..<a href="http://feeds.killeraces.com/~r/wisebread/philip-brewer/~3/zd1YcPnlHbk/reject-variable-terms-and-conditions" rel="nofollow">Reject Variable Terms and Conditions</a> =-. Worrying about “running out” of oil is silly–there’ll still be oil produced in 150 years, even if they’re spending small fortunes to extract fractions of a barrel for pharmaceuticals and boutique plastics.

Worrying about oil becoming too expensive to use the way we’re using it, on the other hand, is a much more real and urgent problem than most people give it credit for. Very high prices make it practical to use unconventional sources, but it doesn’t make it cheap.

I rather expect that high oil prices will become a defining characteristic of our economy, because high oil prices change everything: Whether we can afford to drive, how we get around if we can’t, where we live, and what we eat.
Philip Brewer´s last blog ..Reject Variable Terms and Conditions My ComLuv Profile

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