What happens when the worlds oil supply runs out?

What will happen when the oil supply of the world runs out?What happens when the worlds oil supply runs out?
i think they will be using ethanol to replace the fuel we are using now. ethanol is a very much cleaner to use as it does not produce much pollutants.moreover, ethanol can be obtained easily by the fermentation of suger,which is easily obtained from many sources.


so when oil runs out, there may be sugarcane plantations growing everwhere in the world. or maybe they will find other sources like using hydrogen gas or something, but i think it will be very expensive if we were to use hydrogen, or the scientists will find other alternative soruce to burn as fuel.What happens when the worlds oil supply runs out?
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The answer to your question depends very much on when it runs out. At the present there is no good alternative to oil and not much on the horizon (though I'm sure optimists will disagree with this). The timing will affect whether sufficient energy from alternative sources can fill the void. It should be pointed out that Hubbert argued that the important threshold is not when supplies are exhausted but when peak production is reached. At this point our growth is no longer subsidized by cheap energy and without replacements, growth will slow.





It is entirely appropriate to argue that for the past 200 years this oil subsidization has allowed us to convert hydrocarbon energy into humans - that cheap oil has fueled human population growth. If you think about what the energy is used for, this makes sense. So one consequence of running out of petroleum is a likely decline in the human population size.
nobody knows
Hopefully by then we will have a viable and cost effect alternate energy source.


Or we can all look forward to the dark ages...
We are going to be in a serious spot of bother, especially in the western world.





Our whole global economy (read: the economies of rich nations) is dependant on cheap transport of raw materials which for the most part comes from fossil fuels, especially oil. If you think about all the trucks driving about, the ships sailing the seas, the aircraft flying overhead- they all need fuel, and the cost of transport is usually a fairly significant cost of a lot of our goods- espcially fruit and vegetables. ';Hubbert's Peak';, which was referred to by an earlier contributor, is where demand for oil outstrips supply. When that happens, that is the end of cheap oil. If you look at the rapidity that oil prices have risen over the past couple of years you will see that we might actually have hit Hubbert's Peak. And oil is not just used for transport- it is used in bitumen, in plastics, as a lubricant. The implications for the end of cheap oil for the major economies (and minor ones, like Australia) is huge. Public transport systems and cycleways will once more have to become a major part of urban infrastructure; local food production will have to diversify; young guys driving around the block unnecessarily will be charged with criminal offences. We have taken oil for granted, and we will suffer the consequences.





Given the Bush family's knowledge of the oil business they must know about Hubbert's Peak. By taking control of oilfields in the middle east they can position themselves favourably to remain rich. Just as the invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with WMD's or September 11 (how many hijackers were from Iraq?), the sabre rattling against Iran that is presently going on is not about nuclear weapons (there has never even been a hint of an attack on North Korea) but about control of Iranian oil. If Iran does a deal with Europe to sell oil in Euros, rather than US dollars, the US has to trade for oil on the global market, rather than just print off money to pay for Iranian oil as it does now. Given how much it has spent on securing oil interests in Iraq, it will not be able to afford to do this. Given how much money it has spent on securing oil interests in Iraq, it might not have any choice though.





You can help. Use less oil. Buy locally-produced goods. Drive less. Lobby your government to explore alternative fuels and public transport infrastructure. If we use less fuel, the demand will drop, prices will drop and we will buy time to establish other alternative technologies.





Either way, the economy is going to take a big hit. How big depends on what choices we make now.
We will all have to change over to electic powered cars.
We find an alternate energy source and overcharge everyone for that too.
We'll all buy battery powered mopeds or segways.
i hear theyre trying to get hydrogen fueled cars as an alternative
They will find some way to get it.. or maybe go organic and gas will be like 8 dollars a gallon and we will all be walking
Well, we will be using solar energy, nuclear energy, hydro-wind energy and all other kinds of energy by then.
yeah pretty much, we'll have to find some other source of renewable fuel
Every country in the world will finally realize that it must be self sufficient and will reduce their reliance on other countries for their vital resources reducing the need to find excuses why one county would attack another country under the vail of government propaganda.
This topic should be of great interest to everyone. Do a quick internet search for ';peak oil'; and you will find a lot of information.
This begs the question ';will oil run out?'; Most people think so, but you should read Thomas Gold who has a theory that oil is abiotic (not from ';dead plants';) and replaceable.