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Rob9874

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 1999
3,314
1
81
Originally posted by: 0marTheZealot
jerome
what the hell

ever hear of a straw man argument? that's what you just presented. answer the question at hand.

do you think that infinite growth can continue indefinately in a finite world with terribly finite resources? if it can't, then there must be a blocking point.

You're making a huge assumption that we can't move beyond our current resources. Do you think Bill Gates was panicking when PCs were reaching DOS's 1MB RAM limit? When necessity presents itself, man will find other means. Maybe the government will grant $1 bil to research solar power. Sure, the Sun is finite too. What will we do when it burns out?
 

Cobalt

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2000
4,642
1
81
Originally posted by: 0marTheZealot
yep, it'll be a scary few decades regardless of who is in office. no matter how powerful the president is, he can not repeal the laws of thermodynamics and physics.

But I thought God was on our side!
 

0marTheZealot

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2004
1,692
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yes of course the sun is finite, but as far as we are concerned it is infinite. Four billion years is more than beyond our comphrension. And when the sun is gone, it's game over anyways. But again that is just a straw man arguement. For all intents and purposes, homo sapiens does not have to worry about the sun becoming a limiting factor. Four billion years more of sunlight is more time than all of life has been on planet earth. By the time the sun implodes, there won't even be a fraction of a memory of homo sapiens.

10-25 years for oil is not beyond our lifetimes. In fact, they lie right when most of us will be in our primes. Comparing to peak oil to CPU RAM, while analogous, is not a totally valid comparsion. The limiting factor there was technology and foresight. And Moore's law was already working even back then. However, oil depletion can not be solved without fundemental changes in our lifestyles.

Eventually, there must be a crash or a leveling off of growth. Indefinite growth can not continue forever. Even if we invest in solar power, it still only delays the main, fundemental flaw. Indefinite growth can not be sustained. There will be a day where we must make a move to a steady state economy. Think of it this way. Everyday, you must eat 3% more than you did yesterday. Eventually your nutrional need will outstrip your ability to gather the food or the availability of the food will become limiting and you can not fufill your need.

The computer analogy is different as software and hardware are symbiotic. One can not severely outstrip the other for long. However, continual growth is parasitic or even cancerous. Even cancer, the maligant non-stop growth of healthy cells, has a limiting scope. One day, we will again out strip our resource base and a crash will occur even more disasterously.

The fundemental flaw is in a continually growing state of affairs. It simply can not happen in a finite world. In models and theories, this is possible because it is simply talk. But in the real world, something arises to limit growth. This is what happens to bacteria, reindeer, and humans. We are not immune to the laws of physics and thermodynamics.
 

Infohawk

Lifer
Jan 12, 2002
17,844
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It's funny everytime it's pointed out to cwjerome that Iraq != afghanistan = war on terror he runs for the caves like a terrorist.
 

cwjerome

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2004
4,346
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Omar, quit pretending you can predict the future with fancy talk. I've never seen a more anti-man attitude. Every year there's hundreds of new innovations, new technologies, and new ideas. Maybe stopping right here and damning billions around the world to live nasty, painfull, short lives suits you, but I believe in people.

Omar 500 years ago: "Holy crap golly gee we're gonna cut down all the trees for fuel, and pretty soon there will be no wood left!!"

Omar 100 years ago: "Omigosh, hoo-boy, this coal is too damn dirty and we're making great big holes in the ground... and we're gonna run out!!!!"

Omar today: <see above>
 

0marTheZealot

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2004
1,692
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ad hominem. attack the arguement and not the person.

did you even do a little research about peak oil, its implications and the book i posted above?
 

Kibbo

Platinum Member
Jul 13, 2004
2,847
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Originally posted by: 0marTheZealot
and you are a fool for thinking it can be.

explain how a multi-trillion dollar establishment can be transformed in a reasonable timeframe given that oil is still more profitable than any alternative can ever hope to be? or how agriculture can be revolutionized again to be weeded off petrol products in a reasonable timeframe? or how alternatives can be sustainable without the use of oil? there are alternatives to oil, it's just none of them are very viable.

It could take as little as 10 years, if the money was there. With current oil prices, the money will be there.
 

0marTheZealot

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2004
1,692
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kibbo is partially correct. It is possible to soften the crash. However, it will take decades of investment and smart policy manuevars.

However, with the way our current government is, it doesn't look likely :(

remember, adaption for millions doesn't equal survival for billions.
 

cwjerome

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2004
4,346
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Yes Omar, I have read the link, and I have even heard of Peak Oil theories before. I still say that it's overstated. With solar advances, wind advances, coal advances, oil advances, new technologies, new advancements into reduction/conservation abilities, new advancements into re-use and recycling abilities, nuclear expansion, and a host of other possibilities, I'm not jumping on the Peak Oil bandwagon (which is justification for a lot of left-wing agendas). We are discovering oil under 30,000 feet, far below the 18,000 feet where organic matter is no longer found. Wells pumped dry later replenished. There are things we are still learning.

It's an issue -like many- that we need to be aware of and work towards solving. What we don't need to bring civilization to a halt. Drink a few beers dude.
 

0marTheZealot

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2004
1,692
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i hope you are right.

solar advances --> what advances? there are still several, legitatmate hurdles to be made before solar is even viable. and it still doesn't replace the pesticides, fertilizers and un-usable as a transport fuel. logistics of solar power is mind boggling.

wind advances --> see above. also probably our best alternative

coal advances --> we also have a finite stock of coal and all indications that are that it isn't 250 years like everyone touts it to be. it's more around 100 (which is great imo, fusion should kick in by then). however, it is a heavy polluter, and i hope to god the green lobby doesn't stop it. it also doesn't replace pesticides and fertilizers, however, i can see research being done into it to replace oil.

oil advances --> cheap oil is running out

re-using and recycling plastics and other materials will never alleviate our dependance. there is only so many times you can reuse the oil before it becomes unprofitable to do so. also remember that such processing consume oil as well and thermodynamics state you can never get back what you put in. so we will always be on a downwards slope with recycling/reuse.

deep sea oil is not very viable. in the gulf of mexico alone, there have been many wells drilled, but only a couple of them have hit oil. it is also extremely expensive and the quality of oil is not as good. and the whole point of peak oil is that we are going to lose cheap fuel as a resource base.

http://home.entouch.net/dmd/oandgart.htm

wells being replenished is more likely due to a deeper source of oil than oil being generated. the processes by which oil is formed take hundreds of millions of years.

and regardless of all the innovation and technology, there _HAS TO BE_ a time when growth can not be sustained. this is the core of the peak-oil debate. growth on a finite world can not be sustained indefinately. bacteria in a petri dish could cover the earth 3 meters deep in 48 hours if their growth is unchecked. fortunately for us, they never get that far, some sort of limiting agent hits upon them. we are not immune to the same laws that bind bacteria. it is simply that the earth is our petri dish and we have covered it. the question is, can we sustain our coverage or will there be a crash.

you must know in some capacity that growth will have to plateau or even decline. i am not advocating stopping civilization. i am pointing out that mother nature will do that for us if we dont take action soon.
 

cwjerome

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2004
4,346
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Everything I mentioned is but one aspect of how our reliance on oil as the #1 cheap energy source can slowly be diminished (and that doesn't even include newer sources/technologies yet to be developed). Why are you responding as if any one is supposed to completely replace cheap oil? Why are you acting like five years or 10 years from now things will be exactly the same? Why are you so negative on every aspect of every suggestion? Why are you as fanatical about peak oil catastrophe when there's plenty of contradicting/dissenting views?

When I mention oil being 30,000 feet, I'm not talking about deep sea, I'm refering to the fact that there's new beliefs that oil isn't solely organic in foundation and there may be much more deeper. And wells being replentished is more evidence of that.

There's so many things going on, on so many levels, and pretending we're gonna wake up one day and suddenly all the wells are dry is absurd. We haven't peaked, we won't until 2015-2020, and by then we will easily be able to replace it as oil production begins it's decline. I know the peak oil issue serves as a good vehicle to advance other spurious agendas, but fortunately it will remain on the fringes of reasonable discourse. Also, I do not think human civilization will plateau for at least hundreds of years, and by then we will use non-earth resources supplement and continue.

 

lordtyranus

Banned
Aug 23, 2004
1,324
0
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There's so many things going on, on so many levels, and pretending we're gonna wake up one day and suddenly all the wells are dry is absurd. We haven't peaked, we won't until 2015-2020, and by then we will easily be able to replace it as oil production begins it's decline. I know the peak oil issue serves as a good vehicle to advance other spurious agendas, but fortunately it will remain on the fringes of reasonable discourse. Also, I do not think human civilization will plateau for at least hundreds of years, and by then we will use non-earth resources supplement and continue.
Are you in the oil industry? Experts say we will peak very soon, within 5 years, if we haven't already.

This has nothing to do with some leftist propaganda, as you claim. I'm pretty much right winged, and omar doesn't seem like a lib. Both Bush and Cheney have acknowledged that something has to be done with the energy industry. The simple fact is something needs to be done, and we don't know what that something is right now.

The worst part about it? Kerry has no idea at all, and Bush's invade the Middle East plan is only short term.
 

cwjerome

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2004
4,346
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Lord do a search and see what comes up. Some major players from Dow Jones agree with other's assessment that 2020 could be, but other estimates say 2010. I tend to lean to the 2020 because of newer advancements and ideas.

Everyone agrees that something has to be done with energy... of course! Alarmist, apocolyptic doomsayers will do more harm than good though.
 

GreenMonkey

Member
Sep 22, 2004
106
0
0
I've read the peak oil/ oil crash argument, and I admit it has some very valid points. I tend to feel it is a bit paranoid and a bit negative, but I agree with this comment:
1) Don't worry, God will save us.
2) Don't worry, our technology will save us.

Either way you're exercising faith, because there is no technology in development anywhere in the world that has the ability to curtail the far reaching effects of high priced energy.

I agree here wholeheartedly. I believe in the power of technology. But blind faith that "something will get worked out" is dangerous.

Either way - it translates into, worry later. The Easter Island example is drawn as one of the examples where a society runs itself into non-existence. That's what the "worry about it later" mentality will do.

I understand if you think it isn't as bad as the peak oil folks think. But the evidence, at the current time, under the current technology, does seem to point to the same conclusion. Steps need to be taken now. The life after the oil crash guy maintains that nothing can be done, that it's already too late. I don't think that's necessarily true - massive investment to renewable energy should be done NOW, before it's too late. Perhaps we have more time.

But the longer the problem is ignored with the mentality "it'll get taken care of", the closer to disaster. Without intervention, by the time oil becomes expensive enough to get a movement to something else, it'll be too late. A capitalistic society isn't going to move until it is fiscally justifiable - and if you listen to the peak oil theories, that would probably be MUCH MUCH too late.
 

charrison

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
17,033
1
81
Originally posted by: 0marTheZealot
i hope you are right.

solar advances --> what advances? there are still several, legitatmate hurdles to be made before solar is even viable. and it still doesn't replace the pesticides, fertilizers and un-usable as a transport fuel. logistics of solar power is mind boggling.

You continue to understate what technology is available today. Top end solar cells are nearing 40% effeciency. More economical ones are 15-20%. To say solar cant be used for transport is would be false. Solar would be a natural enhancement to hybrid cars since they also have an electric subsystem. Any given car would have room for a couple square meets of solar panels. Trains are also diesel electric. A train 100 cars long would be able to have an entire acre of solar panels across the top of its cars. This would reduce the amount of diesel consumed for transport. A semi would have almost 450 square feet of solar panels that it could have.

In the next 10-15 years i would not be surprised if solar become cheap enough for the masses.



wind advances --> see above. also probably our best alternative

coal advances --> we also have a finite stock of coal and all indications that are that it isn't 250 years like everyone touts it to be. it's more around 100 (which is great imo, fusion should kick in by then). however, it is a heavy polluter, and i hope to god the green lobby doesn't stop it. it also doesn't replace pesticides and fertilizers, however, i can see research being done into it to replace oil.

it can already replace oil. Germany made gas of coal 50 years ago. It can already be made clean. We can and will find new ways to make pestidicde and fertilizers.


oil advances --> cheap oil is running out

re-using and recycling plastics and other materials will never alleviate our dependance.

Changing world technology claims to have an effecient technology for recycling these products. This recycling can also be done cheaply. Hopefully their technology is real.


check it out



there is only so many times you can reuse the oil before it becomes unprofitable to do so. also remember that such processing consume oil as well and thermodynamics state you can never get back what you put in. so we will always be on a downwards slope with recycling/reuse.


The amount of energy required to recycle a recycled plastic bottle, is the same as the cost to recycle a new plastic bottle. Assuming they are like products.



deep sea oil is not very viable. in the gulf of mexico alone, there have been many wells drilled, but only a couple of them have hit oil. it is also extremely expensive and the quality of oil is not as good. and the whole point of peak oil is that we are going to lose cheap fuel as a resource base.

http://home.entouch.net/dmd/oandgart.htm

wells being replenished is more likely due to a deeper source of oil than oil being generated. the processes by which oil is formed take hundreds of millions of years.



You are missing the point of peak oil. I think everyone realizes that oil is a finite resource and that is become more expensive to extract. However there are many more ways to generate the things we need without oil, oil currently just happens to be cheapest right now. Overtime that will change.




and regardless of all the innovation and technology, there _HAS TO BE_ a time when growth can not be sustained. this is the core of the peak-oil debate. growth on a finite world can not be sustained indefinately. bacteria in a petri dish could cover the earth 3 meters deep in 48 hours if their growth is unchecked. fortunately for us, they never get that far, some sort of limiting agent hits upon them. we are not immune to the same laws that bind bacteria. it is simply that the earth is our petri dish and we have covered it. the question is, can we sustain our coverage or will there be a crash.


The population of the earth is starting to stabilize and according to latest predictions it will start to contract in 30-50 years. This will no doubt cause a contraction in global demands for resources. We appear to be limiting our own growth.

 

charrison

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
17,033
1
81
refuse to oil...More technology

Albert Straus's basic philosophy has always been that when life serves you a load of manure, you turn it into something good. Like, well, electricity. At his Straus Organic Dairy Farm in Marshall, Calif., 270 milk cows slowly munching on fresh grass produce about 120 pounds of muck a day. Strauss uses some of it to fertilize his fields. Still, plenty more remains, and its disposal has been expensive and problematic -- until recently, when Strauss began converting the stuff into energy.

In mid-May, he installed a device called a methane digester. The $250,000 system, built partly with government grants, uses bacteria to ferment the waste and produce methane gas. That gas, in turn, generates 1,800 kilowatt hours of energy a day, which is more than twice what the farm uses. It also heats 5,000 gallons of water to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, so the water can be used for cleaning equipment or pasteurizing milk. Better yet, Straus says with a touch of pride, "When you come onto our farm, you can't smell anything at all."

Most self-satisfied gardeners pat themselves on the back for composting kitchen scraps, but a handful of enterprising farmers like Straus are emerging as pioneers in the new era of $50-plus oil. The U.S. alone produces 95 million tons of farm waste a year, according to the Agriculture Dept.
 

cwjerome

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2004
4,346
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GreenMonkey, nobody here is saying "We don't need to worry about it, have some faith and technology will fix the situation one day." There will come a time when we reach the peak of cheap oil, and then its decline... of course! Where I differ (from omar) is WHEN and the RESULT.

Good words charrison. I recently read where there's a solar unit that can supply over 50% of a large family's energy needs that's quite economical. I'll try and find a link.