What will happen if the world runs out of oil and energy?

[melnc]

I'm just wondering

[WindAtMyBack]

If it happened in the near future then probably billions of people would die. We are seriously dependent on oil whether we like it or not. People would freeze because they live in places that are too cold to live without heating. They would starve because the farms couldn't function and get food to where it need to be. For that matter, if you look around you, everything you see got there because of oil.

In the long run it will happen slowly. As the supply runs low, it will put more pressure on finding new sources of energy. I have my doubt if that can be done. All the alternative energy we use now is only a drop in the bucket compared to what we'll need. It's only going to get worse as the population increases, and much of the existing population transitions from "third world" low energy use to "first world" high energy use.

I think we are putting way too much faith in alternative energy. We certainly need alternatives, but what we need a lot more is less energy use, regardless of the source.

[BeMuse]

When oil runs out, natural gas and coal will play a larger role. As fossil fuels become more expensive, biofuels become more competitive. Biodiesel has a positive net energy balance without any energy credit accounting. Fatty acids can be produced on an industrial scale by microorganisms (e. g. algae or cyanobacteria), be sonicated and centrifuged out, and then utilized in simple safe chemical reactions to synthesize methyl esters. Algae and cyanobacteria are also easily genetically modified to improve production yields. Biodiesel is the solution for mobile transpiration, but so long as their are massive reserves of cheap energy to be mined, people will mine it.

[BeMuse]

*there

[Agape93]

Economy will crash. Most products can no longer be made and what ones can, cannot be shipped. Wars will be short and brutal as oil powers it all, and cannot be maintained. Basically, TEOTWAWKI

[NamerOfStars]

It won't- indeed, at the end, the problem will be too much energy, as the sun expands to collide with the planet. Oil, however- it depends on when. Yes, we CAN synthesize the stuff, but the process isn't energy-efficient enough to make up for the lack of it (and so far, you need some to start the process anyway). If we've managed to transition to other power sources, we'll be okay; if not... our society runs on, and requires, cheap oil. If that fails, we're screwed.

[MikeInHawaii]

It will never run out of energy. You are underestimating man’s ability to innovate and advance technology. My next vehicle might be solar powered.

https://aptera.us/

[jshm2]

It can't.

There is always energy, and there is around 50 years of stored oil in global reserves and around 10 times that in untapped reserves.

It's as daft as asking what will happen "when oxygen runs out"

[FilmGuy93]

Oil is used for a lot more than just energy, so you'd be looking at a lot of deaths overnight from the loss of power, and then the collapse of huge sections of the world economy.

[Googlemyahoo]

Oil is finite resource. Lithium is a finite resource. Eventually they’ll run out.

Back to steam & horsepower we go. Steampunk world.

[In_Trance]

It won't

[melnc]

How do you know?

[In_Trance]

I could ask you the same thing

[melnc]

I have no clue but how do you know?

[In_Trance]

If you do a bit of research you'll see that Rockefeller spearheaded the whole movement of saying there is a limited supply of oil to increase the demand therefore increasing his profits.